Hired Gun is a documentary about the untold stories of unknown session musicians who have worked with the biggest names in the music industry both in studio and on tour.
It is a well-known fact that many of our beloved artists hire musicians to play with them in recordings or in concerts especially when they are in need of a particular instrument or when they are short of band members. However, one might not be aware of the frequency in which this happens. Hired Gun, directed by Fran Strine, introduces some of those important musicians who have helped create some of the greatest music albums in history or have been part of amazing live shows and yet, have not managed to become irreplaceable.
Session musicians must always be prepared and ready for whatever may be asked of them. They have to be excellent in their craft because if they are not, there is always room for someone else. They also have to have what it takes in order to play in front of stadiums full of people and to be available and set 24/7. Hired Gun shows this competitive world through interviews both with well-established names such as Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie and with those sidemen, most of whom we have never heard of, and most of whom the audience might still not remember afterwards.
There are touching stories of people who got to tour with their favourite bands. One such story is Jason Newsted's, who borrowed money from his friends in order to audition with Metallica and then ended up playing with them for 15 whole years. Then there are stories of people who might have worked with someone for a long time but suddenly they were left on the outside, just cause, like Liberty DeVitto who used to play with Billy Joel. This world seems to be a really hard world, one that takes guts to be part of. Many were the stories of people who might have worked with the biggest household names and still had no money till their next gig. It also is a male-centric world with just two women appearing on screen to tell their stories.
The documentary as a whole was really informative and interesting, especially for rock music lovers but at the same time it occasionally seemed to jump from one theme to the next making the audience hurry to understand where they were going next. Also, beware: Hired Gun may change your opinion when it comes to some artists cause of the way they seem to be treating their musicians.
Hired Gun was shown on September 22nd and 23rd.
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