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Echo In The Canyon Celebrates the Music of a Magical Era
by Rich and Laura Lynch
Echo In The Canyon opened on Thursday, June 27th at the Belcourt Theater (2102 Belcourt Ave, Nashville, TN) with showings at 7:30 and 10:15 pm. Both screenings were followed by a Q&A with musician Jakob Dylan and director Andrew Slater, along with performances by Jakob, Jade Castrinos and the Echo In The Canyon Band.
Jakob Dylan and the Echo In The Canyon Band played sets following both showings.
Echo In The Canyon is a new documentary that explores the Laurel Canyon scene of the 1960s through music and insightful interviews with Tom Petty, Roger McGuinn, Brian Wilson, Eric Clapton, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Jackson Browne, Michelle Phillips, Ringo Starr and more. The film also looks at some of the artists who were inspired by the era such as Jakob Dylan, Fiona Apple, Beck, Cat Power and Regina Spektor. Together they discussed those influences while performing throughout this engaging undertaking.
Echo In The Canyon was the ideal movie to kick off the summer season as the Belcourt Theater is running a 1960-themed film festival in July and August of 2019. Echo In The Canyon took us up into the mountains to hear and see the place were so much magical music was made in a relatively short period of time. Laurel Canyon was a close-nit community of artists. Instead of going to clubs, folks went to each other's homes to craft music with many songs written at a friend's house becoming the hit of the day.
There was a feeling of freedom and excitement in the air as folks discovered new sounds and started writing more complex compositions. The British Invasion also encouraged players to expand their musical boundaries. Groups such as the Byrds were blending genres shaping their own groovy sounds while others took lyrics more seriously thanks in part to a guy named Robert Zimmerman. In the film it was declared "and then Dylan showed up". Bob's son Jakob jokingly replied you need to be more specific. Vintage photo clips were woven in between interviews while the Echo In The Canyon Band played the soundtrack of Laurel Canyon giving the film both a classic and contemporary vibe.
Andrew Slater and Jakob Dylan share their thoughts after the 7:30 pm showing in Nashville.
Echo In The Canyon was well received by the discerning Music City crowd who afterwards asked a number of insightful questions. One person wanted to know why Joni Mitchell was not in the film. During the course of conversation, Jakob Dylan and Andrew Slater said that some things did not make the cut or just did not fit into the big picture. A documentary of this scope takes years of hard work to compile and the original vision can change over time. The pair described how the movie ultimately focused on the period from 1965 to 1967 when the Laurel Canyon scene first fused folk with amplified rock to form a genre that would define a generation. The premier concluded with the Echo In The Canyon Band playing a number of classics from this pivotal place in music history.
Echo In The Canyon was a celebration of the creative output that came out of LA's Laurel Canyon music scene as folk rock went electric propelled by The Byrds, The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield and The Mamas & the Papas who gave birth to the California Sound. The movie is one of 2019's breakout independent films. It had the highest opening weekend per-theater average (PTA) of any documentary this year and has grossed over $500,000 in ticket sales to date. Plus, its soundtrack is available digitally with CDs coming out on June 28, 2019 followed by a vinyl release on August 2nd. Lastly, The Belcourt Theater in Nashville - well known for being a strong supporter of emerging films along with the classics - will be featuring Echo In The Canyon later this year.
The Belcourt is no stranger to special events in Music City.
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For more information on ECHO IN THE CANYON and the other organizations mentioned please visit the following links --
Echo In The Canyon |
Belcourt Theatre
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