Heaven on Earth

homemade hillbilly jam

• Rick Minnich
• 2005

follows three families of modern-day hillbillies in the Ozark Mountains of Southwestern Missouri back to the roots of their music-making heritage. Leading the pack is 34-year old singer/songwriter Mark Bilyeu from the hillbilly band Big Smith, who have been shaking up the music scene in Mid-America with energetic, self-ironic tales of life along Bull Creek with their expansive hillbilly clan. All well-educated, modern-day hippies reared on gospel and folk music, Mark and his cousins from Big Smith are refreshingly anachronistic in today’s frenzied world, and a vivid reminder of the hellraising antics of their bootlegging ancestors. While their sharp tongues and leftist sympathies are an eyesore in this staunchly conservative, Baptist region, Big Smith’s firm commitment to preserving their family’s musical heritage has earned them accolades from fans of all persuasions. avoids a historical or socio-economic approach to hillbilly culture in favor of an insider’s look at his family’s musical heritage. Hillbillies haven’t died off; they’ve simply become neo-hillbillies. Lean back and merge into hillbilliness.…