Ken Burns on Country Music: ‘The Best We’ve Ever Done’

Ken Burns is about to debut his latest project, and you definitely do not want to miss any minute of it. Country Music is set to unpack the history of the glitz and the music in which it is named after. It dives deep into its origins and how it evolved into what it is today.

Ken Burns’ Country Music

Country Music will be an 8-part, 16-hour journey that will dive deep into the genre’s fascinating history. It includes the biographies of country heavy hitters, like Hank Williams, the Carter Family, and more.

Besides having a stellar soundtrack, the multi-episodic documentary will also feature never-before-seen photographs and footage of iconic singers like Johnny Cash and Jimmie Rogers.

Burns, along with writer and co-producer Dayton Duncan and co-producer Julie Dunfrey says that the journey has been personal for them. They raised the mother together, worked with hectic time frames, and produced a really great documentary. And along the way, they realized that country music was deeper than they originally anticipated.

“It’s been this all-encompassing story. I don’t think we were prepared for the dividends it would pay in (learning about country music) and understanding how much it was about us, both the U.S. and the intimate us. I like the way the stories we tell ricochet between those things.”

In an interview with The Tennessean, Burns gets candid on his roots, and why he chose to do the documentary in the first place. When asked about what drew him to country music, he shared that people are always “drawn to stories that talk about who we are as a people.”

“We were working on another idea, but it suddenly disappeared in favor of this. And now eight years later, it’s been this all-encompassing story. You want to make sure that when you say yes to something, it’s a good topic. And this is a really good topic. This is as good if not the best we’ve ever done.”

The first four episodes are set to premiere on Sunday, the 15th of September and will carry on through Wednesday, the 18th of September. The next installments will air on Sunday, the 22nd of September all the way through Wednesday, the 25th of September. All will run from 8-10 PM EST.

Country Music will stream for free on all station-branded PBS platforms, including its website and the PBS Video App.