A Bill Withers documentary at First Person Festival

Ain't No Sunshine

since singer-songwriter Bill Withers walked away from the music business in 1988.

Withers, whose hits included Lean on Me and Just the Two of Us, said he still loved the music but he'd had enough of the business.

Now Still Bill, a documentary by filmmakers Damani Baker and Alex Vlack, has Withers back in the spotlight exploring his roots in Slab Fork, W. Va., where he grew up as an asthmatic child who stuttered, bullied by other boys and ignored by the girls. The film shows some inspiring scenes of Withers speaking with young people involved in the nonprofit Stuttering Foundation (stutteringhelp.org) and talking about his Grandma Galloway, whom he immortalized with the hit Grandma's Hands.

Still Bill will be screened at 7:30 p.m. Sunday as part of the First Person Festival of Memoir and Documentary Art. The screening will be followed by a live performance by Motown legend Johnny Ingram.

The popular festival is marking the 80th anniversary of the 1929 stock market crash with a weekend of events designed to ease any depression.

Speakeasy, a Prohibition meet-and-greet complete with "bathtub" gin, will take place from 5 to 9 tonight and tomorrow ($20 for open bar and snacks).

An open mike for the karaoke obsessed is slated for 9 to 11 tonight ($20). And the Festival's Grand Slam of live storytelling starts at 9 p.m. tomorrow ($20).

For writers and readers, there's a full day of workshops starting at 9 a.m. tomorrow on memoir writing, oral and digital storytelling ($30). At 12:30, author/journalist Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down) tells what it takes to make a tale spellbinding ($20).

Sunday brings "Life Without Parole," a dramatic reading from Mother California (Atlas Press, 2009) by Kenneth E. Hartman, who has been behind bars in California nearly 30 years for murder. The program begins at 2 p.m., and a Q&A discussion follows (free).

These and a host of other First Person Festival events will be held at the Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St. Tickets and information on steep discounts for members are available at 267-402-2055 or firstpersonarts.org.