New 6-Part, 12-Hour Outlaw Country Documentary On The Way

A new country music documentary is on the way, courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and executive producer Jessi Colter. Delving deep into the Outlaw era of country music like never before, They Called Us Outlaws will be a six-part series spanning 12 total hours, and include footage from over 75 hours of interviews conducted with artists old and new over a decade.

Some of the legendary country performers featured in the documentary include Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Emmylou Harris, along with artists who have since passed away, such as Guy Clark, Billy Joe Shaver, Tom T. Hall and Jerry Jeff Walker. Newer artists are included as well such as Miranda Lambert, Eric Church, Margo Price, and even actor and well-know Austin, TX resident Matthew McConaughey.

The series will be narrated by Texas music artist Jack Ingram, and Ingram also conducted some of the film’s interviews himself. “What really struck me, doing these interviews with my heroes, is the Outlaw movement and the era was a moment in time,” Ingram says. “I always thought, ‘Oh, we can keep swinging away and keep doing it,’ but when I was interviewing these guys, I realized very quickly that what they’re saying, that’s my inner voice. They’re saying things that I know are true and the whole idea of ‘being successful’ went away. . . . The heart of the matter is that you find your voice and speak your truth, and you make it rhyme and sing a song.”

The film was directed by Austin-based filmmaker Eric Geadelmann, known for the 2003 documentary The Dance about Billy ‘The Kid’ Roth. Geadelmann was also an associate producer of the 2015 Hank Williams biopic I Saw The Light. The Outlaw documentary will be released in partnership with Geadelmann’s Shadowbrook Studios.

Not many other details of the documentary series are available just yet, including when it will be released, and through what format or channel. This information is expected to be revealed in the coming months. But at 6 episodes and 12 hours, this documentary is almost as long as the Ken Burns country music documentary from 2019.

The documentary comes as the Country Music Hall of Fame’s current major exhibit called Outlaws and Armadillos focusing on the Outlaw era in country music and the Austin, TX connection comes to a close. It will be officially wrapping up on September 30th, and be replaced by Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country Rock focusing on the California country scene of the 60s into the 80s. The makers of the film held a discussion panel at the Country Music Hall of Fame about the project in 2017.

More details when they become available.

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