"A must-see movie for the Artist Rights movement" - The Trichordist
He’s worked with Carole King, Ani DiFranco, and a host of great Texas artists — but can music producer Mark Hallman keep his studio open in the age of streaming?
To rent or buy a download, click here to watch it on your computer or authorized device (like Apple TV or Roku). If you'd like the DVD, it’s available at our online store. The Shopkeeper is also available for streaming on Apple TV and Amazon Prime.
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[The Shopkeeper] struck a note so deep in me that I watched all one-hour-and-thirty-one minutes feeling a kinship with the narrator (and, as it turns out, producer of the film), almost relieved that I was not alone. — No Depression
Well worth your time to watch if you care at all about the business of the music we love. — Twangville
Hallman’s own story is fascinating all by itself but it’s used to frame a picture of an industry that has seen uncontrollably rapid change in the last decade. An industry that finds itself under real threat from the culture shift brought about by the digital revolution. It’s a story that needs telling. It’s a story that matters. — Red Guitar Music
The life and times of an unsung hero of Americana...engaging, crowdfunded doc. - Uncut UK
The mid level of the music industry is a vast panorama of cool ass shit. me and the congress house both fit in there somewhere. check this documentary out for a window into the great indie unknown. texas style. — Ani DiFranco
Crew
Director Rain Perry’s “Beautiful Tree” was the theme for the CW Network’s Life Unexpected, on which she also had the surreal pleasure of appearing as herself. She has released four albums on her own Precipitous Records, as well as writing and touring a solo play about her childhood called Cinderblock Bookshelves: A Guide For Children of Fame-Obsessed Bohemian Nomads. The Shopkeeper is her first film.
Micah Van Hove, Director of Photography & Editor - Minimalist opportunist, director of Snake Oil Song and Menthol, regular writer at No Film School, exploring the possibilities of micro-budget cinema since 2009.
Special Features
Soundtrack
Here is a list of every song in the film with a link to a place you can obtain it.
Some of the music is unreleased. I'm sorry! If you love a song you can't get, maybe you can email the artist and tell them you'd buy it if you could!
Here you go:
Alison Acton - "Healer" - Look Through
The Belle Sounds - "Starry Eyed" - The Belle Sounds
Donna Lynn Caskey - "Good For What Ails Me" and "Dragon Lady" - Nameless Heart
Castlinaire (Micajah Nye's project) - "Avio" and "Decade" - released as singles on bandcamp
Ani DiFranco - "Half Assed" - Binary; "Going Down" - Dilate; "Studying Stones" - Knuckle Down; "So What" - Reveling/Reckoning
Charlie Faye - "I've Got a Feeling" - unreleased but lots of great music on her website
Dan Fogelberg - "Wishing on the Moon" - Phoenix
Trent Gentry and Stephanie Daulong - "Two Become One" - Two Become One
Eliza Gilkyson - "Rare Bird" - Beautiful World; "Coast" and "Beauty Way" - Hard Times in Babylon; "Is It Like Today" - Paradise Hotel; "Easy Rider" - Lost and Found; "Roses at the End of Time" - Roses at the End of Time - all available at ElizaGilkyson.com
Colin Gilmore - "Running Circles in the Yard" - Goodnight Lane
Johnny Goudie - "You Can't Pretend Forever" - El Payaso - and make sure to check out Johnny's podcast How Did I Get Here?
Douglas Greer - "Back In My Skin Again" - Baja Louisana
Mark Hallman - "Rock Solid" (wrestling theme song) and "If I Could Change" (Cry Wolf) are unreleased, but he's starting to put out some music on Bandcamp and I happen to know he's recorded some new songs he hasn't released yet.
Hamilton Pool - "London Girl" - Hamilton Pool - out of print, but maybe you can find a copy at Waterloo Records?
Noëlle Hampton - "Blackwing Butterfly" - Thin Line
Andrew Hardin - "Gator Walk," "Ouchita," "Big Rig Country" and "Aquamarine," all from Coney Island Moon
Sara Hickman - "Joy," "Tiger in a Teacup Town" and "The Best of Times" - Necessary Angels; "Equal Scary People" - Equal Scary People - all Sara's music (and much more) available at her website
Carole King - "Chains" - Pearls: Songs of Goffin and King; "One to One" - One to One
Iain Matthews, as Matthews Southern Comfort - "Darcy Farrow" - Second Spring - and here's a very interesting page about all the many versions of this song
Navarro - "Listen," "Trying for the Sun," "Newborn Highway" - Listen; "Mystery" and "Already Here" - Straight to the Heart - both albums out of print but you can sometimes find them on Amazon.
Rain Perry - "Ambulance Song" - Internal Combustion; "Girl on the Side," "There's a Problem With the Dam," "Thank You," "Cinderblock Bookshelves," "Dear Dana" and "Wild Child" - Cinderblock Bookshelves; "Let's Do Something Wrong," "Done," "Happily Ever After" and "Get in the Car" - Men - As you can see, I used a bunch of my own music in the movie (because it was free!) but those were instrumental versions of most of the songs. You can buy the real versions at rainperry.com.
Tom Russell - "Pilgrim Land" and "Hotwalker" - Hotwalker; "Stealing Electricity" - available here
Will Sexton - "Save the Ring" and "Weigh Your Silver" - from the out of print album Keep To Myself - sometimes you can find a copy, though
Touchstone - "Give Me Leeway" - from Mark Hallman's teenage band, sometimes can be found as a 45
Kathriyn Werlinich (aka Alex Shea) - "You Keep Me Waiting" and "Acting on an Instinct" are unreleased but here's a link to the website for her band.
Reviews
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“…a poignant and relevant documentary on the struggles of everyday musicians.”
“…struck a note so deep in me that I watched all one-hour-and-thirty-one minutes feeling a kinship with the narrator (and, as it turns out, producer of the film), almost relieved that I was not alone.”
— Frank Gutch, No Deperession
“A film that should be seen by anyone interested in understanding what it means to be an independent roots music artist in these times.”
— Former Customer