AWARD WINNING DOCUMENTARY, SONG SUNG BLUE GETS ROCK STAR
STAMP OF APPROVAL FROM NEIL DIAMOND AND EDDIE VEDDER.
Song Sung Blue, The Little Engine That Could Keeps on Going with an Independently Financed DVD and iTunes Release in time for Neil Diamond’s Tour and Induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
New York, NY – Song Sung Blue, a critically acclaimed and award winning independent documentary exploring the dynamic love story of a Neil Diamond tribute duo has announced its self-financed/independent DVD release for March 1, 2011.
Song Sung Blue is the alternately inspiring and tragic love story of Lightning & Thunder, a homegrown Milwaukee husband and wife singing duo that pay tribute to the prolific music of Neil Diamond. Song Sung Blue goes behind the velvet curtain, chronicling Lightning & Thunder’s, (aka Mike and Claire Sardina’s) journey from humble beginnings to the threshold of fame, from disaster to rebirth, and the final chapters in the musical lives of these authentic American dreamers.
Song Sung Blue and director Greg Kohs braved a 10 year uphill battle to bring the story of Lightning & Thunder and their passion for Neil Diamond and each other to the screen. Kohs personally financed the film bit by bit, paycheck by paycheck, finally rocking the 2008/2009 film festival circuit, including winning both the Grand Jury & Audience Awards at Park City, Utah’s prestigious indie-focused festival Slamdance.
However, neither the story nor the struggle ended with the wrap of the film. The night before Song Sung Blue was to premiere at Slamdance, Kohs still had not been able to secure the rights to use Neil Diamond’s music in the film. That is until Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, who has an unexpected cameo in the film, mobilized to reach out to Neil Diamond directly, who in the eleventh hour gave personal approval for his music to be used.
Diamond also invited the act to be his special guest the next time he performed in Milwaukee and granted the couple’s long held wish by first calling and then personally meeting with Thunder.
Both Neil Diamond and Eddie Vedder have been essential supporters of this independent endeavor with Diamond saying that he is “honored to have [his] songs be part of this love story.”
Although critically acclaimed across the board, and the recipient of multiple awards at Slamdance, Philadelphia, IFFBoston, Atlanta, Sydney and Chicago film festivals, Song Sung Blue faced another hurdle in its attempt to secure a distribution deal that would allow the film to be shared with audiences outside of the festival circuit and thus Kohs has decided to release it independently just in time for Diamond’s latest world tour and long deserved induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
According to Song Sung Blue’s Executive Producer Andrea Mihalik, “Song Sung Blue is, in a very real way, a valentine to Diamond and his music, and one that he has made possible for us to share. His inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been a long time coming, and like this film, further honors his place in the past, present and future of American music.”
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times described the film as “Superb” and said that “this kind of film, like Hoop Dreams, is only possible when a filmmaker stakes a bet on an unknown outcome…”, while Rob Grace from the Arkansas Weekly said it’s “a film that belongs in the company of the great documentaries of the past ten or twenty years.”
As of March 1, 2011, Song Sung Blue DVDs can be purchased from songsungblue.com and soon after will be available for download on iTunes. Kohs intends to use the revenue gained from the DVD release to finance the musical streaming rights for the film to play on Netflix and other on-line portals.
For more information on Song Sung Blue and/or its DVD release please visit www.songsungblue.com
