Neil Young’s documentary ‘CSN&Y: D??jà vu’ may have uncovered a new star. Iraq war veteran Josh Hisle.
You might go along to see ‘D??jà vu’ expecting Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young but you walk away remembering Josh.Josh was disillusioned by the reality of the war in Iraq from fighting a faceless enemy. At his MySpace page he talks about how he wrote his song ‘Traitor’s Death’ outside of his “hagged shelter’ in Iraq. He says he wanted to “express his feelings of pain, loss and mismanagement of the war”.
In ‘D??jà vu’, you see a somewhat nervous Josh jamming with a humbled Neil Young.
‘D??jà vu’ producer Larry ‘L.A.’ Johnson tells Undercover News that Josh has since performed with Young. “They did sing together at Sundance. He sang ‘Rocking In The Free World’ with Neil and Graham Nash,” he said. And will they record together' “With Neil anything is possible,” L.A. said.
You can’t help but be captivated by Josh when you see him in ‘D??jà vu’ and Josh has been around for a number of screenings. “Josh was with us at Sundance,’ says L.A.. “He performed at Sundance while we were there. He came to that screening as well so he had seen if a second or third time. He has a recording that is now out. It was made in Cincinnati, Ohio. He’s got a day job but he’s doing some dates. He’s playing as many dates as he can. In the movie where it says you can hear him on lingerie night, I think he has stepped up to folk night. He’s playing with some people and has a commanding presence. He is very, very good”.
The other star of ‘D??jà vu’ is Karen Meredith. Karen lost her son Kenneth Ballad in the war in April, 2004. She is now outspoken about the human cost of the Iraq War.
“Karen Meredith was with us in San Francisco,” L.A. said. “The first time she saw it was when we screened it for a Vet group. We had a screening at the San Francisco Film Festival for The Swords to Plowshares which is one of the oldest Vet groups in the country. She came to that screening. She hadn’t seen the film before. We met her, had dinner with her and then she saw the film. She got up on stage with Neil (Young) and Josh Hisle and Mike Cerre. She was just beautifully eloquent. She thought the movie did a real good memory to her son and all the Vets. She was very pleased with it”.
‘D??jà vu’ is currently screening in selected cinemas across the US and recently played at the Melbourne Film Festival.
You can check out Josh and Lost In Holland at Joshhisle.com
