Down from the Mountain

Down from the Mountain is a 2000 documentary and concert film featuring a live performance by country and traditional music artists who participated in the Grammy-winning soundtrack recording for the Joel and Ethan Coen film, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" The concert, held at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee on May 24, 2000, was a benefit for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The documentary was directed by Nick Doob, Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker. The artists in the concert also participated in a "Down from the Mountain" concert tour.
Summary.
The concert film is preceded by a 30-minute documentary, featuring the various artists traveling to the Ryman Auditorium and rehearsing for the show.
Time is spent with bluegrass star Ralph Stanley, who rides in a limousine to Nashville, Tennessee, and is interviewed on radio station WSM and introduced as the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry, despite having performed professionally as a country musician since the 1960s.
John Hartford, who acts as master of ceremonies for the concert, is interviewed while piloting a paddlewheeler riverboat, and he talks about his time as a towboat pilot on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers. It is his last filmed appearance before his death on June 4, 2001.
T-Bone Burnett is seen working with the girl trio, the Peasall Sisters, instructing guitarist Chris Sharp to increase the tempo on their number, "In the Highways", to rock and roll speed. "Can't you relate to rock and roll?" Burnett asks the musician.
Emmylou Harris reveals her obsession with Major League Baseball, showing that she carries a Motorola pager that tracks the action in all the games being played that day.
Gillian Welch explains that Harris and Alison Krauss took delight in making her sing the highest part in their trio, "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby", when both Harris and Krauss have higher-register voices. Harris sang the bass part on the song, which is unusual for the singer, who is well known for her role as the "angel" vocalist in duets and backing vocals with other artists.
The concert is introduced by Holly Hunter, a cast member from "O Brother, Where Art Thou?". She explains the presence of cameramen on the stage by making a joke about it being "dress-down Wednesday" at the FBI and that several agents have joined the performance that night. Another cast member, Tim Blake Nelson, is seen backstage talking to Emmylou Harris, recalling a performance she gave at a bar on her 38th birthday (she jokes that she sang "38 With a Bullet"). The Coen brothers are in the crowd, as is Billy Bob Thornton.
Performances in the film.
After "In the highways" there is an Intermission announcement quickly followed on film by "Down in the River to Pray"
Soundtrack album.
The soundtrack album, Down from the Mountain: Live Concert Performances by the Artists & Musicians of O Brother, Where Art Thou? was released to complement the documentary concert film. It has the complete versions of songs that are interrupted in the film by backstage chatter, including "John Law Burned Down the Liquor Sto'" by Chris Thomas King and Colin Linden and "Will There Be Any Stars?" by the Cox Family. Another track, "Sandy Land" by The Whites, does not appear in the film.