NEWSLETTER



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ISSUE 1

Michael Hurley

Michael Hurley is a legendary singer/songwriter, who was very popular in the Greenwich Village folk scene of the late '60s and '70s. Lately, he has been championed and covered by artists such as Lucinda Williams, Cat Power, Son Volt, the Violent Femmes, Devendra Banhart, and many others. In 2008, Hurley decided to pick up a video camera and document his concert tour across the high plains of the USA, entitled “American Boogie.” This was his first experience filming anything. He shot and narrated the film in the naturalistic first-person style giving lackadaisical and poignant musings on small town life, the open road, antique radios, and traditional American folk/blues music. Hurley anchors the film with nostalgic rural American symbols such as the water tower (the name of one of his albums), trains, windmills, old radios, dogs, guitars, and the western landscape. The film set out to document the music of his traveling companions Ralph White and Amy Annelle, but like most things Hurley the universe expands to include things such as his affection for the weird, John Fahey, off-kilter observations, John Fogerty, nature, his urinary habits, and his alternate identities: Elwood Snock (his supervisor), Kornbred (a green mutant), Boone and Jocko (two cartoon hipster wolves). Jeffrey Bowers produced and edited the film, which was dubbed to VHS so as the editing and shooting style could maintain a unique and handmade quality.

A 10-minute short of the film is featured on PRISM index #1, entitled “The Shortwave Stall,” which recently won 3rd Place in the Basement Awards at the 57th Columbus International Film Festival. Author and music critic, Joe Carducci, had this to say, “Produced & Directed & Written & Performed & Acted & Curated by Michael Hurley. Watch this ten minute [version], it’ll seem like twenty minutes so it’s well worth it.”

Michael Hurley also contributed a cover of Del Reeves’s, “Girl On The Billboard,” for the PRISM index #1 CD compilation.

Official Site
American Boogie
Michael Hurley

CD Track
(1) Michael Hurley – Girl On The Billboard

DVD Track
(8) Michael Hurley – The Shortwave Stall (RT: 10 min)