
Hidden History at the Scrap Yard
Clip: Season 10 Episode 1005 | 2m 28sVideo has Closed Captions
Bluegrass 45 reunites with the tour van from their first US Tour.
Members of Bluegrass 45 are reunited with the iconic tour van from their US tour in the 1970’s, now hiding a scrap yard in West Virginia.
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
Support for Reel South is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Center for Asian American Media and by SouthArts.

Hidden History at the Scrap Yard
Clip: Season 10 Episode 1005 | 2m 28sVideo has Closed Captions
Members of Bluegrass 45 are reunited with the iconic tour van from their US tour in the 1970’s, now hiding a scrap yard in West Virginia.
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch REEL SOUTH
REEL SOUTH is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship[soft string music] ♪ ♪ - [laughs] Hello!
Are you Mark?
- I'm Mark!
- Akira.
- My first band on this bus-- if you look right up in there, you can see there's Bluegrass 45.
I didn't know anything about it until I saw that, really.
[laughs] Was any of this there?
- If you look at the movie, you see them interviewing us here.
- Oh.
- Josh goes over there.
Josh, over there.
- Wow.
- But there was a man up in West Virginia that had this bus.
I buy old vehicles and stuff.
And he was going to scrap it.
- Uh-huh.
- And I was-- I couldn't let him scrap it because it was-- it was so unique.
- Oh, yeah?
- And so he said, I don't know, some bluegrass band had it.
I don't know who it was.
He said, but I think it was from another country.
AKIRA OTSUKA: Is it true that it moves?
MARK BOGGS: Well, let's see if it'll start.
[chatter] [rattling] [creaking] [car starting] [engine whirring] [chatter] [somber music] [chatter] - I can't believe it's running.
MARK BOGGS: The motor was not locked up or anything.
- [laughs] MARK BOGGS: Well, I have no title.
But I don't need it.
I ain't planning on selling it.
[laughs] I just want to fix it up.
You had the Bluegrass 45 on the side plate that lit up there.
BAND MEMBER: Yeah.
- Did you have it on the back anywhere?
AKIRA OTSUKA: That, I don't remember?
- Well, now, did y'all run out of gas?
[laughter] AKIRA OTSUKA: Several times, it broke down, too.
MARK BOGGS: If you're coming through here, you just stop.
AKIRA OTSUKA: Yeah, of course.
BAND MEMBER: Yeah.
AKIRA OTSUKA: Thank you very, very much.
- You're very welcome, sir.
AKIRA OTSUKA: Take care.
- Good to meet all of you.
[laughs] [metal creaking] That was really cool.
TOSHIO WATANABE: [speaking japanese] JOSH OTSUKA: [speaking japanese] TOSHIO WATANABE: [speaking japanese] - [laughs] TOSHIO WATANABE: [speaking japanese] [somber music] [ambient music]
Called to the Mountains | Official Trailer
Video has Closed Captions
Japanese bluegrass band Bluegrass 45 finds cultural unity through their music in the South. (1m)
Japanese Students of Bluegrass
Video has Closed Captions
A member of Bluegrass 45 jams with Kobe University’s Bluegrass club. (1m 48s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipSupport for Reel South is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Center for Asian American Media and by SouthArts.