The Frost Heaves and HaLeS, the indie rock band fronted by Greenfield resident Daniel Hales, has engaged in ambitious projects in the past, but their show in Easthampton on Friday may be their biggest yet.

Friday’s performance will be a four-act multi-media event celebrating the release of the band’s sixth album, “You Double-Crossed My Mind,” and the debut of the film “Of Moths And Men.” This show will take place at 8 p.m. in the Blue Room at CitySpace, the old Town Hall building at 43 Main St. The night will feature plenty of music, the movie, and so much more.

Putting together a show of this magnitude was challenging, and Hales admitted there were times he wondered what he had gotten himself into.

“I often feel that I bit off more than I could chew with this one,” said Hales, the singer and guitarist for the trio he’s led since 2005. “There were moments when I was like, what am I doing?”

The seed for this project dates back to 2012 when the band played before a screening of the 1949 film “The Third Man” at Pothole Pictures in Shelburne Falls.

After that gig, Hales, who writes all the lyrics for the band, wrote the song “Harry Lime,” inspired by the character that Orson Welles played in the movie. The character lived on after the film when a 1951 British radio show (with Welles’ involvement) broadcast stories based on the character of Harry Lime.

James Lowe, the bassist for the Frost Heaves, took samples from the radio show and cleverly inserted them throughout the laid-back song.

It was an odd little song that didn’t fit in with what Hales was writing at the time, so he put it on the back burner.

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Another pivotal event that would significantly impact this project occurred when Hales’ friend Brion Dulac died in October 2022. Dulac was the longtime projectionist at Pleasant Street Theater and also a writer, cinematographer, and an aficionado of film noir.

Hales says he wrote the song “Of Moths And Men,” a soft waltz about missing his friend, about Dulac.

“Brion loved film noir and just cinema in general,” he said. “I included lines where I mentioned the Maltese Falcon and James Cotton, so now there are two Welles songs.”

This song led to creating a work thematically built around the writer, director and actor Orson Welles.

“It’s kind of what I do,” said Hales. “Once I find a theme, I write to the theme, and once I had those two songs, the others came quickly late last year.”

Anyone familiar with the movie “Citizen Kane” will recognize the connection to the opening track, “Rosebud.”

The final track is the acoustic guitar-driven “The Other Side of the Wind,” which is also the title of Welles’ last film.

Lowe and Hales worked on the four-song EP (drummer Brian DiPippo did not play on this recording), playing all the instruments, producing, recording, and mixing all four pieces.

“You Double-Crossed My Mind” was released last Friday and is available on Bandcamp. Physical CDs will be sold at the show. The EP is dedicated to Dulac’s memory.

Fans of Frost Heaves and HaLeS will notice these four songs are slower and quieter than we’ve come to think of the band; kind of like Frost Heaves light. Since the EP doesn’t reflect the band’s live sound, they will include a more rocking set in this show.

And while film buffs will have fun digging into all the references, don’t worry if, like me, your knowledge of Orson Welles begins and ends with “Citizen Kane.” It will have no bearing on your enjoyment of the music. Actually, you don’t even have to know who Welles is as theses songs stand on their own.

Dulac’s passing led to the “Of Moths And Men” film, which will debut at the event Friday night. In 1996, Hales and Dulac started making this film but never completed it. Years passed, and they were busy with other projects and the film was dormant. After Dulac’s passing, Hales was motivated to dust it off and finish it.

“It kind of all happened at the same time; we would focus on the Wells songs around the same time I was editing the film. Initially, it didn’t seem like that ridiculous of a thing because the film was only going to be about 40 minutes,” explained Hales about working on both projects. “But then a friend of Brion’s discovered lost footage which was great, but it also meant I was in over my head because there was a lot more footage to work with.”

The final piece that pulled this all together was the grant for the Pay It Forward program at CitySpace in Easthampton.

“One of the things that sort of made it become this was we got a grant from the Pay It Forward program at CitySpace in Easthampton, and I thought … this has to be more than a rock show.”

And it’s going to be much more. Hales has referred to this project as a 27-year-long labor of love.

The evening’s format will be:

Act One: The new EP “You Double-Crossed My Mind,” played in its entirety. Since every song references Orson Welles, the band’s first, mellow 20-minute set will be accompanied by video clips from Welles’ films.

Act Two: The premiere screening of the 40-minute absurdist film noir “Of Moths And Men.” An intermission will follow: a chance to talk, to toast Brion, and sing a few karaoke songs.

Act Three: A rock set complete with psychedelic video projections by The Frost Heaves & HaLeS. Special musical guests John Crand from The Original Cowards and Jeff Lloyd from Beasthampton will lend their talents to a couple of tunes.

Act Four: An assortment of the tastiest jams and recorded preserves served up by DJ SeLah and DJ FLowe.

The Frost Heaves and HaLeS are known as a Franklin County-based band, but they hope their fans will take the short trip to Easthampton for this special event. If you act fast, you can grab an advance ticket for the low price of $5. Day of show tickets are $10. Tickets are available at CitySpaceEasthampton.org. There is plenty of free parking near the venue.

Singer and finger-style guitarist Jim Eagan will team up with vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Anand Nyack for a night of folk and blues music at the Great Falls Coffeehouse in Turners Falls on Friday, Sept. 8, at 7 p.m. The Great Falls Coffeehouse is held in the Great Hall at the Great Falls Discovery Center in Turners Falls.

If you follow the local music scene, then you are likely familiar with the work of both musicians. Eagan is an established folk and blues singer/songwriter. His song, “Ain’t in No Hurry,” is the title track on JormaKaukonen’s latest release. Nyack has played with numerous musicians here in the Valley and is also a Grammy-nominated producer. He is best known as a member of Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m, and music starts at 7 p.m. Admission is a sliding scale donation of $6 to $15, and free for children. For more information, call the Discovery Center at 413-863-3221.

Thanks to multiple Local Cultural Council grants, singer-songwriter Pamela Means continues to present her show, “The Power of The Protest Song: Our Shared History & Present Day” at various locations across the state. This family-friendly event explores the origin and role of protest songs and how they have inspired — and continue to inspire — movements and cultural shifts of racial and social justice.

Means delves into this topic by sharing her experience as an artist and playing her original songs and a collection of well-known covers. You can catch this show on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 1 p.m. at Peskeompskut Park in Turners Falls (rain date Sunday, Sept. 10, at 1 p.m.) and on Friday, Sept. 15, at the Northfield Golf Club on 31 Holton St. This show will be held under a big tent so it is rain or shine.

Both shows are free, so pack a picnic, grab your lawn chair and/or blanket, and enjoy this educational and entertaining show.

Sheryl Hunter is a freelance writer who resides in Easthampton. Her work has appeared in various regional and national publications. She can be reached at soundslocal@yahoo.com.