Stace England & The Salt Kings
The Amazing Oscar Micheaux

Street Date 1/19/10


"Their show is remarkable.  I knew of Oscar Micheaux but not the full scope of his legacy.  Everyone around the world needs to hear this story." 
- GIANCARLO ESPOSITO, ACTOR/DIRECTOR (THE USUAL SUSPECTS, DO THE RIGHT THING, GOSPEL HILL) 

“I am now a fan of this band." 
- HILLARD ELKINGS, PRODUCER (ALICE’S RESTAURANT, AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE, STEVE McQUEEN:  THE ESSENSE OF COOL) 

“No one on earth is making more important and interesting records today than Stace England." 
- JASON RINGENBERG, JASON AND THE SCORCHERS 
  
“Stace England and The Salt Kings presented a universally lauded feature at The Rome International Film Festival's 2009 edition.  It will delight audiences everywhere it is performed.”
- HARRY MUSSELWHITE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 
  
	Best known for the critically acclaimed Greetings From Cairo, Illinois, Stace England  lives near the village of Cobden in southern Illinois in a region known as “Little Egypt.”  In 2005 he emerged as an intriguing geographical yang to Sufjan Stevens’ yin.  “Greetings” told the tragic story of Cairo, a once booming river town in heartbreaking decline straddling the American North and South at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.  Live performances featured extensive multimedia, culminating in a headlining performance at the Crossing Border Festival in The Hague, documentaries in the US and Europe and stellar press on both sides of the Atlantic.
	Stace England & The Salt Kings now illuminate the legend of Oscar Micheaux.  His astonishing story sounds like the stuff of myth and legend but it is all true.  The first African American feature filmmaker was born in Metropolis, Illinois, homesteaded in South Dakota, published seven novels and wrote, produced and directed forty four films between 1919 and 1948.  Audiences were stunned by his jaw dropping push backs to The Birth of a Nation leading many to ask, “just what impetuous planet was this man from, and how did he pull it off?”
	Rediscoveries of lost  Micheaux films in Europe including Within Our Gates and The Symbol of the Unconquered, his extraordinary counters to The Birth of a Nation, have re-written film history in the last decade.   
     
        Micheaux is best known to his growing circle of admirers for his uncompromising vision and his unflinching mission to take on difficult subject matter, no matter what.  Staying one step ahead of his creditors he made the films he wanted to make.  Micheaux angered as many African Americans as whites, and his sound era masterpiece, God's Stepchildren released in 1938, was picketed by the Communist Party at a showing in Harlem as a "racist" movie.  His unlikely story is both inspirational and transcendent.
    	In addition to a twelve song music CD Stace England & The Salt Kings’ approach to Micheaux’s story includes multimedia live performances featuring projections of clips of available films and live performances with an original score to the film Within Our Gates.  Film clips in their multimedia show include scenes from Within Our Gates, The Symbol of the Unconquered, Body and Soul, The Exile, Veiled Aristocrats, The Girl From Chicago, God’s Stepchildren and Lying Lips.

www.staceengland.com

www.myspace.com/staceengland

www.youtube.com/user/cairomusic
(watch Micheaux film clips with CD tracks)

www.rankoutsiderrecords.com

www.bdcdistribution.com

www.gadflyonline.com/archive/MarchApril00/archive-micheaux.html
(Within Our Grasp, The Legend of Oscar Micheaux)