Our guest this week is documentary director Steven Flynn, who joins us from his home in Ireland to talk about the new film that he just released, Eye of The Hurricane.
Eye of The Hurricane is a film that has been a long time coming. When I found out that somebody was working on a documentary about folk singer/songwriter David Wilcox, I was intrigued. I’ve been a fan of David’s music for nearly 25 years, starting with the moment that I was working in a record store and got a promo copy of Home Again, David’s new album at the time, which had been released in August of 1991.
Looking at the album cover, I saw the title, Home Again, but then below that in smaller letters, I saw the words, ”For the first time.” I put it in and heard David’s solo performance of ”Burgundy Heart-Shaped Medallion,” which is the leadoff track on the album. As I listened and looked at the track listing for the record, I saw ”Chet Baker’s Unsung Swan Song” and knew that this album was going to take me to some interesting places and leave me with some things to think about. And it certainly did. I worked backwards from that point and picked up a copy of David’s previous album, How Did You Find Me Here and stuck with him as he released his next album, Big Horizon.
It was after the Big Horizon album that I finally got a chance to see David live for the first time, when he came home to his birthplace of Mentor, Ohio to play a show, which happened about a year or so before the release of his next album, Turning Point. I think I had spent some time up until that point wondering how a guy like David had gotten signed to a big record label like A&M Records and on that evening, when I saw that show, it all became really clear how he got there.
Eye of The Hurricane explores David’s career and also the nuts and bolts of what he’s about artistically and what it is that keeps him moving forward as an artist. Steven Flynn weaves in his own story, which demonstrates the impact that David’s music has had with the fans who enjoy his work.
You can read a letter from Steven Flynn on David’s site that goes into great detail in regards to his reasons for making this film and some of the obstacles that he ran up against as he was in the process of working on it. Here’s an excerpt from the film description to give you a quick summary.
”If you’ve ever felt stuck in your life or had that feeling like maybe there was something more to your story but didn’t quite know how to find that new chapter? Eye Of The Hurricane is for you. I know for myself, I found great power in the way music was able to speak to me in a time where I was quite depressed, lost, and trying to move forward out of it all. Music has a way of getting through barriers that normal conversation just can’t, unless you have a relationship that allows for that kind of intimacy. David Wilcox has a unique style to his craft that is unlike any other singer-songwriter I’ve come across. David’s skill at telling stories and articulating ideas around music and the heart is worth exploring. It’s why I set out to make this film.”
Eye of the Hurricane, and the related David Wilcox concert film, A Night At The Fitzgerald Theater, are both available for purchase at goodlookingfilms.com. I really enjoyed watching both films and it was a pleasure speaking with Steven about the documentary. We spoke for about an hour and I definitely could have gone on longer than that, but we had a good chat, I think.
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Here’s my conversation with Steven. I hope that you enjoy it!
Lost Together with Matt Wardlaw, Episode 6: Steven Flynn
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