"The Last One"

So I was drunkenly searching through youtube videos the other night, and stumbled across a clip from this documentary. It's about an Appalachian moonshiner, one of the last, making his final batch. They basically follow him up to his hollow, show him building the still, and narrating the process and his experiences throughout life with moonshine. There are some small interviews and historical clips as well. It was a bit too short, though it did cover basically everything in "Popcorn" Stutton's moonshine process, I just wish there would have been more on the history of whiskey, moonshining and the region. I would have also liked to hear more back-story about "Popcorn" Stutton.

With that being said, the sound of their voices, their passion and the music (which is, of course, Appalachian bluegrass/folk throughout the whole film) captured me and definitely brought me comfort. The message, as is in most Americana, is freedom and tradition. The freedom to make a living. The freedom to do ones passion. The freedom to walk away after a life-time of devotion. The tradition of a people and culture. The tradition of ones own family. The tradition of science, mixed with art. The message of one of the millions of simple individualities that have made up the region, and America as a whole.

I have to say, this doc may have just been a snapshot of beautiful world that isn't often talked about, or even taught, but it does it in the purest way. Pictures, voices, music, history and tradition of the Appalachian people and their ever present role in shaping Americana.

I definitely recommend checking it out, as well as the history of the Appalachian region and it's culture.

IMDB page