I go stay a week in these little towns that don't have an art outlet and... go to the schools and play some of the old Texas music, sort of 'go through the Texas country roots' is what they call it.
In little pockets of conversation, old men were telling stories of ancient floods. Women were talking of about how much rain there'd been in other towns -- Paragould, Lepanto, and Manila.
While farmers' markets are booming in cities, actual rural market towns are in decline.
I meet a lot of young people in the Midwest, and I saw what a difference a show like In the Life can make to their lives in some of these small towns where, you know, there are probably two gay people in the whole damn town.
I'm a Midwesterner by birth, and when I traveled there, when I was young, most of the small towns were thriving, vibrant places.
Rural towns aren't always idyllic. It's easy to feel trapped and be aware of social hypocrisy.
My father was an engineer working for a textile company that had several factories scattered in rural towns in the southern part of Japan.
If a small, rural town in Montana had just five or 10 people move back home, that would be five or 10 homes that either had to be purchased or built - that creates construction jobs.
Iowa is speckled with vibrant communities like Wilton, each with its own character and its own story to tell.
Now in a lot of rural towns in Kentucky, the school system is the heartbeat of the community, not to mention one of the major employers.
Many Mexican directors are scared to shoot in Mexico City, which is why there are many stories in Mexican cinema about little rural towns, or set a hundred years ago.
There are these little towns outside of L.A. Once you get an hour and a half, two hours out, you get into these little, tiny towns that are almost like stuck in time.
