March is Women’s History Month, and what better way to commemorate the accomplishments of noteworthy women in Indiana’s history than by honoring the heritage of Hoosier novelist and naturalist Gene Stratton-Porter, one of the world’s most successful writers of novels, nonfiction nature studies, poetry and children’s literature in the early part of the 20th century. During her lifetime, Gene Stratton- Porter was celebrated for her writing, her business acumen, and her environmental activism. Her best-selling books, nature photography and early Hollywood films garnered the attention and praise of millions across the U.S. and around the world. Her story is the subject of the new national WTIU/PBS historical documentary film, Gene Stratton-Porter: Music of the Wild, slated to premiere in November 2026.
Each month our production team at WTIU shares a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the new documentary. This month, we pull back the curtain and allow you to witness the making of the musical soundtrack to the production.
For many years, I have had the privilege to work alongside Tyron Cooper, PhD., a multiple Emmy Award-winning composer and musical director, as well as an associate professor of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University, and the director of the Archives of African-American Music and Culture at IU. I’m honestly not sure how Tyron handles all the responsibilities of his myriad roles at Indiana University. Yet he still manages to find time to work with us to craft beautiful, award-winning musical scores to accompany several of our WTIU documentaries and concert films.
This past month, we have been fortunate enough to work at Airtime Studios in Bloomington, Indiana. Over two weeks in February, studio owner and lead audio engineer David Weber guided us with technical brilliance and supreme grace, allowing us to play host to several world-class musicians who were assembled to craft this memorable documentary soundtrack.
“The forest always has been compared rightly with a place of worship. Its mighty trees, sometimes appearing as if set in aisles, resemble large pillars, and the canopy formed by their overarching branches provides the subdued light conducive to worship…Sunlight, streaming in white shafts through small interstices, suggests candles. Altars are everywhere, carpeted with velvet mosses, embroidered with lichens and decorated with pale-faced flowers, the eternal symbol of purity and holiness. Its winds forced among overlapping branches sing softly as harps…Its insect, bird and animal life has been cradled to this strange music until voices partake of its tones, so that they harmonize with the tree accompaniment, and all united in one mighty volume, to create the chorus of the forest.”Gene Stratton-Porter, from Music of the Wild, (c) 1910
Joining us in this effort are Krista Detor and Carrie Newcomer. Those of us in Indiana and the greater Midwest have known about the remarkable talents of these two sensational singer/songwriters for years. Both are award-winning recording artists, composers and writers who enjoy a worldwide following. Krista Detor has been referred to by BBC Radio as “America’s Best Kept Secret,” and recognized by the Indiana Legislature for Contributions to the Arts for her collaboration in PBS’s award-winning "Wilderness Plots." She’s a literary, piano-driven songwriter with a restrained, atmospheric sensibility and character-driven storytelling approach. Carrie Newcomer has 20 nationally released albums known for their musical depth and progressive spiritual context, an artist the Boston Globe described as a “prairie mystic” and one who “asks all the right questions” by Rolling Stone Magazine. Not only are both Krista and Carrie providing vocals on the musical soundtrack. Each will be reading passages from the writings of Gene Stratton-Porter and her daughter, Jeannette Porter-Meehan.
Along with these sensational talents, the soundtrack also features Ella Jordan on violin, bass player Brandon Meeks, Pat Otto on mandolin, clawhammer banjo and guitar, Brandt Smith on banjo and dobro, cellist Ben Sollee, and George Tyler on drums. WTIU chief audio engineer Kevin Evans and associate audio engineer Brock Hamman will also help in the music mix for the program.
The title of the new WTIU/PBS documentary pays tribute to one of Gene Stratton-Porter’s most popular nonfiction works, Music of the Wild, in which she compares the sights and sounds of nature to a symphony and a quiet walk in the woods to the hushed reverence one experiences when stepping into an ancient, majestic temple.
The soundtrack to Gene Stratton-Porter: Music of the Wild reflects both the joy and reverence the author had for her natural surroundings, as well as the connection the environment provides to a greater spiritual Truth. Stratton-Porter was a musician herself, playing the violin, organ and banjo. Her musical sensibilities are reflected throughout her writings. It only seemed appropriate for us in the making of this documentary to tap into the hearts and souls of musicians who can use their gifts of poetic lyricism and mystical harmonies to help us better understand and interpret nature on a deeply spiritual and personal level.
As Gene Stratton-Porter once penned, “I write as the birds sing, because I must, and usually from the same source of Inspiration.” Once you and other audience members watch this documentary and enjoy this sensational soundtrack, my hope is that you too will experience this same remarkable source of Inspiration.
