Big Easy Express on Nowness.com.
Big Easy Express
Edward Sharpe and Mumford & Sons Take a Train Across the American Southwest
Marcus Mumford’s acoustic rendition of new tune “Meet Me Tomorrow” soundtracks a Super 8 postcard of the California coast in this extract from Emmett Malloy’s new music documentary. Shot mostly on 16mm during last year’s Railroad Revival Tour,Big Easy Express follows British folk rock outfit Mumford & Sons, indie pop darlings Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and bluegrass elder statesmen Old Crow Medicine Show as the bands indulge in an Americana–fueled journey through the southwest on an antique train bound for New Orleans. “It was a great State of the Union for me in music,” says Malloy, whose film credits also include the White Stripes documentary Under Great White Northern Lights. “I’m used to things being a bit precious: bands and frontmen are fragile—they’re artistic people and you’ve got to treat them gently. But these guys didn’t have that. They were okay being raw and imperfect and letting the moment be the moment.” Here Malloy talks about best bunkmates, Jake Gyllenhaal and riding the same route as Woody Guthrie.
