Welcome to My Documentary
After several months of work, I'm proud to announce that the website and trailer for Welcome to Daytrotter are live. The film is currently in production, but when complete, will be a feature length look at the recording studio / website Daytrotter. The story of how this group of people built this thing in the Quad Cities caught my attention the first time I heard it, and I believe it resonates with anyone who has ever built any kind of arts project in an unexpected place.
The film is my first foray into documentary, but given my background in filmmaking and journalism, I feel like it's going pretty smoothly. We hope to finish shooting this summer/fall, then move into post-production. At the moment, we're targeting January of 2012 to premiere the film.
That said, we need help to tell this story. Non-fiction films don't have much profit potential, so we, like many films, have adopted a nonprofit model. We have partnered with NY Arts Group Fractured Atlas so that donations to our film are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. You can donate online and get some pretty sweet Thank You gifts through our partnership with IndieGoGo.
You can also help us show there is an audience for the film by becoming our fan on Facebook.
The site's been up for less than 24 hours as I write this, and we've got more than 200 fans on Facebook and the trailer is about to go over 1,000 views. It's a gratifying response.
Eleven Bulls, LLC
As we began to manage money for Welcome to Daytrotter, it became clear I needed a production company to filter the money through, as well as provide a legal buffer for my gross negligence and defamation of character.
And so it was that on the Nineteenth Day of July, Two Thousand and Ten, Eleven Bulls, LLC was created. It's been a bit exciting to setup a business, especially if you're into such things as filling out forms and paying fees. But now, here we are.
As for the name, it is an allusion to this series of lithographs by Picasso, which I've always found to be a potent metaphor for abstraction, art as a process, etc. Or, if that's too highfalutin, I chose it because Bulls kick ass, and we turn it up to eleven!
If you or anyone you know are a logo designer who enjoy working for extremely low pay, please contact me.
And so it was that on the Nineteenth Day of July, Two Thousand and Ten, Eleven Bulls, LLC was created. It's been a bit exciting to setup a business, especially if you're into such things as filling out forms and paying fees. But now, here we are.
As for the name, it is an allusion to this series of lithographs by Picasso, which I've always found to be a potent metaphor for abstraction, art as a process, etc. Or, if that's too highfalutin, I chose it because Bulls kick ass, and we turn it up to eleven!
If you or anyone you know are a logo designer who enjoy working for extremely low pay, please contact me.
My Bacon Number
A friend pointed out today that The Oracle of Bacon now lists me with a Bacon Number of 3. If only the Oracle of Bacon counted instances where Kevin Bacon was a director, I could cut my number down to 2.
I will not rest until I have a Bacon Number of Zero, at which point I WILL BE KEVIN BACON.
A Weekend of (filming) Music
So it took me a little longer than expected to recap the weekend. It was a great weekend of music and we got some great footage for the documentary. The only downside was that working to get that footage left me little time to just sit and listen.
The third 80/35 felt like it really hit a groove. It's big enough to draw A-list bands but still feels like a neighborhood festival. We shot a great interview with William Elliot Whitmore, and after negotiating level after level of handlers, and with the help of the amazing Jill Haverkamp, we were able to shoot an interview with Spoon's Britt Daniel.
Mr. Daniel, or Britt as I've decided he'd like me to call him, was very cool and had a real perspective on Daytrotter. I'm so glad we were able to sit down with him for the film.
After watching Spoon's headlining set on the main stage, Naura and I were both feeling too tired to head to The Mews to catch the always amazing Poison Control Center. But I must admit my head exploded a little the next morning when I saw this picture from the friends we would have gone to the show with:
Sunday morning, we rolled east to the Codfish Hollow Barn just outside of Maquoketa for the Daytrotter Barn on the 4th Show. We went in with a few interviews in mind, a few performances we wanted shoot, but aware we wouldn't be able to get everything. We got everything.
We shot performances and interviews with The Walkmen, Dawes and Justin Townes Earle, as well as performance from Jonny Corndawg with Dawes as his backup band. We got great interviews and footage of the Daytrotter crew making the whole thing happen.
