Not content with being one of the greatest living rock musicians in the United States today, Bruce Springsteen has decided to venture into the wild world of filmmaking with his latest project, Western Stars. Named after the album he released earlier this year, the film is a documentary/performance movie directed by and following Springsteen as he performs the tracks from the album in a big ol’ barn in front of a ton of people. Yes, that’s right, this is a music documentary that might actually just feature some good music instead of, you know, a litany of reasons you should never listen to an artist ever again. What a change of pace, huh? Anyways, Warner Bros. announced that they’d be distributing the film on Monday, and dropped a trailer for the project as well.
Here’s the trailer:
Here’s a bit of a summary from the press release that Warner Bros. put out earlier on Monday:
“Springsteen’s first studio album in five years, ‘Western Stars’ marks a departure for the legendary singer/songwriter while still drawing on his roots. Touching on themes of love and loss, loneliness and family and the inexorable passage of time, the documentary film evokes the American West — both the mythic and the hardscrabble — weaving archival footage and Springsteen’s personal narration with song to tell the story of ‘Western Stars.’ ‘Western Stars’ offers fans the world over their only opportunity to see Springsteen perform all 13 songs on the album, backed up by a band and a full orchestra, under the cathedral ceiling of his historic nearly 100-year-old barn.”
Western Stars will have its world premiere at this year’s TIFF, and it’ll be released at some point in the fall. If you want an even better look at the film, go check out the swell Blinded by the Light, which is currently in theaters and has had a longer trailer (or something) attached to it.