Screening: Saturday, 2:30 pm, April 10th

Waiting for a Train is the remarkable true story of a native Japanese and now San Francisco resident, Toshio Hirano, whose life is transformed by the music of country musician Jimmie Rodgers. Follow Hirano from Tokyo to Texas to San Francisco’s Valencia St. as he chases a passionate dream for over 40 years. He’s a man following his bliss and being rewarded with a life well-lived, filled with music, song and dance.

Toshio Hirano was born in Tokyo, Japan in the 1950's. As a teenager he became

interested in bluegrass and country music and later became inspired by the Mississippi

legend, Jimmie Rodgers. Toshio learned to play banjo, guitar and mandolin and

continued playing music throughout college, after which he immigrated to the USA to

pursue his love of the music. After first visiting the Appalachia region—the heartland of

Bluegrass music—he then lived in Atlanta, Nashville, Minneapolis and Austin, Texas.

San Francisco has been his home since 1986 and he plays regularly in cafes and bars

around town. The deep romantic nature of country music—tales of trains and cowboys

and broken hearts—continues to sustain Toshio's imagination and art.

Waiting for a Train was shot on location, capturing beautiful performances by Toshio Hirano and his trio, performing in San Francisco speakeasys, on moving vintage passenger trains, and by the riverside. Intercut with some of his performances, Hirano speaks about novelty, authenticity and heritage—how the fact that he is Japanese both helps him—in that it attracts a crowd interested in the novelty aspect—and hinders in that his ethnicity has little to do with his love and passion of the music.

He also relates the moment he discovered Jimmie Rodgers—an amazing, transcendent epiphany that would forever change his life. It's an incredible singular moment of discovery and rebirth rendered here in an eloquent cinematic poem. Like Jimmie Rodgers and the song of the same name, in many ways, Toshio Hirano was 'Waiting for a Train' and when it arrived, it changed his life forever.

More on Director Oscar Bucher and the film visit: ob3studios.com

"His voice has that perfect old-timey waver, and his yodel could bring tears to your eyes. His faithful, respectful renditions of heartbreaking country tunes is something to behold."

- Beth Liscik, music critic / San Francisco Chronicle

"A yodeling cowboy from way out east. It's cute as hell."

- Squidlist.com

“He sounds just like a singing cowboy riding the range or waiting for a train.”

         - Joel Selvin / San Francisco Chronicle

Film is rated Family Friendly (FF)