who: Stace England and the Salt Kings

what: The Amazing Oscar Micheaux (Southern Illinois schoolhouse rock/ multimedia show)

where: Liberty Theater

when: Saturday, September 19

Stace England and the Salt Kings:
The Amazing Oscar Micheaux

by Brian Wilson

Stace England is no stranger to American history's neglected stories. His 2006 album, Greetings from Cairo, traces the controversial history of that small Southern Illinois town, while the 2007 Salt Sex Slaves, made with the Salt Kings, deals with the issues of salt production, murder, and slavery as they existed within Southern Illinois's past.

England's newest album with the Salt Kings is The Amazing Oscar Micheaux, a musical tribute to the early African American filmmaker and Southern Illinois native whose legacy is still relatively unknown by both scholars and audiences.

Micheaux made more than forty films during his time as a director, but only a handful of these have survived. Generally characterized by his strong creative vision and his involvement with issues of race during an era in which D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation reflected the attitudes of many whites, Micheaux was ahead of his time.

England states that he discovered Micheaux "quite by accident when I found Patrick McGilligan's great book, The One and Only Oscar Micheaux, at the Carbondale Library. When I read the arc of his life I was riveted-- and he is from Metropolis."

Thematically, The Amazing Oscar Micheaux marks a natural progression from Greetings from Cairo and Salt Sex Slaves. All three albums deal with important social and political issues that remain neglected in most mainstream historical accounts.

In terms of his music's emphasis upon this area, England says that "I think we get labeled as historical musicians, and we are, but more than that we are trying to make the history and our collective journey relative to modern times. For me, both Greetings From Cairo and Salt Sex Slaves were just as much about today as yesterday. You don't know who you are as a culture until you review where you've been and how you got here."

Although the album's songs are meant to be performed alongside clips from Micheaux's films, The Amazing Oscar Micheaux is not designed to entirely match the director's work in the way that a soundtrack would. England states that "we have spent a lot of time trying to get inside Micheaux's head by watching his available films and reading some of his books. In some cases the song content matches the films identically and in some cases the film titles were jumping off points to try and find something more universal with his themes."

The CD release show for The Amazing Life of Oscar Micheaux will take place Saturday, September 19 at the Liberty Theater in Murphysboro, and is free of charge. It will consist of a live-music performance featuring projected clips from Micheaux's films, as well as a live performance with an original score to his 1919 movie Within Our Gates. The show is part of the week of Murphysboro Apple Festival activities, which run through September 20.

For more information, visit <http://www.StaceEngland.com>.