Free screening of The Mountain Goats movie — plus Q&A with John Darnielle

Jon Wurster, John Darnielle and Peter Hughes of The Mountain Goats. (Photo by Chrissy Piper)

As an 8-year-old child, quirky Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle performed Bach minuets in a piano recital at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif.

A little while back, after his band finished recording their new album, The Life of the World to Come (out Oct. 6), the adult John returned to the piano in that very same Pomona College hall to play stripped-down versions of a few of the new songs and have them captured on film by Rian Johnson.

One thing led to another, and Rian kept the camera running while John played the entire album, start-to-finish. The resulting film, The Life of the World to Come: A Film by Rian Johnson, has its premiere this Sunday at NYC’s Housing Works, an organization committed to fighting AIDS and homelessness.

Doors open at 5:45 pm on Sunday, Oct. 4, for the screening at 6, which is followed by a Q&A with John and Rian and a cocktail reception. Housing Works is at 126 Crosby St. in Manhattan. Admission is free; first-come, first-served.

If you want to check out full-band versions of the songs before you go, the entire album is streaming now on the Colbert Nation web site.

You can also catch the full band on tour later this year. The Mountain Goats, with opener Final Fantasy, are playing Manhattan’s Webster Hall on Dec. 1 and The Bell House in Brooklyn on Dec. 2.  The Bell House show is sold out, but tickets are still available for the Webster Hall show.