Blaze Foley: Duct Tape Messiah

In 1989, singer-songwriter Blaze Foley met an unfortunate end at only 39 years old. He had lived a turbulent life, filled with sufficient amounts of alcohol and drama to provide material for his songs. And Foley did just that, writing and performing songs and even achieving some level of success, but the big break never came. In the 1990s, filmmaker Kevin Triplett got his hands on a demo of Foley's music. This was the beginning of his fascination with fellow Texan Foley, and he took the next 12 years to make this unique documentary about him. During that time, Triplett didn't only manage to interview an impressive number of Foley's friends and family members, but also fellow musicians, music journalists and producers. Their testimony paints a picture of a complex, colorful rebel with a dark beard and a big mouth, a deep-down sweet guy with duct tape on his cowboy boots. Foley's greatest triumph was that country star Merle Haggard recognized his skill as a lyricist and made a hit out of his song "If I Could Only Fly." But despite his warm voice and his original, emotional songs, Foley never managed to make the move to larger audiences. Perhaps he was too thirsty for it, or perhaps he was thrown out of bars one too many times - and then he died too soon.