Jesco White and family will take audiences on emotional roller coaster in "The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia" this fall

On July 30^th, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a resolution that made "In God We Trust" our nation's official motto.  But that wasn't the only significant event that took place on that warm summer day. 

Not too far from Washington D.C. in a little place called Bandytown, West Virginia, a women gave birth to a boy that would one day change the way people looked at rural Appalachian culture.  That newborn's name was Jesco White. 

It was a great day in American history.

Chances are, if you haven't heard of Jesco White, somebody you know has. 

The legend began nearly two decades ago and its origins, some might say, came completely by coincidence.

It all started when a young man named Julian Nitzberg paid the toll to get into West Virginia in hopes of finding a story for his next documentary. 

He was headed to Boone County, West Virginia, a small coal mining area in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains.  His plan was to find and feature a man named Hasil Atkins, a one man punk rock band who was known for his one-of-a-kind live performances.

Little did Nitzberg know that along with his unique documentary about the local musical legend, he would discover and introduce the world to what could easily be described as America's most unlikely hero.

Nitzberg found Atkins and began recording the everyday occurrences of his life. 

While filming an Atkins performance at a local bar, a fight broke out.  The fight went on for a few moments but was eventually broken up.  The person who broke up the scuffle was a young lady named Mamie White.  She noticed the cameras and approached Nitzberg after she cleared the tussle, saying that her family was throwing a birthday party the next day.  She insisted that Nitzberg come to her house and meet her brother Jesco. 

Not really knowing what to expect, Nitzberg accepted Mamie's invitation and showed up at the White property the following day with a camera and an open mind.  What he found was one of the most outrageous, but lovable families the world would ever know. 

Audiences were first introduced to Jesco White in 1991 in a documentary called "The Dancing Outlaw."

The original film featured several members of the White family but focused particularly on Jesco.  He is the oldest son of legendary mountain dancer Donald.(D. Ray) White.  The documentary was a success in nearly every angle of measurement, but it's most affective monologue was that of Jesco explaining his life after his fathers tragic death.  "It's left to me to carry on this perdition," says Jesco as he holds his father's tapdancing shoes in one of the movies most identifying scenes.  

But the legend of Jesco White almost never reached the public. 

Nitsberg returned to Kentucky with some footage of Jesco and the rest of the White family.  Appal shop, the film production workshop that Nitzberg worked for thrived on the culture of Appalachian America. 

But after reviewing the tape, Appal shop representatives said that no one would be interested, and they rejected the idea.  Nitzberg then turned to friend and fellow film maker Jacob Young, and together they constructed one of the most recognized underground documentaries of all time.

No one could ever have predicted the mass underground following that the film would accrue, and to this day, even those involved cannot pinpoint the reason for it's success.

"It's just one of those things," said Storm Taylor, producer of the new White Family feature due out this winter. 

"We are talking about a third generation VCR tape that has somehow traveled through America. 

From mechanics to attorneys, it's made it's way across this country in a way that advertisers would love to figure out." 

Storm Taylor (left) & Jesco White

Taylor's past work in the field includes stints of field production for the popular MTV shows "Jackass" and "Wildboyz." 

When Taylor first saw the documentary, he began questioning what it was in particular that made Jesco so likable despite his rustic way of thinking.  "I wanted to find out the reason why he is famous.  I wanted to know why everyone, myself included, liked him so much.  So I started asking people everywhere.  Around town, on the internet, I talked to tons of people that said, I love Jesco" and then I would ask why and they would say, "I don't know, because he's Jesco!"

"He's become a symbol for this subculture.  He's a hero for hillbillies and outlaws, but it's more than that.  I've yet to put a finger on it."

"Obviously he is a good tap dancer.  But he's not famous because of his dancing.  He's famous because he is what he is." 

Storm Taylor (aka Stormboy) was once a staple in the groundling Old City nightlife back in the 90's.  He started out working at Ella' Guru's, Knoxville's first premiere music showplace.  He then took his passion for music and knowledge of the nightclub industry and helped establish The Underground as one of the south's hottest party scenes of it's time.  As the former resident DJ for Lord Lindsey, The Underground, and The Boiler Room, Taylor has seen many cycles of students, punks, and gothlings come of age before his eyes.  More recently, his personal journey has led him away from the nightlife, and towards another vein of culture all together.  Taylor stays busy these days by producing television shows and hosting The Dirt Poor Comedy Tour (Dirtpoorcomedy.com).

Taylor also created  a TV show called Yokel, an unscripted traveling program that aired on Turner South.  The show and his love for outlaw culture eventually led to his first meeting with Jesco.

"I didn't know what it was...but I wanted to meet him, for years and years and one of the things I wanted to do with the show was have an episode with him." 

When Taylor began to make strides toward an actual meeting with Jesco, who seemed to love the opportunity to share his story in the previous films, he found it far more difficult than he anticipated.

Jesco had been extremely mismanaged in the past.  There were a lot of people who had abused him for his celebrity and gave him bad advice in the years following his initial fame. 

