VIA PRESS RELEASE | Before his bizarre death at the hands of a chiropractor, Robbie Basho was sure that his compositions would not outlast him.
Orphaned during infancy, diagnosed with synaesthesia (a union of the senses that caused him to interpret sound as colour) and claiming to be the reincarnation of a 17th century poet—the Baltimore-born guitarist and singer’s musical output was as equally as outlandish as his persona. In his brief and troubled life he laid the foundations for radical changes to the musical landscape of America during the 1960s and ’70s but reaped little more than a sparse (if fervent) following during his lifetime.
Voice of the Eagle: The Enigma of Robbie Basho is a journey into the heart of an artist’s lifelong struggle—designed to illuminate and satiate existing fans while serving as a perfect starting point for the uninitiated.
Featuring interviews with Pete Townshend and Country Joe McDonald as well as Basho’s former students, contemporaries, religious associates, and few close friends, the documentary integrates new information and anecdotes on Basho with previously uncovered archival material and photography of the natural phenomena and landscapes that informed his work.
Director / Producer, Liam Barker says, “As a keen explorer of obscure musicians it was perhaps inevitable that I was to discover Robbie Basho at some point but nothing had quite prepared me for the experience. As well as being astonished by Basho’s inimitable musical vision, I was equally fascinated by the mystique and intrigue surrounding his person.
In the decades since his death, no attempt to document Basho on film has been made – the almost baffling scarcity of information on his life and paucity of archive material being some of the many ostensible stumbling blocks. Nevertheless, I became convinced that my love for his music, interest in his character ,and my own path in filmmaking would be ripe for conflation.
With interest in the man’s work growing by the day, previously undiscovered material surfacing and a more widespread revival a tangible possibility, it is surely an auspicious time for his unique music and life story to be evoked through the medium of film.”
