Private Project

Slow Burn & The Muse

Two songs, many years and one fruitful night tell the story of a singer/songwriter's road to success.

Guided by her 2020-self performing "The Muse," a song she co-wrote with her legendary bandmate David Crosby, this verite, lyrical look inside the career of singer/songwriter Becca Stevens finds the Brooklyn-based artist deep in songwriting mode. As she methodically takes us through her creative process, Becca’s wide range of talents and experiences come to life, and the slow burn of the work and of the artistic living is revealed. Ultimately, the muse leads her to the revelatory moment of literally finding a groove that scores her a 2021 GRAMMY nomination for the arrangement of her song “Slow Burn.”

  • Darah Golub
    Director
  • Eric Lense
    Producer
  • Jamie Margulies
    Producer
  • Becca Stevens
    Key Cast
  • David Crosby
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Genres:
    music
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 48 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 9, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Mini dv, HD, 1080p AVCHD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Atlanta Shortsfest
    Atlanta
    United States
    August 21, 2021
    Official Selection
  • Chelsea Film Festival
    New York City
    United States
    October 14, 2021
    Official Selection
  • Syracuse International Film Festival
    Syracuse
    United States
    October 23, 2021
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Darah Golub

Darah Golub is a New York based artist with a BA from Boston University. Golub freelanced as a shooter and editor while studying voice at The New School for Jazz in 2006, where she began filming THE NEW YORK LOVE SONGS. During the 2010s she recorded and toured internationally as part of the band Parlour Tricks (named #1 Pop Band in New York City by The Village Voice in 2014), and co-hosted Billboard’s “Soul Sisters” podcast, interviewing over 100 female artists. She currently works as Vice President and Managing Director at JBS, an educational Jewish non-profit television channel, where she created the short-form series “Jewish NYC.” "Slow Burn & The Muse" is a short taken from THE NEW YORK LOVE SONGS, currently in post-production.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

This short spotlights Becca Stevens, one of several artists chronicled in THE NEW YORK LOVE SONGS, my forthcoming feature documentary that follows the lives and careers of jazz school graduates for over a decade, offering an immersive inside look at being a musician throughout the 2010s.
In the full-length film, Becca’s 13-year story is anchored in her emerging relationship with David Crosby. But when she was nominated for her first-ever Grammy award -- for the song “Slow Burn” off her album Wonderbloom which was released in March of 2020 -- I was thrilled for her and for the opportunity to dive deep on a single scene as a way to explore her trajectory and her creative process. The patience and dedication required in both the artist’s act of creation and larger career ambition; and the notion that “the muse” is not simply some elusive force of inspiration but it is also people (in the audience or across the table), these were themes I was excited to draw out from the footage of the writing session for “Slow Burn.” The poetic lyricism that bridges theme and time in this short is representative of the cinematic language I will use to tell the larger story of many artists searching for identity and fulfillment as they navigate the 2010s.