INTO THE FIRE A UTAH BOY'S LIFE
The Blues? In Utah? Yes! By Della Lowe
IN THE BLUES
What do Utah, a landfill, and the blues have in common? Quite a lot it seems, at least according to Dick Ericksen and his band, Dick Earl’s Electric Witness. Dick Earl Ericksen grew up in Moroni, Utah, a rural community located in East-Central Utah, by no means a hotspot for the blues. Dick’s story will be told on November 1, 2021, in Into the Fire: A Utah Boy’s Life in the Blues, the opening film of the 2021 DOCUTAH International Documentary Film Festival. If you think that music is the universal language, bringing people of all ethnicities, all political stripes, and all religions together, this film will cement that idea. Now back to the landfill. One day, when Dick was very young, his father found a Muddy Waters cassette among the trash, and he brought it home to his son. That tape started a musical journey for Dick, taking him through his time in the United States Navy, his LDS Mission, and some serious health issues. Utah is a western state, not really known for its involvement in blues music, but somehow, Dick became fascinated by its sound and what he and his musical family could add to that sound. The entire Ericksen family participates in the band, but Dick’s son Isaac, who studies music, thought his father’s story would make a great documentary. But how to do that? The answer: team up with the professionals and students from the Dixie State University film program. The result is a rollicking documentary filled with music and the story of a life well-lived.
“I always had an attraction to music, always carried a harmonica with me as a boy working on farms, in the Navy to pass the time, on breaks from work and even through my illness, which caused me for a time to have to give up music,” remarked Dick. “But it was that illness which really let me know that life is short, and I should do something I loved as a vocation instead of a pastime. I became a full-time musician, working gigs and picking up work with other bands along the way.” Since then, Dick has gone on to tour throughout North America, becoming an educator on the subject.
ONE MAN’S JOURN MORONI TO MEMEPY FROM HIS World P
featuring Dricemiere + Live Blu e k Earl’s Elec tric Witnesss Nove movie screember 1, 2021 Pineview M ning starts at 7:00pm egaplex , St. George, UT
He found his own unique sound and style of blues while incorporating modern techniques of live looping and sound modification. It digs deep into the roots of what the blues is all about: being able to get back up when life tries to put you down. The film follows Dick Earl’s trip from St. George, Utah, to Memphis, Tennessee, as he attends and judges the International Blues Challenge, an esteemed competition for blues bands from all over the world. Viewers experience the people and places of the blues and get a closer look into the life of the original Utah Blues Man, Dick Earl Ericksen.
Before the world premier of the film, fans can join DOCUTAH and other film FANatics at the Dixie State University Eccles Fine Arts Center for a ticketed WINE & SOUTHERN COOKIN’ appetizer reception to celebrate the festival opening. Information on ticketing will be posted and announced. Full information about the 2021 Festival can be found at docutah.com. Ticket sales start in September.
About the Author Della Lowe is an Emmy Award-winning network news producer who worked at ABCNews for twenty-three years. She is currently the Marketing Director for the DOCUTAH Film Festival at Dixie State University.
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