Now it can finally be told. "Danielson: a Family Movie" will be available throughout North America on April 10 on DVD. And when I say throughout North America, I mean Amazon. And cool video stores and record stores. Honestly, i really don't know where. But what I do know is that you will also be able to download the whole film at that time right here at True Stories. And then you can put it on your multimedia device. And you can watch it. Nice.

Hello friends- 'Danielson: a Family Movie (or, Make a Joyful Noise HERE)' is rolling into theaters across the nation! Spread the news! Share a popcorn! It's the holiday movie of the season! New York: Cinema Village * Dec 15 - 21 Chicago: Gene Siskel Center * Dec 10 & 14 Austin: Alamo Drafthouse * Dec 11, 20, 28 & Jan 2 Seattle: NW Film Forum * Dec 15 - 21 Bloomington, IN: The Cinemat * Dec 1 - 14 Los Angeles: Laemmle Grande 4-plex * Jan 19 - 25 Boston: Coolidge Corner Theatre * Feb 2 &3 Portland, OR: Northwest Film Center * Jan 20 Fort Collins, Colorado: special benefit screening/blood drive for the Red Cross at Everyday Joe's Café on March 3 And more to come! Check http://www.danielsonmovie.com for updates and other things

I would like to anticpate some questions. I would like to engage with you, the reader, in a volley of words, ideas, and actions. In this scenario, we ask ourselves the questions we might be asked, could be asked, have been asked in public places, or just want to be asked. Are you ready? I'll start. You want to know why the documentary musical I made, 'Danielson: a Family Movie (or, Make a Joyful Noise HERE)' has such a convoluted title. And what does it mean exactly? And can one just call the film "Danielson"? Or "A Family Movie"? Or the other part? The first person to ask me this question was my subject, Daniel Smith, 34, of Clarksboro, New Jersey. population 2600. "What's the HERE part all about?" he asked. Well, I'll tell you. HERE is wherever you are. Clarksboro, NJ for instance. HERE is where you find yourself making your noise, or what sounds like noise to some people, or what, by definition, is noise because it is audible and sustained. "Make a Joyful Noise HERE" is the instruction given my older brothers who draft their younger siblings (four of them, in this case) into a band in order to perform songs at their art college thesis show. And then onward. And upward. Why Joyful? That is not for me to say except to say that why mournful? Or angry? Or boastful? Or anything? There's a time and a place for all these emotions but if we have some joy, why not make that into our noise? This runs into my original interest in the subject matter. As an armchair ethnomusicologist, I'd always been interested in devotional music. Tibetan chant, Bulgarian womens choirs, Muslim Qawwali singing, gospel, whathaveyou. When I first heard Danielson Famile in late 1997, I instantly connected it to these great traditions. It was polished, commercial radio-friendly God rock. It was boldly homemade and inventive and soulful and playful and...joyful. And it had a great melody, too. Over time, the music that Daniel makes with or without his family and friends has become more "polished," more complex, and more je ne c'est qua without losing honestly or even authenticity. This is what interest me. This is what attarcts me as a listener. And this is a story I felt more people needed to know. And now more people have been knowing that and for this I am myself joyful. Thanks for asking.