No Gods No Masters

In this two-disc DVD set, the inimitable performance of a pair of Britain’s finest living songwriters—Leon Rosselson and Robb Johnson—are captured live on stage over the course of a two night concert held in Berkeley, California. The first disc, “Turning Silence into Song,” showcases a pair of career-spanning “greatest hits,” with a suitable sprinkling of new and previously unreleased material. Each song is introduced and contextualized with a large helping of trademark wit and dry irony. The second disc, “The Liberty Tree,” tells the story of Thomas Paine’s extraordinary life, interweaving his own words—from his letters and the pamphlets that made him one of the most influential and dangerous writers of his age—with extracts from newspaper reports, diaries, letters, and other documents of the times. The songs of Robb Johnson and Leon Rosselson add another dimension to the story, reflecting Paine’s radical ideas and evaluating them in the context of the 21st century. This unique blend of words and music challenges received opinion in the same way Paine’s writings once did. All told, viewers will find more than four hours of the finest contemporary songs, stories, humor, and observation from the greatest practitioners of the craft.