The Search for Blind Willie Johnson and the Texas Gospel

Shane Ford informed TBGB of a Kickstarter campaign to fund The Search for “Blind” Willie Johnson and the Texas Gospel, a documentary that will explore Texas gospel music and its antecedents.

According to the film’s Kickstarter page: “The goal of this documentary will be to explore the social and cultural significance of gospel music within the state of Texas. Presented from the view of historians, professors, and the current participants in the churches, we will seek to flesh out the idea of what gospel music has meant to Texas and the world of music in general.”

Shane adds: “We will seek to understand the spirituals, tracing them from their roots through the civil rights movement and to what these songs mean today. This is a subject that has slipped through the cracks of contemporary music history. Most of its historical participants and founders died penniless, persecuted, and in unmarked graves with little to no information known about them. Unlike the blues, most of the gospel songs and performers have been relegated to obscurity.”

Featured artists to be examined in this documentary include Blind Willie Johnson, Arizona Dranes, Washington Phillips and the Soul Stirrers.

The documentary is in its early stages and the producers are seeking financial backing. Learn more here: Texas Gospel.  Consider giving a little something something to help these guys out!