Loveless was the subject of a documentary called Who Is Lydia Loveless? in which filmmaker Gorman Bechard (Color Me Obsessed, Every Everything: The Music, Life & Times of Grant Hart) documented the making of Loveless' album Real as well as following their on the road, and looking into what life is like for a band at their level in the music industry."I also wanted to look at stuff we normally don't see a lot of. What are the finances for a band like this? Where does the money go? Who gets the money? Is Spotify good? Is Spotify bad? How does piracy affect you? What about the fans? I really wanted to go into all of that for a band that can still sell out 200–250 seat venues and bars but is still all travelling in an old Ford van. A good night is when they have a couple of hotel rooms. No one is rolling in the dough so to speak. So what is it at that point when you have amazing critical success and acclaim but you're not there yet?" In October 2015, Bechard and his crew filmed a live Lydia Loveless concert at Skully's in their hometown of Columbus for the documentary. The film had its world premiere on April 7, 2016 at the Columbus International Film & Video Festival.


Who Is Lydia Loveless?

  • Directed by Gorman Bechard
  • Produced by Gorman Bechard and Colleen McQuaid
  • Starring
Lydia Loveless, Todd May, Benjamin Lamb, Jay Gasper, George Hondroulis
  • Cinematography
Gorman Bechard, Sarah Hajtol, Taryn Welker
  • Edited by
Gorman Bechard
  • Production company
What Were We Thinking Films
  • Release dates
April 7, 2016 (Columbus International Film and Video Festival)
  • Running time
110 minutes
  • Country
United States
  • Language
English

Two trailers exist for the film. One features Loveless and her band, while the other features random people trying to answer the question posed in the film's title.

History 

Who Is Lydia Loveless? is the fourth rock documentary by Bechard, whose previous documentaries include Color Me Obsessed, What Did You Expect?, and Every Everything: The Music, Life & Times of Grant Hart.

Release 

Film screenings include the following:

Sneak-peek/work-in-progress screening, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, February 24, 2016

World Premiere, Columbus International Film & Video Festival, April 7, 2016

Screening, CIMMfest, Chicago, April 16, 2016

Screening, Cat's Cradle, Chapel Hill, May 14, 2016

Screening, New Haven Documentary Film Festival, June 7, 2016

DVD release, November 24, 2017

Critical Response 

Writing in No Depression, Steve Wosahla said, "In the documentary, we get a look at the introspective artist as she allows us access into the making of her album Real (2016). As the film follows the progress of a new song, the band’s first rehearsal, and its recording session a few weeks later, we also get to experience it performed publicly for the first time. Director Gorman Bechard generously profiles each of her band members to get at the chemistry and passion they have in committing to playing behind her and the songs she writes."

The music blog If It's Too Loud had this to say: "Who is Lydia Loveless? is a great look into the everyday activities of one of our favorite up-and-coming artists. You see their everyday struggles and accomplishments in a very real way. It's not just for fans of Lydia Loveless, but for anyone looking to see what the careers of non-millionaire musicians can really be like... it takes the standard rock documentary format and goes in a completely new direction."