Emmylou Harris and Daniel
Lanois perform on the
ASCAP Music Café stage.


Jonny Lang performs.

Legends and Rising Stars Kick Off the 2003 Sundance Film Festival at the ASCAP Music Café

ASCAP music is once again playing a starring role at the Sundance Film Festival. On Friday, January 17th, the first night of the festival, two ASCAP members played an outdoor opening kick-off concert, the first time such an event had been featured at the festival. Blues prodigy Jonny Lang and ASCAP writer/composer Mark Isham both treated audiences to sets on Main Street on an outdoor stage.

But earlier that day, ASCAP also presented the first showcase of its 8-day ASCAP Music Café. This year, ASCAP moved to a new, larger venue, Plan B-The Nightclub, to accommodate larger audiences. Singer/songwriters from America and around the world joined together in giving Festival-goers the rare chance to see some incredibly talented up-and-coming artists share the stage with genuine musical legends.

ASCAP’s Sue Devine and Wade Metzler with café performers Beth Nielsen Chapman, Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois and ASCAP’s Loretta Munoz.

Friday’s line-up included Idaho born-and-bred folk singer/songwriter Josh Ritter; Former Swedish pro soccer player turned award-winning solo artist Nicolai Dunger; one of today’s most successful (and covered) songwriter/performers Beth Nielsen Chapman and Welsh-born, Los Angeles-based jazz/pop artist Judith Owen.

The next day’s sets included those by Ireland’s Damien Rice, who performed georgous duets with Lisa Hannigan, a fellow Irish singer; master producer Daniel Lanois, who performed material from his upcoming solo album Steel; and guitar great Jonny Lang, who brought his band along with him to play some searing blues songs.

On Sunday, Nashville writer/guitarist of Buddy Miller heated things up with an early set exquisite country rock. That was followed by another incredible set by Daniel Lanois and finally, a near awe-inspiring set by country music legend Emmylou Harris who was joined on stage by Daniel Lanois.

Music in the Lens: Wattstax

Not only does music play an important role in film in the form of scores and soundtracks. But music is often the subject of many films at Sundance. This year is no exception. One of the several music-related documentaries at this year’s festival is Wattstax, directed by Mel Stuart. The film is about a concert held on August 20th, 1972 in Los Angeles to commemorate the Watts riots of 1965. Often referred to as “the black Woodstock,” the film is a document of the incredible music that was performed for the more than 100,000 fans at the Los Angeles Coliseum that day – from the Bar Kays to Albert King to Isaac Hayes. But Wattstax is also a fascinating historical perspective on the black experience of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. What sets this film apart from other concert films, however, is the fact that Stuart’s film crews hit the streets of Watts after the concert and got first-hand interviews of residents in the neighborhood about what the music meant to them. All in all, both the music and the interviews are a blast from the past.