Interview: Rodriguez

Until 2012, Detroit singer-songwriter Rodriguez was largely unknown in the United States – but then the Academy Award-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man was released. It turns out that, unbeknownst to Rodriguez, his music had become extremely popular in Apartheid-era South Africa, at the level of bands like The Rolling Stones. A highlight of the film is the footage of his triumphant first tour of Australia in 1998.

Searching for Sugar Man effectively relaunched Rodriguez’s career, and finally he was appreciated in his home country – over four decades after his original recordings were released. His albums are now considered lost-and-found classics, and he sells out large venues in the U.S. and around the world.

This interview was for a preview article for noozhawk.com for the concert by Rodriguez on 5/20/17 at the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara. It was done by phone on 5/10/17. (Doug Seymour photo)

Interview: Glenn Leopold

Amongst the incredible line-up of movies at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival was the world premiere of a cool documentary about the folk-rock band Gunhill Road, best known for their 1973 Top 40 hit song “Back When My Hair Was Short”. The name of the film, Every 40 Years, is a reference to the 40 year gap between the band’s heyday and their reunion that saw them performing a couple of gigs and recording a fine new album.

The film was co-directed by Eric Goldrich, the son of Gunhill Road’s pianist Steven Goldrich, who wanted to learn more about that phase of his father’s life and also to document the band’s reunion. Mixing vintage footage with new interviews with the band and associates – including Kenny Rogers who produced their first album – Every 40 Years tells the touching story of a band that tasted fleeting success, then got a chance decades later to make music together again.

There’s also a Santa Barbara connection – Gunhill Road’s singer/guitarist/songwriter Glenn Leopold lives in Santa Barbara, having moved here toward the end of a successful career in the animation industry, something he got into after the band petered out. Leopold, Steve and Eric Goldrich, and Gunhill Road bassist Paul Reisch were in town for the premiere, and the band even played their first real West Coast gig at the Red Piano afterwards.

This interview with Glenn Leopold was done by phone on 2/10/17, for an article on noozhawk.com.