Tom Russell - Hotwalker

Tom Russell's 'Hotwalker' is a portrait of a segment of American culture in the not-too-distant past. Through original songs, narration and the actual voices of literary and historical figures, Tom constructs a recollection of the outsider voices of American popular culture, literature and art of the 1950s and '60s. This is a compelling look at a period in American history and culture. It is Tom Russell's second foray into photographing a piece of America's past, the first being the critically acclaimed 'The Man From God KNows Where'. The taking-off point for 'Hotwalker' is Tom's correspondence with outsider writer/poet Charles Bukowski in the 1960's.Tom and circus midget/actor Little Jack Horton read parts of the correspondence and narrate an historical landscape, dotted with the voices of Lenny Bruce, Jack Kerouac, Dave van Ronk, radical environmentalist Edward Abbey, hobo classical composer Harry Partch, Ramblin ' Jack Elliott and Bukowski himself. In the process, the listener is taken on a tour of dive bars in downtown LA, Mexican border whorehouses, huckster revival meetings, Bakersfield honky-tonks and more.