The Gorton Center in Lake Forest will screen "Louder Than Guns" on Wednesday, Oct. 28. The documentary about America's gun debate will be followed by a live Q&A with Old Crow Medicine Show frontman Ketch Secor and public radio journalist David Greene.
Tickets cost $10 for adults and $5 for students, according to the Gorton Center's event page.
The film, directed by Emmy Award-winner Doug Pray, follows Secor and Greene as they travel with Old Crow Medicine Show through rural and urban communities, recording conversations about gun violence and gun rights. Pray's credits include the Emmy-winning "Art & Copy" and HBO Max's "Love, Lizzo."
The documentary grew out of the March 2023 shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville. Secor, the two-time Grammy Award-winning band's founder, responded by writing a New York Times opinion piece titled "Country Music Can Lead America Out of Its Obsession with Guns." That essay caught the attention of Greene, a former NPR Morning Edition host who now hosts KCRW's "Left, Right & Center." The two decided to start an open dialogue about firearms, and Pray followed them with cameras.
According to the film's website, the crew filmed roundtable-style conversations in Owensboro, Kentucky; Chicago; Missoula, Montana; and Nashville. Participants included gun store owners, a group at an inner-city barbershop, junior high school students, formerly incarcerated men at a halfway house and three Covenant School parents whose children survived the attack. The first shoot took place at a barbecue restaurant in Owensboro.
Old Crow Medicine Show is best known for "Wagon Wheel," co-written by Secor and Bob Dylan. The song has achieved diamond certification with more than 13 million units sold, according to the film's website. The band has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 2013.
A one-hour version of "Louder Than Guns" has also aired on PBS affiliates through the series Reel South, according to the film's website.
Greene has spent 25 years in journalism, including stints covering the White House and serving as NPR's Moscow bureau chief. Secor also hosts Nashville PBS's "Tennessee Crossroads."
The screening takes place in the Gorton Center's 309-seat John and Nancy Hughes Theater. Tickets are available at gortoncenter.org.
