| The American Epic Sessions | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Bernard MacMahon |
| Written by |
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| Produced by |
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| Cinematography | Vern Moen |
| Edited by | Dan Gitlin |
| Music by |
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Production companies | Lo-Max Films, Wildwood Enterprises |
| Distributed by | BBC, PBS |
Release date |
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Running time | 116 minutes (theatrical version) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The American Epic Sessions is a documentary film in which an engineer restores the fabled long-lost first electrical sound recording system from 1925, and twenty contemporary artists pay tribute to the momentous machine by attempting to record songs on it for the first time in 80 years.[1][2][3] The film was directed and co-written by Bernard MacMahon and stars Nas, Alabama Shakes, Elton John, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Jack White, Taj Mahal, Ana Gabriel, Pokey LaFarge, Beck, Ashley Monroe, Los Lobos, The Avett Brothers, Bettye LaVette, Rhiannon Giddens, Raphael Saadiq, Edie Brickell, Steve Martin, and others.[1]
The film employed a diverse line-up of performers both ethnically and musically to represent the breadth of cultures that were first given a national platform through the invention of this recording machine.[3][4][5] It also explored the extent to which the recordings made on it in the 1920s influenced and inspired contemporary music.[3][5][6]
- ^ a b "American Epic | Press Release | Pressroom | THIRTEEN". Pressroom. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
- ^ "AMERICAN EPIC - A Journey Through the Music that Transformed America | PBS About". AMERICAN EPIC - A Journey Through the Music that Transformed America | PBS About. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
- ^ a b c Boyd, Joe (19 May 2017). "How the record industry crisis of 1925 shaped our musical world". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
- ^ Lewis, Randy. "Reinventing the machine that let America hear itself on the PBS-BBC doc 'American Epic' – LA Times". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
- ^ a b "The Long-Lost, Rebuilt Recording Equipment That First Captured the Sound of America". WIRED. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
- ^ "SXSW Film Review: 'The American Epic Sessions' - An Amazing Journey Through Musical History | Blogcritics". blogcritics.org. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2017.