Waking Up Dreaming

I'm hosting a screening of Dreamin' Wild with Donnie Emerson

Seek and you shall find. This maxim is more than just a profound spiritual insight, it’s also the guiding ethos behind a record label like Light in the Attic Records. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, LITA, alongside stalwarts like Numero Group, Mississippi, Luaka Bop, Tompkins Square, and many others, helped cement in me the idea that music of the past speaks in both the present and future tense and that if you went looking for unheard gems from the past, you were likely find them.

The first Light in the Attic records that hit me were coupled with compelling stories baked in: The tale of lost Detroit folk-rocker Sixto Rodriguez, which was further explored in the documentary film Searching for Sugarman; the mysterious vanishing of Wrecking Crew associate Jim Sullivan; the gone-too-soon mystique of Karen Dalton. Sure, there’s an element of marketing at work here—good stories sell—but it’s about more than that. Creating context brings to light the human complications that imbue the music with soul and feeling.

But few of LITA’s uncoverings have resulted in a sweeter story than that of Donnie and Joe Emerson. In 1979, the brothers recorded their privately pressed album Dreamin’ Wild at a family-built home studio in Fruitland, a small town in rural Washington State. Sweetly naive, its grooves contain teenage romanticizations of yacht soul, riffy rock & roll, and funk. The songs are great, but it’s the guileless charm and gentle imperfections that make Dreamin’ Wild so captivating, and a huge influence on my own songwriting.

The record was barely noticed in its time, but LITA’s reappraisal shined fresh light on Donnie and Joe. Driven by its eye-catching cover and the soft-focus bedroom pop of the cut “Baby,” which was covered and significantly amplified by artists like Ariel Pink & Haunted Graffiti, DāM-Funk, and John Legend, the LP went on to experience a remarkable second life. The Emersons were a hit.

So what happened next? Well, what happened next was the 2023 drama Dreamin’ Wild, starring Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea) as Donnie and Walton Goggins (The Righteous Gemstones) as Joe. Written and directed by Bill Pohlad (Love & Mercy), the film was hailed as by Time Magazine as “the essence of the teenage rock ’n’ roll dream fulfilled.”

On Wednesday, October 23rd, Donnie Emerson and his musical partner and wife Nancy Sophia are playing a free show at Zia Records’ Tempe location, with a screening of the film to follow at the nearby cinema Majestic Theatre. I’m psyched to moderate a discussion with Joe and Donnie and Nancy about the film, their musical projects together, and what it feels like when your rock and roll dreams become silver screen fodder.

I hope you’ll join us, if you are seeking ticket, you shall find them right here.