Rita Chiarelli




THREE OAKS – Canadian musician Rita Chiarelli was planning a blues pilgrimage down U.S. Route 61, which runs from Wyoming, Minn., to New Orleans, La., when she stumbled upon a reference to Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. “It came up because it has this incredible musical history,” Chiarelli says by […]

Spending time in the big house








Filmed at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, “Music From the Big House,” Bruce McDonald’s loosely built documentary, yields the cognitive dissonance of being entertained by performers convicted of rape, murder and other offenses. The Canadian blues singer Rita Chiarelli acts as our ambassador to a realm of life sentences and strained […]

Playing the Blues While Inside Prison Walls