Category: Video

“Down in the Willow Garden” – Hear Honus Honus’ 78

A confession may come with remorse, but not always. HonusHonus.02+And a murder ballad, though its murderer is long since buried, can still feel full of menace.
Honus Honus was not one to let a listener off the hook when he performed “Down in the Willow Garden”, smuggling the song’s jagged edge in behind a playful keyboard riff.HonusHonus.16+

Our first road trip was just beginning when Honus Honus invited us over to a friend’s home in Philadelphia. The setting was perfectly evocative and we were all eager to cut a record. But this time the tale of woe wasn’t just in the song. The dead of summer proved to be the death of Presto #1.

A tense few moments passed as we worked away. Off came the platter, the belt, the tubes.
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Honus Honus waited patiently by with his accomplice Kara Nelson. When at last the disc was spinning, their gruesome tale began in terrible perfection. 

 

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The 78 Project Movie Out Now on DVD

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We’re thrilled to announce that The 78 Project Movie is out on special edition DVD with over 30 minutes of bonus materials. Beginning today you can purchase the DVD in The 78 Project Shop or find it in your local independent record store.

The 78 Project Movie and bonus materials are also now available to stream online on Vimeo On Demand and VHX TV in rental and purchase packages and deluxe Soundtrack bundles.

The 78 Project Movie is the acclaimed feature length movie of our road trip across America to cut 78rpm records with musicians in their homes and hometowns on a 1930’s Presto. The DVD and digital releases include 19 extraordinary never-before-seen musical performances, are packed with fascinating and fun historical info, and come loaded with over 30 minutes of new bonus materials – including complete performances by John Reilly & Tom Brosseau, Star & Micey and Victoria Williams and never-before-seen interview footage.

Running time: 95 mins + 30 mins of Bonus Content

The 78 Project Movie DVD in The 78 Project Shop

“The 78 Project grabs American music by the roots.”
– USA Today
 
“A one-of-a-kind documentary that is part road movie,
part concert film, and part journey through the past.”
– The Commercial Appeal Memphis
 
“For fans of pure recording and its history, it’s compelling and informative.” 
– Billboard SXSW: The Fest’s Top Films

 

“Rises above simple vintage worship and does more than just glorify
the past – it helps us experience it.”
– The Village Voice

“The ineffable romance of old recordings makes for magic…ripe with wonder.”
– The Austin Chronicle

Buy or Rent The 78 Project Movie online

Watch the movie online now with never-before-seen bonus footage and complete musical performances.

We’ve been looking forward to this day, and now it’s here! The 78 Project Movie is available to buy or rent online starting today. We’ve added bonus footage and complete performances and soundtrack bundles to make your movie experience even sweeter. Find the movie by clicking the button below or go to the78projectmovie.vhx.tv.

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Episode #25: “O Bli Hos Meg” watch and hear Sondre Lerche’s 78 cut at Rough Trade on Record Store Day

We were the grateful guests of Rough Trade in Brooklyn this past Record Store Day, assembling in the afternoon with Sondre Lerche and his guitar in the store’s balcony to cut a record as part of their day-long celebration. In the din of a day of loud fun at Rough Trade, the folks who had gathered to watch Sondre record, stood perfectly still. He sang delicately, letting the space close in around him, the walls creep closer to listen. As we watched, we were taken in, the song became an urgent lullaby.

Sondre Lerche – “O Bli Hos Meg”
Shot at Rough Trade NYC, Brooklyn, NY, April 2015

Thank you again to our great friends at Rough Trade NYC. We’ll never stop singing your praises.

“Single Girl, Married Girl” a new 78 by John Reilly & Tom Brosseau

A new season breaks through and we are filled with the promise it brings. Exciting new music and screenings and big, big news are all ahead. The 78 Project this Spring is green with new growth. And we wanted to start by sharing with you a performance from our California trip, the sweet and wistful flipside to the beautiful acetate we cut with John Reilly and Tom Brosseau for The 78 Project Movie.

John Reilly & Tom Brosseau – “Single Girl, Married Girl”
Shot in Pasadena, CA, January, 2013

Recorded in Pasadena, CA, January, 2013

Episode #24: See and Hear Joe Jack Talcum’s recording of “Railroad Bill” – Live in Philadelphia

In 1932 George Saliba, inventor of our Presto, wrote a book called Home Recording and All About It, a punk rock title if ever there was one. And we’ve felt like The 78 Project was at many times a very punk rock endeavor. Lugging the gear through gardens, up mountainsides, around the country. We and our artist collaborators are always stripping it down, rolling up our sleeves, improvising, and always at the moment of truth, performing passionately.

It is why, when we were introduced to Joe Jack Talcum of Dead Milkmen by the gracious folks at the International House Philadelphia, and when he agreed to cut a record live at our Philadelphia screening of The 78 Project Movie earlier this month, we were thrilled. It felt like a perfect fit for the DIY, come-what-may nature of this journey, and for what was very much a hometown screening, a return to our Delaware Valley roots.

Joe’s “Railroad Bill” rides the rails and conducts his life with abandon and glee. And his story unfolds, twists and turns in exactly that spirit over the course of Joe’s vivid, driving performance.

Joe Jack Talcum – “Railroad Bill”
Shot at the International House in Philadelphia, PA, January, 2015

Recorded at the International House in Philadelphia, PA on January 15, 2015

New Year’s – A found Presto recording of Celeste & Doris Dennis at the 1939 New York World’s Fair

When we enter into a New Year, we are never sure what we will find. We can look back on the year past and count all the things that happened most unexpectedly, both challenging and wonderful, but we will never know what the year ahead holds until we begin to live it.

As we cue up 2015 on the turntable of time, we feel optimistic.

IMG_8635+smlIt’s a most beautiful trait in human beings, our ability to marvel at what is possible. To delight in potential and progress. It helps us through otherwise trying times. We have found this to be true all year as we forged new paths in our journey, released two soundtrack albums and a feature film, cut records, put many more thousands of miles on the car, improvised, attempted to innovate, came out alive and happy.

All of this is why this found souvenir recording of two sisters at the 1939 New York World’s Fair – bought months ago without knowing its contents purely because it was made on a Presto – seemed like just the right tone to usher in the New Year. The record begins with the host at the Macy’s Pavilion asking, Celeste, won’t you tell me what you think of the worlds fair? To which Celeste replies, Why it’s simply wonderful…

There are many things in 2015 that we can’t know yet to expect. But we are looking forward with wonder and awe, to the year ahead and what it will bring. And we are looking back with gratitude at the year we’ve just lived and all the things it contained that we never could have wished for, but wanted more than anything.

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Episode #23: Adam Faucett’s “Moonshiner” 78, recorded live at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater in Little Rock, AR

We love a gentle winter lullaby and a sweet, cheery carol, but sometimes your holidays just need a little holler. That’s why we wanted to share this recording from our nationwide theatrical release tour to screen The 78 Project Movie.

This September as we journeyed once again across the country, we made a stop in Little Rock, AR, where The Oxford American presented a screening of The 78 Project Movie in the beautiful CALS Ron Robinson Theater. Onstage after the screening, local musician Adam Faucett joined us to craft a very distinctive live 78. Adam wowed us all with his mighty voice, performing “Moonshiner” a capella. It’s a performance that remains as commanding on record as it was in the room.

Thank you again to Adam Faucett, our great friends at the Oxford American and everyone who came out to see the film screen in Little Rock.

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