"At almost the last minute, we fell back on an old idea we had once tossed around with Matthew '94 and Dorothy Light Johnson '92 about making a humorous documentary about ourselves trying to find this guy, Tony Joe White," says Strickland. Within hours they'd formulated their plan for the film, Searching for Tony Joe.
Tony Joe White was as obscure rocker who took radio by storm with his song "Polk Salad Annie." A native of Oak Grove, La., White pioneered a brand of music he coined 'swamp rock' by combining elements of blues, soul, rock and earthy, backwoods imagery with a deep, unmistakable Southern drawl. Although his music was vibrant enough to garner the attention of artists like Elvis Presley, Ray Charles and Eric Burden (who've all recorded versions of his songs), White virtually disappeared from the American music scene during the 1970s.
Building on Strickland's experiences on film crews and Chaput's as a photographer, they recruited Matthew Johnson and Adam Bork '92 to complete the production team. Both possessed the technical knowledge and focus needed to make the film, but also added the musical talent (needed to perform White's music for strangers they met) and quirky brand of humor that would eventually become the key to the story.
"We knew we wanted to make something fun, unique and difficult to categorize, which is very much like White's music," says Chaput. "It turns out we had a lot more in common with him and his career than we thought."
Armed with cameras, recording devices and a rented van, the four set out on a two-week road trip through the South, visiting White's hometown, and speaking with aspiring musicians, family friends, record store owners, festival promoters and random town-folk. During their trip, they shot over 35 hours of video and film, which took them six months to edit on weekends, nights and days off from work.
"We took some of the basic tenets of personal documentary film, that is, filming those around you and even filming yourself doing it, and combined that with an MTVesque look and feel that was heavy on music and comedy," says Strickland.
Indeed, the film weaves flawlessly between its two plots–from Austin to the Bayou–from honky tonks and frat parties out into a lush southern landscape of open fields and river banks. While Strickland and Chaput tell us the straightforward saga of a musician who never received his due, they also let us witness the struggles and triumphs of telling his story on a budget. Their daily van rides, phone calls and conversations with scholars, writers and agents give way to Bork's roadside mannequin posing, confusion over malfunctioning telephone recording devices and beautiful, innovative guitar performances.
Searching for Tony Joe has already garnered national attention. In 1998, the film won Best Feature Documentary at the Detroit International Festival of Film and runner-up for best documentary at the Crested Butte Reel Festival. It was also an official selection for the documentary competition at 1999 South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in Austin. The filmmakers hope to show the film again soon, at festivals in Los Angeles, New York and Europe and to distribute the film via their web site or cable.
The audience reaction has been "very enthusiastic among people under 30 and/or people who love music," says Strickland. "At SXSW we had some of our biggest and best crowds to date. And because of its comedic tone, the larger the crowd, the better the response: laughter is contagious."
As for their production company, Bozo Texano, it's currently putting together a project about medical residents being shaped into surgeons against the changing health care environment. "It will hopefully be quirky and humorous but also informative," says Chaput. "People don't really know a lot about what doctors do anymore."
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