Gerald  Milnes is the reigning WV Filmmaker of the Year, receiving the honor last October in Sutton. During the last year he has released another film called “Icy Mountain” that documents the “quirky fiddling of Leland Hall.”

This film continues the improved method of showing how musicians work that he started with his film on Melvin Wine, “One More Time.” This film is not an interactive CD-ROM like the Wine film is, but he still shows in slow motion 10 tunes so anyone can practice with the film. The film includes some comments by Hall about his life as a musician, but doesn’t do so in depth - which may be just as well. ( See another new film by Milnes, “The Music of Heaven” which does spend more time in interviews.)

Almost singlehandedly Gerald Milnes has been promoting many of WV’s greatest musicians, both through the Augusta Heritage Festival which he leads and through his films and books. I hope all West Virginians with an interest in music will purchase this film and Milnes’ other creations. I also hope that future generations will have access to these invaluable items that record our heritage.

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