Recommending two great documentaries for any music fan.

Stan Rogers “One Warm Line” – This amazing documentary covers the life and work of a true Canadian Icon. Stan Rogers was born in Ontario but grew up surrounded by stories of the sea, then eventually surrounding himself with the coast. Ultimately Stan became a great ambassador for folk music and in particular the music of Nova Scotia. His body of work was deeply poetic and spoke to the people woven into the lined lyric pages.

As one of the people mentioned in the film, Stan wrote about fishing then he was a fisherman. If he wrote about farming then he was a farmer. What I have learned from this documentary and from listening to Stan’s music is a two-fold lesson. One is my unshakeable pride in being from Nova Scotia. As necessary as it was for me to leave the province, the imagery in memories are incredible stories to tell. Lesson two is a simple yet effective lesson in writing. Just to even clear a few words out on the pages it helps to look around. Take a walk, a drive, read. Something is bound to come clear enough to you that will allow the pages before you to be filled.

I also watched a BBC4 documentary on Hawkwind (Do Not Panic) for the second time. This instance it was with more diligence and attentiveness. Hawkwind are the legendary British space rockers who influenced a generation of punks and metalheads alike. They are most easily identified for being the first major band for Motorhead founder Lemmy Kilmister. What transpires in this doc is a near complete story of past to present. It is a bit of a downer that the only remaining person in Hawkwind did not participate due to a legal dispute. Dave Brock is entertaining to listen to in interviews so his perspective is sorely missed here.

Hawkwind managed to start a major underground movement which carries on through their continuation today. Their use of electronics and very odd melodic tempos did set their music apart. In listening to any of the earlier tracks such as “Hurry on Sundown”, you sense that much of their music would have been played at the earliest raves.  Perhaps they were surrounded by hoards of people having dropped acid and stripping off to nothing to this music!

Still would recommend this to any fan of rock or metal. Especially recommend it to fans of Motorhead so they can learn a bit of Lemmy’s history before he goes on to found Motorhead, and successfully do a million times better than anyone in Hawkwind could ever have imagined.

If you can recommend any good music docs, post in comments.

@WriterDann