Deep Roots: The Art And Music Of Bill Steber And Friends

DEEP ROOTS is music filmmaker Robert Mugge’s feature-length portrait of respected Southern artist, photographer, and musician Bill Steber

DEEP ROOTS is a 2025 feature-length music doc directed by Robert Mugge, and produced by Mugge with his partner Diana Zelman. It is intended as a companion piece to Mugge’s acclaimed 1991 film DEEP BLUES, which examined blues traditions of the Mississippi Delta and North Mississippi Hill Country.

DEEP ROOTS explores the life and work of highly regarded Southern artist, photographer, and musician Bill Steber, while showcasing Black and white musical traditions of the 1920s and 1930s, rural music scenes of Mississippi and Tennessee, and connections between music and the visual arts. The film’s first half takes place largely in Steber’s home base of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and its second half largely in the Mississippi Delta, which is a major focus of Steber’s work.

Included are interviews conducted at a Murfreesboro gallery exhibit of Steber’s art and photography; visits to Clarksdale, Mississippi’s Juke Joint Festival and Leland, Mississippi’s Highway 61 Blues Museum; and public performances by three of Steber’s primary music groups: Jake Leg Stompers, Stoop Down Rounders, and Hoodoo Men. Informative commentary is provided by music historian Scott Barretta, museum operator Billy Johnson, festival director Roger Stolle, and gallery curator Shannon Randol, as well as by Steber himself, whose witty musings enliven scenes throughout.

Track Listing

Jake Leg Stompers – My Four Reasons Jake Leg Stompers – Sweet Lovin’ Old Soul Jake Leg Stompers – Rooster Sam Jake Leg Stompers – Love Sick Blues Jake Leg Stompers – The Yellow Dog Blues Jake Leg Stompers – Crazy Blues Jake Leg Stompers – Big Road Blues Jake Leg Stompers – How Long, How Long Blues Jake Leg Stompers – St. James Infirmary Blues Hoodoo Men – If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day

Hoodoo Men – Rollin’ and Tumblin’ Stoop Down Rounders – Devil’s Backbone Bill Steber; Pat Thomas – Catfish Blues Stoop Down Rounders – Bentonia Stoop Down Rounders – Black Cat at Midnight Stoop Down Rounders – Any Kind of a Man Would be Better than You Stoop Down Rounders – That’s No Way to Get Along Stoop Down Rounders – Murder of a Blues Singer Stoop Down Rounders – Mary Don’t You Weep Jake Leg Stompers – Beale Street Holiday