#5 - Dirty Country (2007)
Ever go into a truckstop? Ever see those racks of cassette tapes and CDs geared towards truck drivers, usually comedy albums by Jeff Foxworthy and the like? Then chances are you might have heard the name Larry Pierce before. Dirty Country is a documentary from the two guys who run the Found Footage Festival which is primarily about Pierce, but is also about dirty, bawdy music in general.
Larry Pierce is a factory worker and family man from a small town in Indiana. Over the last 20 years, he's become legendary among truck drivers and dirty music enthusiasts thanks to the 15 or so CDs of filthy country music he's released. The film shows Pierce's home life, as he performs in his garage for a few friends, recording new music, and generally quietly going about his life. It also features interviews with Clarence "Blowfly" Reid, John "Dr. Dirty" Valby, and the leader of Doug Clark's Hot Nuts, as well as scholars and dirty music aficionados. The highlight of the film, though, is the story that is woven through of the band -Itis, a dirty rock band who are obsessed with Pierce's music and who have tracked him down at last. The film shows them tenatively getting to know each other, and the band convincing Pierce to come and play a concert with them. Pierce had never played his music in front of a real audience before, and thanks to -Itis, he is finally getting the attention he's deserved for a long time. Larry ends up going on the road with the band, and the film ends with Larry in New York, about to appear on Howard Stern's show.
I really, really enjoyed this documentary. If you have a chance to see it, and you don't mind a lot of dirty talk and singing, it's a fine, fine bit of filmmaking.
Larry Pierce is a factory worker and family man from a small town in Indiana. Over the last 20 years, he's become legendary among truck drivers and dirty music enthusiasts thanks to the 15 or so CDs of filthy country music he's released. The film shows Pierce's home life, as he performs in his garage for a few friends, recording new music, and generally quietly going about his life. It also features interviews with Clarence "Blowfly" Reid, John "Dr. Dirty" Valby, and the leader of Doug Clark's Hot Nuts, as well as scholars and dirty music aficionados. The highlight of the film, though, is the story that is woven through of the band -Itis, a dirty rock band who are obsessed with Pierce's music and who have tracked him down at last. The film shows them tenatively getting to know each other, and the band convincing Pierce to come and play a concert with them. Pierce had never played his music in front of a real audience before, and thanks to -Itis, he is finally getting the attention he's deserved for a long time. Larry ends up going on the road with the band, and the film ends with Larry in New York, about to appear on Howard Stern's show.
I really, really enjoyed this documentary. If you have a chance to see it, and you don't mind a lot of dirty talk and singing, it's a fine, fine bit of filmmaking.