Music seems to take a bigger role each year at the annual Sundance Film Festival. The Jan. 20-30 independent film showcase in Park City, Utah, will feature a slate of eclectic live performances and other music-related events.
BMI will host its annual composer/director roundtable on Jan. 26 at the Sundance House. Among those participating in “Music & Film: The Creative Process” will be actor/musician/director Kevin Bacon and his Bacon Brothers bandmate Michael Bacon, composers George S. Clinton (“Austin Powers”), Ed Shearmur (“Charlie’s Angels, Nine Lives”) and Peter Golub (“The Laramie Project”); and directors Rodrigo Garcia (“Nine Lives”) and Jeff Fenerzeig (“The Devil and Daniel Johnston”).
BMI’s third annual Songwriters Snowball is set for the evening of Jan. 26 at the Sundance House. It will feature performances by Katon Simons, Joe Firstman, Minnie Driver, Vanessa Carlton and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and the Postal Service.
ASCAP, meanwhile, will hold its Music Cafe series Jan. 21-28 at the Star Bar @ Plan B. Four or five artists will perform daily, including … And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Peter Cincotti, Billy Currington, the Dresden Dolls, Mary Gauthier, Rickie Lee Jones, Angelique Kidjo, Kings of Leon, Ben Kweller, Los Pinguos, Martin Luther, Michael McDonald, Nellie McKay, Lori McKenna, Midnight Movies, Raúl Midón, Anna Nalick, Linda Perry, Glen Phillips and Nickel Creek’s Sara & Sean Watkins, Kyle Riabko, Suzanne Vega and Saul Williams.
Music will be highlighted on-screen as well. The Sundance documentary competition will host the world premieres of “The Devil and Daniel Johnston,” a profile of the Austin-based singer/songwriter, and Greg Whitely’s “New York Doll,” which captures the reunion of Arthur “Killer” Kane, a recovering alcoholic and recent Mormon convert, with the rest of his New York Dolls bandmates. Johnston is also slated to perform at the festival as part of the Jan. 26 Sundance Night Cafe bill with Craig Armstrong and Yo La Tengo.
Iraqi pianist Samir Peter is the basis of director Sean McAllister’s “The Liberace of Baghdad,” which will be among the offerings in the world cinema documentary competition, while Don Argott’s “Rock School” will receive a special screening and give festival goers a look at the real-life version of an idea that gained acclaim in the 2003 Jack Black comedy “School of Rock.”
