Like fighters in a boxing match, raucous Seattle music writer Chris Estey goes ‘toe to toe’ with cagey music maverick Calvin Johnson about beards and other mysteries of life in the new film, Have You Ever Had a Beard?
A study in contrasts, this film compares the lyric heavy songwriting of Calvin Johnson to the ebullient music journalism of Chris Estey. Meeting for the first time, both men perform on the stage of the vintage Columbia City Theater – a stage which has featured many storied acts such Bessie Smith and Jimi Hendrix in its long history which began in 1917.
Standing at ground zero of a series of music movements from Rriot Grrls to Grunge, singer/songwriter Calvin Johnson and his label K Records, spawned a music scene unrivalled in the indie music world. Both raconteur and sensitive artist, Calvin’s deep baritone booms across a generation of inspired vinyl. Despite his history, this film documents Calvin performing his new work, singing solo as he spits literary bop prosody in the form of three songs.
In contrast, bearish Chris Estey, with his boisterous laughter and almost masochistic need to be irrepressibly self-confessional, reads stories from his life, each memory spurred by a song on his favorite album, “Phil Ochs’ Greatest Hits.” In parallel tangents, his life story unfurls from mobile homes to LA flops, all to the soundtrack of a Phil Ochs’ seminal album. Afterwards, the two men compare notes, observations and platitudes about music, personal behavior and the experience of having facial hair.
The movie will be playing for one night only in Portland and Seattle, Calvin Johnson will be in attendance each night to perform a couple of songs as well as answer questions.
Also in attendance will be Directors Kathy Wolf and Pat Thomas. This project is their co-production movie debut; Kathy Wolf is an aspiring screenwriter known as “chickalou66” via her YouTube animation clips utilizing found footage and stop motion animation. Thomas is an A&R consultant for Light in the Attic Records as well as the author of a forthcoming book on Fantagraphics.
Hollywood Theatre, Portland – Friday February 24th, at 7:30 pm – Tickets $10
Northwest Film Forum Seattle – Monday, March 5th, at 7:00 pm
