Rising From the Riverbed is a lively chronicle of the origins of the widespread southern jam band scene as seen through the smoky eyes of one of it’s seminal groups, Beanland. The band’s “rise” is richly illustrated with interviews and archival video footage spanning nearly 20 years from back porch Mississippi hippie-cover band to their hard earned arrival as a genuine musical force across the south.
Interviews included are with some of the leading stars of the southern music; JoJo Hermann and George McConnell of Widespread Panic; Cody and Luther Dickinson of The North Mississippi Allstars; Rev Jeff Mosier of the Aquarium Rescue Unit; Cedric Burnside of the Burnside Blues Family; Cary Hudson of Blue Mountain and legendary producer, Jim Dickinson.
The film also contains blistering concert footage shot on the Square in Oxford, Mississippi during the 2004 Beanland Reunion. The band is in full party mode with featured Beanland hits as Take me to the Show, Doreatha, Mr. Cropper and Swing Tune #9.
Riverbed is a celebration of a time and place, in this case, the last two decades in a small town in Mississippi, a rural area usually known for its writers, from Faulkner to Grisham. An unlikely setting perhaps for homegrown Rock-n-Roll-until you see Rising From the Riverbed. As keyboardist JoJo Hermann says, “Mississippi has a groove, and the groove is the way of life.” Though Beanland grew organically from the kudzu choked hills of North Mississippi, Rising from the Riverbed demonstrates that theirs is a groove, and a way of life, for all.