Entertainment Weekly – September 01, 2019

↑ From left Willie

Nelson, Charley

Pride, Shania

Twain, Dolly Parton,

Garth Brooks,

and Johnny Cash

KEN BURNS NEVER BEGINS A PROJ-

ect with a specific intention. Yet, it
seems, each one of his epic histori-
cal docuseries—whether it examines
the Civil War or baseball—ends up
speaking to the current moment.
“Please tell me why that is—it’s
been [happening] my entire life,”

says the 66-year-old filmmaker with

a chuckle, before referring to a favor-

ite Mark Twain quote that “history

doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.”

The latest echoing intersection

between then and now comes in

the form of Country Music, directed

by Burns and co-produced with

writing and producing partners Day-

ton Duncan and Julie Dunfey, which

will air across eight nights on PBS

beginning Sept. 15.

“Our intention is to just tell stories,”

says Burns. “We don’t have a politi-

cal or another agenda. We do know

that a by-product of a deep dive

helps to rescue whatever the subject

is from the barnacles of sentimental-

ity that get encrusted around it.”

Over the course of the series,

Country Music chronologizes instru-

ments (fiddle, banjo, guitar),

movements (countrypolitan, outlaw,

You’re Lookin’ at

KEN BURNS gives EW the scoop on Country Music,

an eight-night, 16-hour deep dive tracing not only the
path of one of America’s most popular and enduring
art forms but U.S. history itself. BY SARAH RODMAN

100 SEPTEMBER 2019 EW● COM

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