In the last couple of years, mostly since principal photography was completed on Troubadour Blues, I’d been getting to know a California musician named Kenny Edwards. He wasn’t in the film, but he made a big impression.

A masterful guitarist and mandolinist with a sweet tenor voice and a humble manner, Kenny was a gentle giant who didn’t talk much but always had something to say.

He had begun to branch out as a solo artist after years backing up artists like Linda Ronstadt, Karla Bonoff and Warren Zevon. He was a founding member of the quintessential West Coast harmony group Bryndle, with Bonoff, Wendy Waldman and Andrew Gold.

“Will You Still” by Kenny Edwards from Tom Weber on Vimeo.

As my film inches toward the finish line (more on that in a separate blog), I’m trying to devote a little more attention to the Troubadour Blues website. I want this to become a clearinghouse for information not only on the film, but also on the fine artists who are featured in it.

I hope eventually to start carrying a selected assortment of CDs and other merchandise by these artists in my online store, along with copies of the Troubadour Blues DVD. I’ll probably offer bundles, a copy of the movie with your choice of three or more CDs by featured artists for a low package price. A compilation CD of live performances from the movie is also a strong possibility.

But first, to launch what I hope will be a monthly series of tour updates. I think these artists are best experienced live, and I want my readers to know when and where they’re performing.

I just revised the marketing plan for Troubadour Blues to make it better organized and more in tune with the financial realities I am discovering in the world of independent film distribution (music rights cost quite a bit more than I’d naively expected). Anyway, here it is, feel free to read and comment.

DOWNLOAD A PRINTABLE VERSION HERE

Prominent article in the Los Angeles Times about our main man, Peter Case, and his new album, Wig!. I hear a lot of references on the record to things Peter talks about in my film, growing up in a small town longing to get away, only to leave and find the longing turned around. Read the article here.

I always caution students not to second-guess themselves on tests, not to go back and change their answers once they’ve recorded them. “When in doubt,” one of my grade-school teachers used to say, “your first impression is usually right.”

I think the same is true about editing a documentary. You work on it for a long time by yourself, and then you start showing it to people to get their reactions. If three or four of them agree on something, you probably should change it. You make those changes and show it to more people. Eventually they start suggesting things you tried and discarded a year earlier. That’s when it’s time to stop. Making any further changes would be second-guessing, erasing right answers and writing in wrong o