Canadian musician Melissa McClelland embarked on a Route 66 trip, and one segment of a six-part video podcast documenting that journey will be posted each week online.
Based on what I saw with Part 1, it’s going to be an excellent series. It’s well-shot and edited, roadies will recognize several of the people and sights of the Mother Road, and the music is lovely (particularly her solo acoustic performance of a “Skyway Bridge” on the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge near St. Louis).
The first segment of the video podcast is here (Internet Explorer 6 is recommended).
CBC Radio3 had this to say about her podcasts:
Over the course of nine days, McClelland and her crew stopped in all kinds of places, where McClelland checked out the sights and interviewed the locals, including quirky characters like Stewart who has an ostrich farm, a petrified wood museum and giant paper mache dinosaurs on his property; and Angel, who’s known as the “Mayor of Route 66” for his efforts in getting the route recognized for its historical signficance.
“He’s an 80 year-old man and after the interview, he hopped on his bicycle and rode away,” she says, on her cell phone from a New York tour stop. “He was just great – so much energy and so much life.” […]
“We just found really beautiful, amazing spots, and we’d get out of the van and we’d film and record me doing one of my songs acoustically and completely live,” she says. “So I’d have a little tiny mike attached to my bra strap and I’d just play my guitar and sing the song.”
In addition to releasing the footage as a podcast, McClelland is using it in a new video for her song, “Passenger 24”. Her management is also approaching broadcasters, hoping the podcast series can be aired as a one-hour television documentary.
(Tip to Little Radio.)
One word: Exposure.
The more the merrier!