Connect to history

As part of our commitment to supporting the arts, we've partnered with acclaimed historical filmmaker Ken Burns.

Bank of America is proud to sponsor the work of Ken Burns and Florentine Films. We share Ken Burns's vision to make U.S. history into a riveting narrative, not just homework, and create a lasting impact with the general public and in classrooms around the country.

COUNTRY MUSIC

Bank of America is a proud sponsor of Ken Burns’s latest documentary, COUNTRY MUSIC. Written and produced by Dayton Duncan, the series will begin airing and streaming on PBS on Sept. 15. The film follows the rise of this uniquely American art form and how its exploration of basic human truths gives us the power to share America’s story through music. Learn more about the people, stories and music covered in the film.

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VIDEO: With the help of a banjo, a diverse cast tells America’s story through their own stories.

Meet the artists

VOICE OVER / Singing:

Headed down south to the land of the pines
And I’m thumbin’ my way into North Caroline
Starin’ up the road
Pray to God I see headlights
I made it down the coast in seventeen hours
Pickin' me a bouquet of dogwood flowers
And I’m a hopin’ for Raleigh I can see my baby tonight
So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey, mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south bound train
Hey, mama rock me
Runnin’ from the cold up in New England
I was born to be a fiddler in an old-time string band
My baby plays the guitar
I pick a banjo now
Oh, North country winters keep a gettin’ me down
Lost my money playin’ poker so I had to up and leave
But I ain’t a turnin’ back
To livin’ that old life no more
So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey, mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south bound train
Hey, mama rock me
Walkin’ to the south out of Roanoke
I caught a trucker out of Philly, had a nice long toke
But he’s a headed west from the Cumberland Gap
To Johnson City, Tennessee
And I gotta get a move on before the sun
I hear my baby callin’ my name and I know that he’s the only one
And if I die in Raleigh at least I will die free
So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama any way you feel
Hey, mama rock me
So rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south bound train
Hey

SUPER:
Nothing connects the country like country.

VOICE OVER:
Mama rock me

SUPER:
What would you like the power to do?®

VOICE OVER:
Mama rock me

LOGO:
Bank of America
Country Music / A Film by Ken Burns

VOICE OVER:
(Cheers and Applause)

SUPER:
We're proud to support the work of Ken Burns.

LEGAL:
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. ©2019 Bank of America Corporation.

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See Ken Burns tour across Tennessee to promote his latest film, COUNTRY MUSIC.

Watch now

MUSIC THROUGHOUT: Wagon Wheel, as performed by Ken Burns, Ketch Secor, and others on the PBS Country Music Tour Bus

LOGO: COUNTRY MUSIC | A FILM BY KEN BURNS

SUPER: THE POWER TO TELL AMERICA'S STORY THROUGH MUSIC

On-screen text: Ken Burns, Director and Producer, Country Music

AUDIO - KEN BURNS: We've been on a bus tour for a few days traveling all across Tennessee. We can easily say that Tennessee has contributed as much to this music as any state ever.

VIDEO: Tour bus drives down the highway in Tennessee.

AUDIO - KEN BURNS: We started in Nashville, went to Bristol and then to Sevierville, home of Dolly Parton and went to Knoxville and Maryville, and then we got up super early and we're back in Nashville on our way to Memphis only to turn around tomorrow to come back for a big concert at the Ryman Auditorium with a lot of the folks that are in our country music series.

VIDEO: Graphic appears showing an outline of the state of Tennessee with stars marking each of the tour stops.

On-screen text: Meredith Verdone, Chief Marketing Officer, Bank of America

AUDIO - KEN BURNS: The last 13 years Bank of America has been our sole corporate underwriter. They have an interest in being a good corporate citizen. They have an interest in sharing the stories, the complicated stories of this country. Country music is another way to sort of ask, who are we? Who are those strange and complicated people who call themselves Americans.

VIDEO: Ken and Ketch join Meredith Verdone for a photo.

On-screen text: Dayton Duncan, Writer and Producer, Country Music

AUDIO - DAYTON DUNCAN: It's the words, it's the stories in country music that I like. It's the expressions of things that you relate to directly and you don't have to overthink it. On-screen text: Julie Dunfey, Producer, Country Music

AUDIO - JULIE DUNFEY: One of the first things that surprised me was the connection of fans and country music artists. One of our interviewees says, once they love you they never let you go. You could have had only one hit 20 years ago but you still belong to them. On-screen text: Ketch Secor, Old Crow Medicine Show

AUDIO - KETCH SECOR: I always wanted to meet Ken Burns because I was such a big fan even when I was 11 years old. But then it got even richer when we all got on a tour bus together. Ken Burns is an animal y'all! He doesn't sleep, there's no food or water. By the end of the tour, Ken Burns was playing harmonica in the band at four in the morning.

VIDEO: Ken takes notes, reads the newspaper, and plays the harmonica while on the tour bus.

AUDIO - KEN BURNS: We were looking for the resonance of emotion and in most of the films that we've made, we've been able to touch it and no more so than in country music which is a big wet kiss of emotion. We've tried to distill that for the series and it's been one of the most satisfying things I've ever worked on. As a filmmaker, we have the power to reach millions of people with the story of America. That is a great honor and a great privilege and a great responsibility.

