Energy Orchard - How The West Was Won (1992)

What this video is

Released in 1992 to support Energy Orchard's second album Stop the Machine — recorded in Los Angeles with producer Glyn Johns — the video situates the band within an early-90s wave of Belfast and Irish rock acts attempting transatlantic breakthroughs on major labels. Signed to MCA on Steve Earle's personal recommendation, Energy Orchard occupied a cultural space between Van Morrison's Celtic soul legacy, the…

Why it matters

Represents the intersection of Celtic folk-rock and early-90s alternative Americana as practised by a Northern Irish band under US major-label patronage. How the West Was Won is the most direct-rock track on Stop the Machine, and its video distils the band's unaffected aesthetic at the precise…

The director

Jean Poisson (b. 9 April 1959, Nemours, Seine-et-Marne, France) is a French cinematographer and occasional music video director. His DP credits include Dante 01 (2008), Parano (1994), and Capitaine X (1994). His music video directorial work is concentrated…