Let There Be Emmy! Bluegrass Underground Wins Regional Emmy Award for Best Lighting

Posted by jmayo on January 28, 2013

January 28, 2013 at 4:34 PM

For the most outstanding artistic achievement in a cavern since those prehistoric cave painters over in France, it’s Bluegrass Underground’s ace lighting team of Allen Branton, Han Henze and Wally Bigbee.

OK, that’s a little over-the-top, but as of Jan. 26, Bluegrass Underground isn’t merely the best-sounding music show on Public TV, it’s also the best-looking, and we’ve got the Emmy to prove it.  Allen Branton, Han Henze and Wally Bigbee took the Best Lighting award in the 27th Midsouth Regional Emmy Awards, held at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Congratulations to everyone involved.

Next time you tune into Bluegrass Underground on WNPT or WCTE, notice how well-lit the shows are. As a longtime music-on-TV watcher, I’ve commented in this blog before about the great lighting in the Volcano Room. It makes a big difference, as too many other shows seem to confuse “murky” with “moody.” But when you have world-class talent like Vince Gill, Leon Russell, Del McCoury, Old Crow Medicine Show, The SteelDrivers, The Wood Brothers, Beausoleil, etc., you want to show them in the best light. And, if you are lucky enough to have tickets for the March 8-10 filming of the third season, along with a lot of great live music, you’ll get to see that Emmy-Award-winning best light in person.

- Larry Nager