VIDEO: Ken takes the microphone and steps on stage at the Ryman Auditorium.

SUPER: WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE THE POWER TO DO?®

LOGO: COUNTRY MUSIC | A FILM BY KEN BURNS

SUPER: We’re proud to support the work of Ken Burns.

LEGAL: Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. ©2019 Bank of America Corporation.

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Read a letter from Ken Burns, as he describes his latest film, COUNTRY MUSIC

Read a letter from Ken Burns, as he describes his latest film, COUNTRY MUSIC

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VIDEO: We asked Americans what country music means to them. Watch what they said.

SUPER: BANK OF AMERICA IS PROUD TO PARTNER WITH KEN BURNS TO SHARE THE STORY OF AMERICA THROUGH COUNTRY MUSIC.

SUPER: WHAT DOES COUNTRY MUSIC MEAN TO YOU?

Woman: A lifetime of stories that I grew up knowing with my family

SUPER: A lifetime of stories that I grew up knowing with my family

Woman: That are here and not.

SUPER: That are here and not.

Boy: Playing guitar, going to Nashville.

SUPER: Playing guitar, going to Nashville.

Man: It’s everlasting, it never dies out. I just love it.

SUPER: It’s everlasting, it never dies out. I just love it.

Woman: I can be totally happy and nothing’s wrong

SUPER: I can be totally happy and nothing’s wrong

Woman: Then I can hear a really sad song and it can move me to tears.

SUPER: Then I can hear a really sad song and it can move me to tears.

Woman: It’s country music. It’s beautiful.

SUPER: It’s country music. It’s beautiful.

LOGO: Bank of America Logo | Country Music Ken Burns Logo

END CARD: We’re proud to support the work of Ken Burns.
Learn more at bankofamerica.com/CountryMusic

LEGAL: Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. © 2019 Bank of America Corporation.

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Watch Ken Burns and Bank of America's Anne Finucane discuss Ken's latest film, COUNTRY MUSIC.

Watch Ken Burns and Bank of America's Anne Finucane discuss Ken's latest film, COUNTRY MUSIC.

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns reveals the moments that inspired him to make an impact.

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns reveals the moments that inspired him to make an impact.

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VIDEO: Watch the trailer for COUNTRY MUSIC, the latest film from Ken Burns

♪

[On-Screen Text: From Director Ken Burns]

[Singing: I'm so lonesome I could cry]

[On-Screen Text: Garth Brooks, Singer / Songwriter]

BROOKS: Country music comes from right in here. This heart and soul that we all have.

[On-Screen Text: Dolly Parton, Singer / Songwriter]

PARTON: You can dance to it, you can make love to it, you can play it at a funeral. It has something in it for everybody.

[On-Screen Text: Ken Burns, Director]

BURNS: Country music is about human emotions. We're always looking for those topics that are going to tell us a lot about who we are. Not just to the era that we cover, but who we are now.

[On-Screen Text: Rhiannon Giddens, Musician]

GIDDENS: If you wanted to look for like, super strong women telling amazing stories, you went to country.

♪

[On-Screen Text: Loretta Lynn, Singer / Songwriter]

LYNN: I mean the songs were just life. It's I've seen it, or I've lived it. And I never would tell my husband which one was.

[On-Screen Text: Charley Pride, Singer]

PRIDE: I believe that you can go look and find a country song, that will help you feel better. Sometimes it might make you cry but you'll feel better.

[On-Screen Text: Dayton Duncan, Writer / Producer]

DUNCAN: This is the story of a uniquely American art form, that sometimes get defined as three chords and the truth. And the people who made it, created it, and how it became a business.

JOHNNY CASH: Hello I'm Johnny Cash.

♪

[On-Screen Text: Rosanne Cash, Singer / Songwriter]

CASH: My dad, he worked out all of his problems on stage. That's where he took his anguish and fears and griefs, and he worked them out with an audience. That's just who he was.

[On-Screen Text: Erik Ewers, Editor]

EWERS: I hope that when people hear of the series that they'll tune in. It made me a convert out of me, it's a wonderful story.

♪

[On-Screen Text: Willie Nelson, Singer / Songwriter]

NELSON: I always thought it was a really good song and I played it for Patsy Cline and she thought it was a great song.

BURNS: It's phenomenally great music about people who felt their stories weren't being told. I think that's utterly American.

[On-Screen Text: Country Music A Film by Ken Burns Tune in or Stream Sun Sept 15 8/7c]

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IN THE NEWS: Bakersfield's front row seats to filmmaker Ken Burns' ode to country music

IN THE NEWS: Bakersfield's front row seats to filmmaker Ken Burns' ode to country music

Press to play the video

Watch musicians from the film describe what country music means to them

Learn more

PBS LOGO

On-screen text:

From Director Ken Burns

PARTON: You can dance to it,

you can cry to it,

On-screen text:

Dolly Parton
Singer / Songwriter

PARTON: you can make love to it,

you can play it at a funeral,

you can - it just really

has something in it for everybody

and people relate to it.

On-screen text:
COUNTRY MUSIC
A Film by Ken Burns
Sunday September 15 8/7 c
PBS LOGO
#CountryMusicPBS
pbs.org/countrymusic

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Connect to history

COUNTRY MUSIC

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