''Towncraft'' is a feature documentary on the independent music scene in

Little Rock, Arkansas ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

from 1986 to 2006. Produced by Matson Films, ''Towncraft'' investigates the music that emerges from smaller cities and the importance of these local scenes, as well as their relationship to the larger music world. ''Towncraft'' was released in theaters, on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and online on May 22, 2007. ''Towncraft'' was the first film to be released simultaneously on these three platforms.wcco.com - Video Library
/ref> The film features interviews and performances by many Little Rock bands including Soophie Nun Squad,

Ho-Hum Ho-Hum is a pop/rock band based in Bradley, Arkansas, United States, formed by the brothers Lenny and Rod Bryan. History The band was formed when Lenny and Rod Bryan, sports scholarship students, were attending Ouachita Baptist University dur ...

, and The American Princes.

Synopsis

In the late 1980s a few kids in the small, sleepy Southern town of Little Rock, discovered punk rock and the DIY ethic that drove it. Unlike other towns, Little Rock's punk scene was composed almost entirely of

junior high A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...

and

High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

kids. Over the next decade, they would book their own shows, start

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

s, open record stores, play with national acts and formulate a collective set of ideals. In 1992, they released '' Towncraft'', a compilation album and zine that documented their scene. ''Towncraft'' focuses on the roots of the Little Rock scene, how it changed the lives of those involved, the DIY ethos that has shaped the scene for the past 20 years and how the scene continues to thrive outside of the mainstream.

Soundtrack

A two-CD 40-band soundtrack was also released with the DVD in a box set, also containing a book. The soundtrack highlights a "Little Rock sound" that developed over two decades.

Notes

External links

Trailer
* Films set in Arkansas Documentary films about punk music and musicians 2007 films 2007 documentary films Culture of Little Rock, Arkansas Films set in Little Rock, Arkansas American documentary films Music of Arkansas 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{music-documentary-film-stub