Speaking of the West Bank… A few years ago Radical Roots director Deacon Warner worked with his students at an IFP MN documentary workshop to make Gone Fishing: The West Bank’s Forgotten Scene. The high school filmmakers interviewed musicians Spider John Koerner and Papa John Kolstad along with scenster Red Nelson and West Bank Boogie author Cyn Collins about the vibrant community of musicians and other young people who flocked to the West Bank starting in the mid-1960s.
I remember hearing many of these acts while growing up when they appeared on A Prairie Home Companion from time to time. And I also enjoy the memory of Bill Hinkley teaching fiddle on the porch of the West Bank School of Music while I worked inside.
You can hear how Willie Murphy, whose music you hear on Radical Roots trailer, started the 400 Bars' part of the scene in this interview with The Current.