CONTACT: Wally Bowen, 255-018211-2-07

“Before the Music Dies”
documentary film Nov. 8

“Before the Music Dies,” an award-winning documentary film about local musicians’ struggles against corporate media, will be screened at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8 at the Fine Arts Theater in downtown Asheville.

The screening is a fundraiser for the nonprofit Mountain Area Information Network (MAIN) and its radio station, WPVM-LP, 103.5 FM.

The film features artists ranging from Elvis Costello and Bonnie Raitt to Seattle street performers and Mississippi gospel singers. Interviews also include Eric Clapton, Erykah Badu, and Dave Matthews.

“Our film is about breaking down walls that mega-corporations have built between musical artists and their rightful audiences,” says filmmaker Andrew Shapter, who co-wrote and produced the film with Joel Rasmussen.

The film describes how the recording industry, corporate radio and music stores collude to market a narrow range of “blockbuster” recording artists, while below the corporate radar an explosion of musicians and genres struggle to find an audience.

“MAIN and WPVM are part of the growing nonprofit media movement, which enables voices that don’t fit the corporate cookie-cutter to be heard and to find an audience,” said Wally Bowen, founder and executive director of MAIN, which launched WPVM in 2003.

“Many volunteers are drawn to WPVM, because it’s the only radio station in this region where they can speak their poetry and play their music,” he said.

“Before the Music Dies” has been screened at numerous film festivals, including South by Southwest and London’s Declaration of Independence Film Festival in June.

Admission to the MAIN/WPVM fundraiser is $10 for adults and $5 for students. For more information, visit www.main.nc.us. END