THE PLOT

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It's 1956 and FBI director J. Edgar Hoover has just hatched an elaborate plan to eliminate the biggest threat to America since Communism: blues music. Traveling first to the Deep South and then to the rural Appalachian  Mountains, Hoover's fanatic quest to find the roots of the blues will betray much deeper secrets not only about the music, but also about the man who set out to destroy it.

 

Hoover thought his most compromising secret involved a longtime romantic relationship with FBI Deputy Director Clyde Tolson. But after discovering clues to his past in an old blues record, Hoover uncovers startling evidence of his hidden African American heritage. What starts as a campaign to find and destroy the roots of the blues will eventually lead Hoover to a secret so compromising that his life and position may never be the same again.

 

This is a stylistic, modestly budgeted film designed to make the most of an ensemble cast in three simple locations: a bar, a church, and a cabin. The musical numbers are high energy blues originals that will allow each member of the cast to shine.

 

THE CHARACTERS

 

J. Edgar Hoover: The head of the FBI - a man of many secrets

 

Clyde Tolson: Lead attorney for the FBI - Hoover's long-time confidant and secret lover

 

Lulu Fields: Hoover's housekeeper's daughter, a young African American woman with a wild side

 

Blackburn Deadmore Sr: Elderly African American man who recorded one of the earliest blues songs. Unbeknownst to him, he is the father of J. Edgar Hoover.

 

Blackburn Deadmore Jr: Electric guitar blues master – one of Deadmore Senior's numerous illegitimate children. Unbeknownst to him, he is the half-brother of J. Edgar Hoover.

 

Sly McCoy: Elderly West Virginia hillbilly who fought in the Civil War and later worked with John Henry. Sly was one of the first white men to learn the blues.

 

Grandma McCoy: Sly's wife - keeper of the family rifle and family traditions like the Hatfield/McCoy feud. Grandma’s got a loaded gun, a mean temper, and a hellacious singing voice.