Inside Out - Hudson Valley
June 2005

Left Lane Review

The journey captured by Samantha Farinella in Left Lane, the new Alix Olson tour DVD, reveals something essential to the political tasks that we have before us. The individual can effect transformation through personal actions. By taking it to the streets, Alix gives face to the alternatives. The film follows Alix‚s performances, as well as her visits to school classrooms and radio stations. We see her as a teacher, a granddaughter, and a friend, as well as a performer. She is a road poet who comes in person to offer her vision so different than the conformist messages that bombard us from the mass media. The film also features the exceptional musicians Pamela Means, Peter Mulvey, Melissa Ferrick, Ember Swift and Lyndell Montgomery. While Left Lane is no substitute for being with her at a live performance, Alix‚s song poems resonate with righteousness. I am going to repeatedly play this DVD until I know all the words to „America For Sale‰ by heart.