Ramblin' Jack Elliott ambled through the folk movement as a true free spirit and the ultimate follower of his dreams. He had dreams of trains, boats, the road, rodeos, and he wrote songs about all of these things. He was also the unheralded but unmistakable link between folk legends Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. On the other hand, Ramblin' Jack abandoned his family and was an absentee father to his daughter.

This directorial debut from Ramblin' Jack's daughter, Aiyana Elliott, is a very personal documentary about her father that focuses evenly on the admirable aspects of his early life and the misfortunes of his later life. This dichotomy works to the viewer's benefit as Ramblin Jack's daughter paints a rich, full portrait of a complex, flawed, beautiful, and undeniably real character. Aiyana tags along on her father's concert tours, using the film to demonstrate that her remarkable father is vital to the history of American music. Along the way, she asks him questions, each leading back to her having felt neglected by him as his daughter. THE BALLAD OF RAMBLIN' JACK itself rambles as majestically as its title character. Both the man and the movie are organic, vibrant, complicated, and hypnotically engrossing.