Pain has long been at the heart of the blues — and Rita Chiarelli is heading back to a place where it's all too prevalent. Chiarelli has experience behind bars, stemming from her 2010 prison film Welcome to the Big House, made alongside director Bruce McDonald of Hardcore Logo fame. While the male prison in Louisiana had instruments and a music program, "the women's prison had nothing," Chiarelli said. Chiarelli first visited the institution's medium security wing in 2017 alongside Kansas City filmmaker Mikal Shapiro to make a short film for the Folk Alliance. Chiarelli is currently fundraising to get the project going on Kickstarter, with just over $18,000 raised as of Thursday afternoon.

Source: CBC News April 11, 2019 19:41 UTC