Welcome to Statesville NC ~ The birthplace of James "Jimmy Rock" Rogers
The Continuing Saga of James "Jimmy Rock" Rogers
Degamo Williams (plays bass with The Rhythm Kings)
Degamo and Jimmy Rogers work well together. Jimmy's playing comes primarily from what he feels at the moment. Consequently, he never plays a song the same way twice. Yet Degamo knows where Jimmy will go with the song, almost before Jimmy goes there.
Can’t Stop It, the movie is based on actual events. Shooting begins in Statesville, NC in the spring of 2026. If you would like to be considered for one of the fifty roles in the movie, work behind the cameras, or provide a product or service to the production company please tell us here.
In the opening scene of the movie Degamo Williams, and all the members of The Rhythm Kings are walking with Jimmy Rogers down the High School corridor. They are congratulating Jimmy for taking top honors in the Statesville Chronicles Creative Writing Contest. Jimmy is surrounded by Bob Bryant, Jr., Paul Donaldson, Degamo, David Perkins (Jimmy’s cousin and founder of The Rhythm Kings).
Their celebratory mood is interrupted when they come upon the Dean Johnson gang of High School dog heavies menacing Jediah Hudson. Jediah works at the school as a janitor and is trying to help new kid Carlos Rodriguez open his locker.
Jediah’s back story includes ten years in the State Penitentiary for being convicted of the rape and murder of a white teenage girl.
A lingering question in Can’t Stop It, is did he, do it? You’ll have to see the movie.
Hearing his wife Victoria Hudson sing “Love You More Than Ever” reveals she certainly thinks Jediah is innocent. If Jediah is innocent, then for whom did Jediah serve twenty years?
Listening to Jediah sing “Bye Bye Blackbird” from his prison cell solidifies for us the unbreakable bond between him and Victoria.
In 1897, Degamo’s great grandfather, Adama Diarrassouba, came to the United States to study at Agricultural & Technical State University, in Greensboro, NC. Upon graduation he moved to Statesville, NC to work for a farm implements manufacturer. His primary task was to “sell” farmers on the benefits of incorporating mechanization into their farming.
Adama changed his last name to “Williams” after several of the first farmers he called upon struggled to pronounce “Diarrassouba”. He chose “Williams” because it was the first name of a Christian missionary he met as a young boy in his native Ivory Coast.
Degamo’s Mother succumbs to pancreatic cancer while he and his sister Desiree are holding her hands. Degamo writes and sings “Mother’s Home” as a memorial to her.
