Filmmaker March Mercanti will premiere his documentary about Harley Russell of the Mediocre Music Makers in Erick, Oklahoma, on Saturday at the San Jose International Short Film Festival.
The nearly 14-minute film is titled simply “Harley.” Here is the summary:
Despite living in the small town of Erick, Oklahoma and bordering on the edge of insanity, a self-proclaimed ‘mediocre music maker’ attracts visitors from around the world.
Here is the trailer:
HARLEY (trailer) from March Mercanti on Vimeo.
Viewers may notice the trailer doesn’t contain footage of Russell’s wife Annabelle, who died of cancer in the fall of 2014.
But Mercanti volunteered this information in an email:
We do have some footage of her and she definitely plays a key factor in the story.
It’s also noteworthy that Harley himself took note of the upcoming premiere in a Facebook post.
Mercanti is based in Toronto and already has earned an armload of awards from other music festivals in the past few years.
The Mediocre Music Makers act began more than a decade ago in the Russells’ old City Meat Market building a block south of Route 66 in downtown Erick. They tried to make it go as a health-food store. The Russells one day were practicing their guitar-picking in the building when a Route 66 tour group stopped by. Afterward, the tour group threw down tip money on the tables, and the guide said he’d bring more tours in the future. A globally known entertainment career on Route 66 was born.
UPDATE : Mercanti said the full film would be posted online sometime in 2017.
(Image of the “Harley” movie poster courtesy of March Mercanti)
Great work boys. You will make a lasting legacy for Harley. Well done and God bless your journey. Charlie Agro