Documentary highlights Springfield's musical past
Springfield is the focus of "The Center of Nowhere," a documentary about the city's musical past. (Courtesy of the Springfield-Greene County Library)
After nearly 50 interviews, years of work and a significant financial investment, a Chicago journalist will soon remind Springfield of its musical history via the big screen.On June 28, "The Center of Nowhere," a 90-minute documentary chronicling noteworthy names and musical moments that shaped the city, will premiere locally at the Fox Theatre in downtown Springfield. The show is free and open to the public, and no tickets are required."It's not just a music documentary," stresses Dave Hoekstra, the driving force behind the production, which is part of a series entitled "Songs of an Unsung America."A longtime journalist with the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper, Hoekstra also notes that several things about Springfield -- including its central location, relative isolation, and unique culture -- inspired the work."That's why we talk about Springfield as the birthplace of Route 66, Springfield-style cashew chicken, Beverly Hillbillies, lakes and hills and the religious vibe that is similar to Memphis, obviously another great music town," he says.
The veteran journalist became connected with Springfield in the early 2000s, when he was assigned to write about Springfield for the Country Music Hall of Fame's Journal Of Country Music."Like so many others, I became a fan of the Morells/Skeletons," says Hoekstra of two Springfield musical groups. "(Local musician and producer) Lou Whitney and I struck up a friendship, and he became my vessel for the Country Music Hall of Fame series. Lou loved to talk about Springfield history with anyone who would listen."From time to time, the men discussed expanding on the articles. Ultimately, the connections fostered through the story led to just that: The documentary (and its title, which is based on Whitney's description of Springfield, Hoekstra says).Over the years, the project brought Hoekstra to Springfield around 30 times, during which nearly 50 individuals were interviewed."I wanted to keep going, but this was all DIY," says Hoekstra. "We spent $200,000 of our own money to tell this story. We begin the doc with explaining Springfield's sense of place, then move into the Ozark Jubilee, Lou Whitney, all of the modern day musicians who came to Springfield to record with Lou, then Ronnie Self/Wayne Carson and more."
While Hoekstra says that the documentary covers music all the way up to present day, he also says that not every story made it in."I could have kept going. There's so much of a great contemporary music scene in Springfield," he says, but notes that resources eventually became an issue. However, even though they had to call "cut" somewhere, he says that the finished project was a success when it premiered in Nashville in May."When we showed it at the Country Music Hall of Fame, people were completely engaged and one consistent comment we got was how much they enjoyed all the colorful characters we assembled," says the filmmaker. "There were laughs, smiles and some tears from the audience."It also shares final thoughts from some of those musicians who have since passed away. Folks like Lou Whitney, Bobby Lloyd Hicks and Merle Haggard."I really had to see this through for Lou and Lloyd. Merle Haggard, pretty sure this was his final on-camera interview. He agreed to talk to us before his Springfield show," says Hoekstra, who says that working with folks like those was a high point of the project.Another simply had to do with Springfield."And the points of discovery: Coming to learn what a rich and vital music scene Springfield has," says Hoekstra. "The region should be so proud of its continued growth."