In this glorious 2 DVD set, Britain’s finest living songwriters are captured live (on tour in Berkeley, CA), presenting two nights of their original songs, words, and inimitable performance.
Turning Silence into Song (Disc One) showcases a pair of career-spanning “greatest hits,“ with a suitable sprinkling of new and previously unreleased material. All introduced and contextualized with a large helping of trademark wit and dry irony.
The Liberty Tree (Disc Two) tells the story of Tom Paine’s extraordinary life, interweaving Paine’s own words, from his letters and the pamphlets which made him one of the most influential and dangerous writers of his age, with extracts from newspaper reports, diaries, letters, and other documents of the times. The songs of Robb Johnson and Leon Rosselson add another dimension to the story, reflecting Paine’s radical ideas and evaluating them in the context of the 21st century. This unique blend of words and music challenges received opinion in the same way Paine’s writings did.
Together, herein you’ll find over four hours of the finest contemporary songs, stories, humor, and observation from the greatest practitioners of the craft.
Praise:
“. . . some of the most literate and well-made topical songs now being written“ —The New York Times [on Leon Rosselson]
“Britain’s finest songwriter since Richard Thompson.“ —Venue [on Robb Johnson]
“A highly subversive pairing of two of the left’s most eloquent songwriters.“ —Daily Telegraph
About the Artists:
Leon Rosselson has been at the forefront of songwriting in England for 50 years. His songs range from the lyrical to the satirical, from the personal to the political, from the humorous to the poignant. His best known song, “The World Turned Upside Down,“ has been recorded by, amongst others, Dick Gaughan, John McCutcheon, and Billy Bragg (who took it into the pop charts in 1985) and has been sung on numerous demonstrations in Britain and the U.S.
Robb Johnson is now widely recognized as one of the finest songwriters working in the UK today. His songs feature in the repertoires of a wide variety of musicians, from folk legend Roy Bailey to acclaimed cabaret diva Barb Jungr, and he enjoys a similarly diverse spectrum of critical acclaim.
Product Details:
Artists: Leon Rosselson and Robb Johnson
Publisher: PM Press
ISBN: 978-1-60486-441-0
Published: 01/2014
Format: 2 x DVDs (NTSC)
Size: 7.5 x 5.5
Length: 250 minutes
Subjects: Music-Folk
See and hear interviews, reviews, and other news for Leon Rosselson and Robb Johnson.
