Nearly 100 years ago in March of 1912, a series of events between private citizens and the law of Carroll County reached the boiling point that resulted in one of the most celebrated shootings in Virginia’s history. The “Hillsville Massacre” as it came to be known was the culmination of a feud of sorts between members of the Allen family of Carroll County, and members of local law enforcement, ending in a dramatic courthouse shootout between members of the two warring factions. So dramatic in fact that stories ended up on the front page of the New York Times and newspapers around the world, and millions of people the world over became enthralled with both the shootings, and the lengthy manhunt that followed for months afterward, as detectives searched for the accused perpetrators Claude & Sidna Allen. A detailed account of what occurred was done several years ago by the Roanoker Magazine, and can be viewed here
Filmmaker and sound engineer Rick Bowman, who now lives & works in the San Diego area’s high desert at his business Lethal Sounds, grew up in Carroll County, and was always fascinated by the story. So much so that he’s dedicated fair amount of his life and income over the last few years to create a documentary about the events of that day, and of course the series of happenings that led to the spectacular ending. Titled “Hillsville 1912: A shooting in the Court” the 70 minute documentary is scheduled to have its premier screening right back in Carroll County, namely in the venerated Rex Theater in Galax Virginia, on Thursday, August 18. Says Rick, ” I thought it was more than appropriate that this film be debuted in the place where it all began, and the closest independent theater in the area is The Rex, so I couldn’t imagine an opening anywhere else”. Following the premier, the film will begin its journey on the film festival circuit, and plans for it to be aired via The History Channel are also in the works.
In addition to the film’s showing, the producers of the soundtrack for the picture will also be on hand before the event to pick a few tunes from the film, and some music from their own projects as well. Mike Conner and John Miller (Conner & Miller) were hired by Bowman to produce the music, and based all the singing/instrumental tracks around Bowman’s choice of “The Ballad of Claude Allen”, a public domain piece performed by Hobart Smith of Smythe County Virginia in 1942. In addition to Mike & John, musicians Nate Leath joined them on fiddle, along with band-mates Kevin Church (banjo) and Norman Wright (mandolin) from The Travelers, a touring bluegrass group that includes Conner and Miller on bass & guitar. All the tracks were recorded, mastered, and mixed by Miller in his Christiansburg sound studio The Tone Room, where in 2009 he also recorded and mixed much of the music for “Look to the Light” for Rural Rhythm Records, which received both a Grammy first round nod, and a Dove Award nomination for Album of the Year, a collection of music from Rick Lang that he co-produced with Jesse Brock.
Says Conner, “I was thrilled to be part of this project, my first as a performer/arranger on a film soundtrack. Several years back at a family dinner (Bowman and Conner are cousins) Rick let me know about this project, and told me when the time came he’d be calling on me to help with the music. It was his feeling that the soundtrack should be cut by folks from the area, and of course he knew that I’d been clanging and banging with traditional music around here since I was a youngun, so it was a natural choice for him”. Conner sings a slow, mournful version of the song, and plays bass on all the tracks.
John Miller says “When Mike brought us this project, I was pretty excited about it, as although I’ve done a fair amount of recording, a film soundtrack was something new for me. We spent several evenings working out what Rick was looking for, and then began cutting the base tracks, and making contact with the other musicians to schedule them into the studio and get their parts tracked in. I’m pleased with the way the various versions of the song turned out, it was a bit of a challenge to create essentially four different songs/tunes from this one old scratchy recording by Hobart Smith. I think we captured the essence of the piece, and stretched it out to express several different emotions behind Rick’s film work”. Miller sings an up-tempo bluegrass version of the song, and plays guitar throughout, and was the producer/arranger/engineer for the entire 4 song project.
The premier will be preceded by a performance by Conner & Miller at 7 PM, tickets are $10 each and are available by contacting the Rex Theater.
