简介：It'sreallytoobadaboutAmericanRootsMusic.Somanyofushavebeenachingforanintelligentandcomprehensiveseriesonthesubject.Sadly,thisisn'tit.InitiallybroadcastviaPBS,manyofthePBSstationsdidn'tevenpickitupsinceitwasofsuchlittlesubstanceandproductionvalues. Thoseofuswhoknowmuchaboutthesubjectwereinsulted,whilethosewhoknewlittleornothingwereconfusedanddisinterested. Themainproblemwiththeseries,seemstobeit'slackofcohesivefocus(jumpingbackandforthinthefirsttwoepisodesfromdecadetodecade,fromonemusicformtoanother,withnoeffortatprovidingacohesiveseguelinkingtheinformationinanyway.Secondarily,theseriesmerelyglossesoverthealreadyacknowledged"stars"ofeachgenre,payingfarmoreattentiontosome(FlacoJimenez,himselfgets15minutes,whilethefolkmusicgenregets20minutes)andignoringmany,manyothersaltogether. Wefeelthattheproducer'sheartwasintherightplace,buttheproductionwaseitherrushedtotakeadvantageofpiggybackingonthesuccessofKenBurns'Jazzseriesandcompanionbook,ornotinfusedwithenoughresearchandenergytomakeitmove.WeakandpoorlywrittennarrationpresentedbyKrisKristofferson(thatbastionofRootsMusic,himself!?)merelyboggeddownthealreadylifelessproduction.Furtheraddinginsulttoinjurywasthefrequentinterpolationofpastoralscenesofcountrysides,staticshotsofriversandponds,fuzzyandirrelevantarchivalfootage.InterviewsegmentswithperformerslikeMartyStuart,BonnieRaitt,andothers,overstayedtheirwelcomeasthesamesourceswereshownagainandagainandagain. Withsucharichsubject,azilliongoodresearchsources,andabudgetobviouslyadequatetomake4segments,itisconfoundinghowsuchamediocrepiececouldhavemadeittoairatall.…