But what made the footage so killer was the atmosphere of the event itself. I've never seen musicians and fans so charged to be with each other. The Walkmen and Dawes both played afternoon sets in Des Moines and then drove through the rain to play a second show because they wanted the experience of playing a Daytrotter barn show.
We wish we could just throw all our material into the social media stream. But aspiring to put together a feature as we are, and in the interests of only putting out what we've had the chance to polish, we'll be sitting on it for now.
Once we're happy with the cut of our trailer, we'll be launching our website and Facebook pages, and then we will be posting shorter bits of video and pictures from these amazing shoots.
Several people approached us while we were shooting the barn show with enthusiasm and curiosity about the film. We look forward to staying engaged.
The third 80/35 felt like it really hit a groove. It's big enough to draw A-list bands but still feels like a neighborhood festival. We shot a great interview with William Elliot Whitmore, and after negotiating level after level of handlers, and with the help of the amazing Jill Haverkamp, we were able to shoot an interview with Spoon's Britt Daniel.
Mr. Daniel, or Britt as I've decided he'd like me to call him, was very cool and had a real perspective on Daytrotter. I'm so glad we were able to sit down with him for the film.
After watching Spoon's headlining set on the main stage, Naura and I were both feeling too tired to head to The Mews to catch the always amazing Poison Control Center. But I must admit my head exploded a little the next morning when I saw this picture from the friends we would have gone to the show with:
Sunday morning, we rolled east to the Codfish Hollow Barn just outside of Maquoketa for the Daytrotter Barn on the 4th Show. We went in with a few interviews in mind, a few performances we wanted shoot, but aware we wouldn't be able to get everything. We got everything.
But what made the footage so killer was the atmosphere of the event itself. I've never seen musicians and fans so charged to be with each other. The Walkmen and Dawes both played afternoon sets in Des Moines and then drove through the rain to play a second show because they wanted the experience of playing a Daytrotter barn show.
We wish we could just throw all our material into the social media stream. But aspiring to put together a feature as we are, and in the interests of only putting out what we've had the chance to polish, we'll be sitting on it for now.
Once we're happy with the cut of our trailer, we'll be launching our website and Facebook pages, and then we will be posting shorter bits of video and pictures from these amazing shoots.
Several people approached us while we were shooting the barn show with enthusiasm and curiosity about the film. We look forward to staying engaged.
Dick Prall in a Backyard
After more than a decade of touring, often with a full band, Dick's put together a tour "from Portland, Maine to the Napa Valley" playing in people's homes. It's an innovative idea, and it makes for a hell of a show.
Dick played without amplification, but his percussive guitar and booming voice didn't need it. The pop of a beer can or the rattle of a lawn chair sometimes caused a moment of distraction, but it was all in the spirit. And it sure beat the cracking pool balls and TV sports chatter of even the most intimate club shows.
He build his set entirely on requests, with someone in the crowd occasionally helping remember a lyric for the more obscure numbers. Brief gusts of wind and other surprises from the natural world highlighted the organic feel.
And after the show: Drinking.
Today we'll be rolling out to Day 1 of 80/35 and hopefully have enough left in the tank for Poison Control Center tonight.
Rock & Roll Weekend
The four shows/events range from a multi-day festival to a backyard concert. All are happening in Iowa, three just in Des Moines.
Tonight I'll be at a small, backyard performance by singer/songwriter Dick Prall. Dick's doing a nationwide tour exclusively of house parties - a cool concept and an exciting, intimate way to see a show.
Saturday and Sunday bring the ever-awesome 80/35 Music Festival back to Des Moines, with a really killer lineup this year.
If I'm not face-down from exhaustion or otherwise Saturday night, I plan to get over to the Vaudeville Mews to catch a free show from Poison Control Center - great guys who just put out an amazing record.
Then Sunday night I'll be rolling across the state to a barn outside Maquoketa for a 4th of July Barn Show being put on by Daytrotter. Another unbelievable lineup in an unlikely location. This will be more of a working event, however, as I'm currently producing and directing a documentary film about Daytrotter. It's an exciting project we've been working on for some time, but keeping mostly under wraps. We expect to launch a more public face for the film in the coming weeks.
I'll work to post updates on the shows here throughout the weekend, and will absolutely post more on the documentary as soon as I can.
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