By Tom Huntington
Arts Correspondent
It all started as a song collaboration between Nick Charyk of rising White River Junction-based cosmic honky tonk band Western Terrestrials and Ketch Secor of celebrated Nashville bluegrass band Old Crow Medicine Show.
The rollicking and whimsical tune was the result of Secor discovering the Terrestrials on Instagram, liking what he heard, and then posting a proposal on their Instagram page to “co-write a song” with the following title: “Ethan Allen Wuz an Alien.”
From “Ethan Alien,” a standout tune on the Western Terrestrials’ 2020 sophomore album, “Back in the Saddle of a Fever Dream,” the concept snowballed into a feature film called “The Ballad of Ethan Alien.”
Released in August, the movie has been screened at drive-in theaters around the state and makes its theatrical debut — complete with red carpet — Thursday at Stowe Cinema 3Plex. The free show, which includes a live performance by Catie Michael and Bow Thayer, is being underwritten by the Alchemist Brewing.
Produced by Barnard filmmaker Teo Zagar, the 75-minute flick was created entirely during the pandemic by more than 75 Vermont-based film and music production professionals, performers, artists and creatives.
“The Ballad” combines elements of science fiction, music and Vermont history and features appearances from such noteworthy Vermonters as Ben and Jerry, Kiah Morris, Christine Halquist, Luiz Guzman and Rusty “The Logger” DeWees, among many others.
Featuring the music of Western Terrestrials and other Vermont artists like Sarah King and Bow Thayer, among others — and a cameo by Secor and live tune by Old Crow — the film “aims to elevate the creative powers of multi-generational Vermont artists with diverse backgrounds,” according to a news release.
Charyk, 35, of Sharon, said the film is “part of the wild story of this whole Ethan Alien concept.” Locked down during the pandemic and looking for another creative outlet, “we got the notion to make a feature film celebrating Vermont artists and the spirit of Vermont weirdness that the ‘Ethan Alien’ tune is about,” he said. “From there, it snowballed.”
Charyk describes the film as “a campy sci-fi, space opera-type thing, with some great music and some really serious thematic material as well,” adding: “I think Vermonters are really gonna dig it.”
thomaswhuntington @hotmail.com
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