So Taylor took a different approach to Jesco and slowly earned the trust of the family before he ever recorded the first frame. 

"I want to come meet you, I want to help you, if you want us to film we will, if you don't then we won't," Taylor said to Jesco before the two met. 

"I must have been one of the few people, if not the only one that said "If you don't want to film, then we won't worry about it."  Everyone else was saying "We'll do this and this, and we will make you thousands," and I was just wanting to help him," explained Taylor.

It took Taylor a while, but eventually he arranged a meeting after expressing his willingness to help.

"He was reclusive at the time," said Taylor.  "He lived in a small trailer in Peytona, WV with no running water.  His property laid in a holler on the end of a dead end road so he knew if anyone was coming."

"The night I met him it was dark.  We came through a gate that said "Do not enter."  I saw a flashlight come from behind his trailer and I had to take a step back.  It was that powerful."  Taylor then put the long-awaited meeting into further perspective, "I've been in a position in my life where I've met a reasonable number of celebrities.  Never been awe struck.  Never...until I met Jesco White.  Nobody can explain his mystique...I'll never forget that first meeting." 

After shaking the chills of his first Boone county experience, Taylor found Jesco to be as friendly as he had imagined.  "He walked right up to me and said "Hello, my name's Jesco White, would you like a cup of coffee?"  With this hospitable inquiry, Taylor realized that his genuine approach had earned  Jesco's respect.

"I asked him what he needed and before I could even complete the question, he said "Wood and Water." 

At the time, White was using a commercial water hose that ran from a spring, through the mountains to an aluminum bathtub up on a hill, with the water hose hanging out of a tree.

"My crew and I got him some water and split a bunch of wood with him and he knew we weren't there to rip him off."

"I asked him if he ever thought about painting his trailer, and again before I could finish he replied, "Brown with green trim."

After a little remodeling and rearranging, Jesco White and Storm Taylor were old friends.

Storm's production team began to record footage.  

"It's not going to rely on the old one (documentary)," Taylor stated.  "The last thing we wanted to do was to make it an update type thing, or make it a before and after.  We wanted to follow the lives of not just Jesco, but the entire family." 

"The film is about the offspring, the siblings, and the roots of Appalachian dancing," summed Taylor.

"It would be nice to reflect on The Dancing Outlaw with the new film, but ultimately, this has to stand on it's own.  You won't have to see The Dancing Outlaw to enjoy this," Taylor assured. 

"There is a hierarchy of D. Ray and Birty Mae.  When D. Ray was shot, Birty Mae became the matriarch.  Then there's brothers and sisters of course, but we are taking it on down to the nieces and nephews.  We've gone to several states for this thing," said Taylor.

Taylor plans on introducing viewers to the "other side of the family" as well.

"There are actually two clans of White's.  We are taking a crew to Minnesota, where the other sector of the family lives.  They all started in West Virginia, but moved away to get a taste of the outside world."

Taylor's crew even caught up with the infamous Billy Hastings, who shares his side of the stories in true Boone County fashion in the film.

The source for the movie's sometimes intense, sometimes upsetting, but always moving grit comes directly from the relationship that was built beforehand. 

"I've had to throw away everything I learned in film school for this shoot," admitted Taylor. 

"I have grown to love these people, and they trust me as much as they can trust anyone.  I feel like the five year process that we have went through with the White's goes a lot deeper than us making this movie," said Taylor.  "These people are our friends."

The documentary will be called "The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia." 

The distribution will be handled by MTV home video, a new branch of the flagship music station, but the interest is held by Viacom.  A release date has yet to be nailed down, but Taylor says the film should be hitting film festivals sometime this fall.     

With big names like MTV and Viacom behind the new White family project, the quality of production has risen to new heights.  For the first time ever, audiences will be able to see Jesco White in HD, something that many fans never dreamed would happen.

"I'm overwhelmed," stated Taylor. 

"Their lifestyles are overwhelming, the amount of footage we have is overwhelming.  We have interviews with senators, people like Hank Williams III, Marty Stuart, and so many others.  We could just show Birty Mae's birthday and it would be an amazing film, so we are extremely lucky to be as overwhelmed as we are.  Everybody knows they are wild.  If we can do something to let everyone know how wonderful they are, I'll be satisfied."

"A lot of people don't hold Jessie up to the level that we do because they don't know anything about him," he continued.  "It's funny to think that twenty years from now, they probably will.  These traditions are fleeting, but ultimately they come back around.  We are going to try to embrace the history of their culture and their surroundings," concluded a tired but anxious Taylor.

"The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia...They are crazy, but you just love them.  I can't wait for people to see the family again."

*******

Special shout-out of thanks to Knoxville DJ Mike Kelly of WDVX for originally hooking Storm up with CuzN Wildweed who arranged Storm's first "holler pass" to Boone County. If not for Mike, none of this may have ever happened. Special thanks also to Red & Grace at WDVX for all the good music!