Dirk Powell's Detailed Résumé
- Played banjo in Edward Burns’ 1995 film “The Brothers McMullen.”
- Played banjo, fiddle and guitar with the London Symphony in Ang Lee’ 1999 Western “Ride With the Devil” (collaborating with pop star Jewel for end-credit song “What's Simple is True”).
- Wrote and performed music for the Appalachian Film Workshop documentary “Stranger With a Camera” of 2000.
- Played banjo in Spike Lee’s 2000 film “Bamboozled.”
- Wrote the score for the 2002 documentary “Stevie”.
- Wrote and performed music for the 2002 dramatic film “Coastlines” along with his impromptu band Louisiana Renegades.
- Composed and performed the score for the prize-winning History Channel documentary “The Unfinished Civil War,” produced and directed by Glenn Kirschbaum.
- Fiddled on stage with “Riverdance: The Show.”
- Provided expert music commentary and performed for the 2001 television series “The Irish Empire” documenting Scotch-Irish emigration to Appalachia.
- Collaborated with rapper Danja Mowf for the documentary “From the Holler to the Hood” about the growth of prisons in Appalachia.
- Toured with Cajun/Zydeco band Balfa Toujours (with his wife Christine Balfa), a band that, so far, has recorded the albums “Deux Voyages” (1996), “La Pointe” (1998), “Allons Danser” (1998) and “Live at Whiskey River Landing” (2000).
- Recorded the eclectic album “Tony Furtado and Dirk Powell” (1999)
- Recorded his own albums: “The Dirk Powell Band,” “If I Go Ten Thousand Miles” (1996) and “Hand Me Down” (1999).
- Recorded with Tim O'Brien on the albums “Rock in My Shoe” (1995), “The Crossing” (1999), and “Two Journeys” (2002).
- Recorded the spirited Celtic album “A Week in January” (1990) with Seamus Egan.
- Played bass and accordion on tour with the Tim O'Brien Band.
- Performed extensively with Geno Delafose, Preston Frank and 'Bois Sec' Ardoin.
- Played keyboards with certain 10,000 Maniacs members in an alternative band.
- Co-founded the band Donna the Buffalo and was their bass player.
- Played electric guitar, fiddle, banjo, and accordion with The Freewill Savages, with band co-founders James Leva, Al Tharp and Dave Grant.
- Wrote or co-wrote music for 10,000 Maniacs, Tim O'Brien, Hillbilly Idol, Critton Hollow String Band, Beausoleil, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, Eddie LeJeune, Charivari, Courtney Granger, Ginny Hawker, Bruce Daigrepont.
- Produced the album’ “Letters From My Father” (2001) by Ginny Hawker, “Allons Danser” (1998) by 'Bois Sec' Ardoin, “Gambling Eden” (2003) by Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, “Un Bal Chez Balfa” (1999) by Courtney Granger, and “Swamp Ceili” (1997) by Sam Bartlett.
- Collaborated with Creole musician Keith Frank on a musical project aimed at challenging racism in Louisiana.
- Been involved with various projects by Tara Nevins (with Ralph Stanley), Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, Geno Delafose, Darrell Scott, Bill Wellington, David Greer, Bruce Molsky, Courtney Granger, Wild Asparagus, Fresh Fish, The Humdingers, Scott Nygaard, The Wildcats, One Eyed Dog, and The Fiddle Puppets.
- Wrote commentary for the now-defunct national literary magazine on Southern culture, The Oxford American.
- Wrote an original screenplay for his own film “Lost Branch.”
- Filmed music instruction videos entitled “Learn To Play Cajun Accordion” (Volume I, II,III), with his wife Christine Balfa, using a single-row, diatonic button (melodeon) accordion in the key of C.
- Collaborated with Tim O’Brien and John Herrmann to produce the album “Songs From the Mountain” (2002), the official companion CD to the National Book Award-winning novel “Cold Mountain” (1997) by Charles Frazier, that aims to capture the authentic songs and sounds of the Civil War era.
- Wrote liner notes for “Letters From My Father” (2001) by Ginny Hawker, for which he won the award “Best Liner Notes” from IBMA, “Tony Furtado and Dirk Powell” (1999), “Songs From the Mountain” (2002) and his own recent recording “Hand Me Down” (1999).
- Collaborated with T Bone Burnett on the soundtrack for the 2003 feature film “Cold Mountain” based on the Frazier novel.
