NaFF Hosts ‘Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me’ Premiere

Pictured (L-R): Ashley Campbell, Ted Crockett, James Ketch, Kim Campbell, Trevor Albert, Brandyn Payne, Shannon Campbell. Photo: Shelley Justiss.

The Nashville Film Festival hosted the worldwide premiere of James Keach’s (Director/Producer) and Trevor Albert’s (Producer) latest documentary, Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me, on Friday evening, April 18.

The 104-minute behind-the-scenes, beyond-the-music documentary follows Campbell, family and friends through a public diagnosis of Alzheimer’s in 2011 to his final concert in 2012. Most recently, Campbell was moved into a care facility, which his family references during comments before the showing on the red carpet.

“We knew if we were to produce a film for one of the greatest entertainers, we had to do it the right way,” said Keach, who produced and acted in the the full-length film Walk the Line.

“We were on a tightrope every single performance,” said Albert after expressing initial conservations for taking on the project, which spanned 151 live shows. “But even [some of the shows] at the end of the tour, may have been some of his best.”

The project features a pairing of serious, heavy moments mixed with the comic relief of Campbell himself, as family members’ vulnerably exposing their own progressions of grief, towards acceptance and activism.

Big Machine Label Group will release a soundtrack, including “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” an unreleased studio-produced work from Campbell, featured at the end of the documentary. Additional artists will be featured on the forthcoming release.

Brad Paisley, Kathy Mattea, Bruce Springsteen and Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) personally described dealing with the devastating disease in their own families in the film. Guest commentary was additionally featured from Jimmy Webb, Sheryl Crow, Vince Gill, Buddy Jewell, Scott Borchetta, Paul McCartney, Larry Gatlin, Keith Urban, Steve Martin, Blake Shelton, Bill Clinton and Nancy Pelosi.

New titles performed included “A Better Place” and “In My Arms,” in addition to Ashley Campbell’s “I’ll Do The Remembering,” a title written and performed for her father.

Campbell performed covers of “Lovesick Blues” (Hank Williams) and “Nothing But The Whole Wide World” (Jakob Dylan). Signature hits included “Gentle On My Mind,” “Try A Little Kindness,” “Wichita Lineman,” “The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress,” “By The Time I Get To Phoenix,” “Rhinestone Cowboy,” and “Southern Nights.”

The 45th Annual Nashville Film Festival takes place through Saturday, April 26 with music-centered projects Béla Fleck: How to Write a Banjo Concerto, The Ballad of Shovels & Rope, and The Winding Stream – The Carters, the Cashes and the Course of Country Music.