John Sayles and Gary Clark Jr. will be attending the Austin premiere of Honeydripper on Tuesday, January 22 at The Paramount Theater.
The screening will be followed by a performance by Gary Clark Jr. and Eddie Shaw at the Continental Club (1315 Congress Avenue). On Wednesday, January 23, Gary Clark Jr. will perform in a special show at Antone’s (213 W. 5th St) with Pinetop Perkins, Eddie Shaw and Hubert Sumlin.
Tickets on sale on Friday, January 11 through GetTix (866-443-8849), gettix.net or the Paramount Theatre box office. Pricing as follows:
$25 tickets include screening and admission to the Continental Club for the official after-party featuring Gary Clark Jr. and special guests (1315 South Congress Ave.).
$20 tickets include screening and admission to Antone’s Nightclub on Wednesday, January 23 for a performance by Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin and special guests (213 W. 5th St.).
Screening only tickets also available for $12 (Balcony) and $7 (Mezzanine) including a Q&A with cast and filmmakers.
Date
Now Playing to Tuesday January 22, 2008
Time
7:30 PM
Location
The Paramount Theater
713 Congress Ave
Austin, TX 78701 view map
Legendary independent filmmaker John Sayles will join actor Danny Glover in a conversation about Glover’s remarkable career and about their recent collaboration on Sayles’s new film, Honeydripper. Glover, the versatile actor whose credits include Dreamgirls, Beloved, Lethal Weapon, and To Sleep with Anger; and who is now appearing on Brothers & Sisters plays the owner of a 1950s Alabama roadhouse threatened by the rise of rock ‘n roll. The evening will include a set of live music by the astonishing Texas blues guitarist Gary Clark Jr.
Date
Now Playing to Wednesday December 19, 2007
Time
7:00 PM
Location
The Times Center
242 West 41st Street
New York, NY 10036 view map
Arthur Lee Williams is a native of Tunica, Mississippi. As a boy he moved to Chicago with his family, and there, inspired by such neighborhood greats as Sonny Boy Williamson II and Little Walter, taught himself to play harmonica. He began gigging in the mid ‘50s, sitting in with luminaries such as Muddy Waters, Elmore James and Eddie Taylor. He returned to Mississippi and his country roots after high school, breaking in on Memphis radio with Barber Parker and the Silver Kings and played countless dates in juke joints and roadhouses similar to the one depicted in Honeydripper, eventually partnering with Frank Frost and Sam Carr on several blues records. Relocating to St. Louis in the early ‘70s, he formed the Bluesmasters and became a vital part of the Midwestern music scene.
Eddie Shaw has played his tenor sax with many of the legends of the blues, including Hound Dog Taylor, Freddie King, Otis Rush, Muddy Waters and a long run with Howlin Wolf. He continued with many of the members of that band to form the Wolf Gang. His son Eddie ‘Vaan’ Shaw is a guitarist, while his son Stan Shaw has become a highly-regarded film actor. While Shaw’s appearance in Honeydripper is his first film work, he has long been known for his dramatic, powerful playing style.
Film composer Mason Daring has explored many paths on the way to his current career -entertainment lawyer, folk singer, cabbie and truck driver, commercial director, and potential rock star among them. But his professional life has always returned to the world of music.
Gary Clark Jr., recently named Best Blues Artist at the Austin Music Awards, is one of the most exciting young guitarists in the country. Self-taught, he hit the Texas music scene in 1998 at the age of fourteen, and since has opened for talents such as Gatemouth Brown, Jimmie Vaughan, Bobby Bland and Joe Ely, while steadily building a substantial club following of his own. A singer/songwriter who also plays bass, harmonica and drums, Clark is working on his fourth and most ambitious CD and has begun to write soundtrack music for films. Honeydripper is his first appearance in a movie.
Dr. Mable John was born in Louisiana and raised in Detroit. Following her younger brother, Little Willie John, she recorded as a solo artist for the Tamla and Stax labels, scoring her first major hit in 1966 with the soul classic “Your Good Thing is About to End,” which she co-wrote. She served for several years as director of Ray Charles’ backup group, the Raelettes, often performing with them, and created her own music publishing and talent agency. Now a Doctor of Divinity, Dr. John is pastor of the Joy in Jesus Ministries and supervises outreach programs that provide aid and counseling for people in the Los Angeles area, as well as writing and recording religious music. In 1994 the Rhythm and Blues Foundation presented her with its Pioneer Award.
A lot of ink has been spilled by music writers about what deserves to be considered the ‘first rock and roll song’. I’ve always felt that the beginning of any new spirit or style in the world- in sports, art, religion, politics- makes for an interesting story. Who jumps aboard the new thing right away and who decides, no thanks, I’m sticking with what I know? What is the cost when you make either decision? HONEYDRIPPER takes place in the little crossroads town of Harmony, Alabama, in 1950. Blues singers still sit outside the drugstores, playing for pennies, the jukebox has room for big bands, jump combos like Louis Jordan’s, country and proto-rockabilly stars like Hank Williams, Perry Como style crooners and perky novelty songs, while gospel is the most commonly listened-to live music. But technology is about to intrude. The guitar player, relegated to sideman on the bandstand, is about to plug his ax in. And once the guitar can wail and slide with the same volume as the horns or piano– watch out. In the movie Gary Clark Jr., a guitar prodigy out of Austin, plays Sonny Blake, conjuring up the spirit of Ike Turner, T Bone Walker, Johnny Watson and countless others who pushed the music forward when they got electrified, and Danny Glover plays Pinetop Purvis, an itinerant boogie-woogie piano player who has made his stand by buying the Honeydripper Lounge and presenting the music he’s absorbed in his own life, up-to-the-moment or not. He is haunted by his past and resistant to the future, and suddenly this good-looking kid rolls into town carrying a guitar with no hole in it— (more…)
View:youtube Honeydripper All-Star Band performing live at New York City’s River to River Festival. This song features Henderson Huggins whose hands make a cameo appearance in the film.
View:youtube Honeydripper All-Star Band performing live at New York City’s River to River Festival. This song features Eddie Shaw who also appears in the film.
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