Terrific interview.  Can't wait to see Greener Grass.  Good Job!

On June 30th, Tompkins Square will reissue two albums by Texas singer/songwriter Will Beeley - the self-released mega-rare (only 200 copies) private press LP Gallivantin' from 1971, and Passing Dream, originally released by Malaco Records in 1979.

Recorded in San Antonio, Gallivantin' shows Beeley's heartfelt, folky side - a wistful set of original tunes, plus a cover of Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" and a spaced-out, 10 minute+ Eastern-influenced psych take on Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Little Wheel Spin And Spin / Co'Dine".

Recorded in Jackson, Mississippi, Passing Dream reveals the shifting musical direction of opposite sides of the 70's - a tougher, huskier, more alt-country sound emerging, presaging modern day troubadours like Chris Stapleton and Jamey Johnson. Released by Malaco Records in 1979, the album features the very first studio credit by guitarist Larry Campbell (Bob Dylan, Levon Helm), along with drummer James Stroud (Marshall Tucker Band, Eddie Rabbitt), keyboardist Carson Whitsett (Paul Simon, Tony Joe White) and other crack studio players.

Now a truck driver living in New Mexico, Will Beeley recently recorded his first new album since 1979's Passing Dream. Produced by Jerry David DeCicca of The Black Swans (who also produced Larry Jon Wilson's final album), the new one features Michael Guerra (The Mavericks), and is mixed by Stuart Sikes (Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose, Cat Power's The Greatest). The album is slated for release on Tompkins Square sometime in 2018.

PRE-ORDER : tompkinssquare.com

Gallivantin'  - CD - TSQ 5395 / LP - TSQ 5401 / digital
Passing Dream - LP only - TSQ 5418

Tompkins Square is distributed by INgrooves and Revolver in NA, Cargo for Europe

Rainy Sundays by Will Beeley

Demons

A September Song

Greener Grass is a project that has been on a whirlwind path to success since the very beginning. 

Directors Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe's first iteration of the surreal comedy turned heads as a short film back in 2016, when it won awards at major festivals like SXSW and the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France. 

Upon its release online, it also achieved viral status and earned distinctions from Short of the Week and Vimeo. It's rare that a short finds success like that both on the festival circuit and online, but hey, when you watch Greener Grass, it's easy to see why.

Though they claim to have had no intention of doing so initially, the duo expanded the short into a feature film which hit Sundance in a big way back in January. 

The film's meticulously crafted aesthetic places it on a level somewhere between Adult Swim and David Lynch. With the aid of talented production designers, costume designers, and a brilliantly specific script, DeBoer and Luebbe's film brings us into a candy-coated utopia that we've never seen the likes of in film before. 

Of course, things descend into dystopia by the time the film's through. Suburban tensions reach their boiling point after one mom willingly gives up her daughter to a friend, who I might add later goes on to give birth to a bouncing baby soccer ball. 

Things get weird. But not odd enough to sway IFC Midnight from purchasing the film earlier this week, or SXSW programming it into their festival to be seen in Austin later this week. 

Jon Fusco sat down with the directors and producer Natalie Metzger at Sundance this year to talk about using characters to build a world, hiring geniuses as collaborators and more.

'Don't be Afraid if You Didn't Go To Film School': The Method to Success Behind 'Greener Grass'

Walk around with my head held down
Cuz I don't wanna see what's in front of me
Walk around with my head held down
Cuz I don't wanna see what's in front of me
Cuz I don't walk around

I keep it 100. Bitch, I'm see-through
Take these boys to church, here go the steeple
I do this for myself and for my people
You do this for the wealth. We are not equal
Ay, and your bitch smell like seafood (yeah)
I'm a master, call me Shifu
Me and all my dogs, we relaxing
Don't get it twisted. Bitch, we still about that action (ay)
To make it clank I brought the ratchet (ay)
So niggas better stick to rapping

Meadow

Head Down

Many men prioritize the pursuit of status, power, and autonomy, which can have its advantages in moving them towards financial security and up society's ladder. But as my guest lays out in his book, Lonely at the Top: The High Cost of Men's Success, a focus on work over relationships can also come with significant, even tragic costs.

His name is Thomas Joiner and he's a clinical psychologist, a professor of psychology, and an investigator with the Military Suicide Research Consortium. Thomas and I begin our conversation with his work around suicide, why men commit suicide at a rate 4X higher than women, and how loneliness is a primary factor in what drives men to take their own lives. From there we talk about the problem of male loneliness in general and how it can begin in a man's thirties and get worse as he advances through middle age. We unpack the difference between subjective and objective loneliness and how you can feel alone in a crowd, as well as be something Thomas calls "alone but oblivious." We discuss how everyone is "spoiled" by relationships in their youth, and why men struggle more than women to learn to take the initiative in this regard later in life. We end our discussion with why therapy isn’t the right solution for many men who struggle with depression and loneliness, and how equally effective solutions can be found in simply making more of an effort to balance a focus on work and family with socializing and reaching out to others, and particularly, Thomas argues, in reconnecting with your friends from high school and college.

Get the show notes at aom.is/lonely.

#670: The Hidden Tragedy of Male Loneliness

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2021

Democracy Now! Monday, February  1, 2021

***As of 2020 the No Film School Podcast is no longer hosted on Soundcloud. Please subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, or the podcast app of your choice. Thank you!*** A podcast about how to build a career in filmmaking. No Film School shares the latest opportunities and trends for anyone working in film and TV. We break news on cameras, lighting, and apps. We interview leaders in screenwriting, directing, cinematography, editing, and producing. And we answer your questions! We are dedicated to sharing knowledge with filmmakers around the globe, “no film school” required.

'Don't be Afraid if You Didn't Go To Film School': The Method to Success Behind 'Greener Grass'

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