Today we’re celebrating James McMurtry turning 64, so we went into the Trail Vault and pulled out a live session we recorded at the Top Hat Lounge in downtown Missoula on June 3rd, 2015.

Craig Johnson was on site for this,  just a sitting on the booths with a couple mics, and a really honest conversation with James, plus a few live performances while patrons and tourists alike sat around unsuspectingly enjoying their Top Hat lunch.

If you were there, this might take you right back.
If you weren’t, this is about as close as it gets.

—

The Trail 103.3
 Missoula, Montana
 [Trail Vault]

 Colter Nuanez is joined by filmmaker Scott Diener, director of Big Sky Falling, ahead of the film’s premiere at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. Now in its 23rd year, the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival (BSDFF) is the largest nonfiction film festival in the American West. Presented by the Big Sky Film Institute, the festival brings filmmakers and audiences together for a dynamic week of screenings, conversations, and community events in the heart of downtown Missoula. BSDFF is also an Academy Award® Qualifying Festival.

Big Sky Falling (2026, 92 min) revisits the mid-2000s drug and murder scandal that rocked Montana State University and stunned the Bozeman community. Through exclusive interviews, investigative audio, and newly uncovered records, the film explores the complex intersection of college athletics, race, recruiting practices, and accountability — nearly 20 years after the events unfolded. More than a true-crime story, the documentary examines systemic blind spots and asks difficult questions about justice, memory, and redemption.

Festival Screening Info: Big Sky Falling — Wilma Theatre, Sunday @ 2:30 PM (Big Sky Documentary Film Festival).

Parker Peddicord is joined live in-studio by Missoula-based filmmaker Jordan Hoffmaster, director and producer of Something to Hold, ahead of the film’s World Premiere at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.

Now in its 23rd year, the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival (BSDFF) is the largest nonfiction film festival in the American West and is presented by the Big Sky Film Institute, bringing filmmakers and audiences together for a packed slate of screenings, conversations, and community events in the heart of downtown Missoula. BSDFF is an Academy Award® Qualifying Festival.

The film itself, Something to Hold (2025, 27 min), follows a Montana mountaineering artist during the final summer of a decade-long project to draw every named glacier in the state. Set in the wilds of Montana, the short documentary reflects on time spent in the wilderness and bears witness to awe-inspiring landscapes, exploring human connection to nature through art, memory, and stewardship.

World Premiere info: Something to Hold — Wilma Theatre, Sunday, Feb. 22 @ 1:00 PM (Big Sky Documentary Film Festival).

Mike Smith sits down live in-studio with documentary directors Emily Schuman and Dave Schuman ahead of the World Premiere screening of The Baker’s Hotline at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula. Now in its 23rd year, the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival (BSDFF) is the largest nonfiction film festival in the American West and is presented by the Big Sky Film Institute, bringing filmmakers and audiences together for a packed slate of screenings, conversations, and community events in the heart of downtown Missoula. BSDFF is an Academy Award®-qualifying festival.

The film itself, The Baker’s Hotline (2026, 13 min), follows the dedicated team at King Arthur Flour in Vermont as they run a hotline for baking emergencies. From home bakers to professional kitchens, callers reach out with questions, crises, and last-minute baking challenges. Through intimate, often humorous, and sometimes touching exchanges, the film captures the humanity, patience, and creativity of the hotline specialists, revealing how a shared love of baking connects people across the country.

World Premiere info: The Baker’s Hotline, Screening at the Wilma, Friday, Feb 20th @ 5:30 pm and Saturday, Feb 21st @ 12:30 pm

Tommy Evans is joined live in-studio by filmmaker Elijah Sullivan and composer Desan Sullivan ahead of the Montana Premiere screening of The Hole Story at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula.

Now in its 23rd year, the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival (BSDFF) is the largest nonfiction film festival in the American West and is presented by the Big Sky Film Institute. The festival brings filmmakers and audiences together for a packed slate of screenings, conversations, and community events in the heart of downtown Missoula. BSDFF is an Academy Award® Qualifying Festival.

The Hole Story (2024) is a mystery-driven documentary that begins when a massive, illegal hole is discovered carved deep into the side of Mount Shasta. What starts as a local curiosity quickly unfolds into a larger examination of myth, obsession, and the stories communities tell themselves when confronted with the unexplainable. Blending original investigation, archival material, and an evocative original score, the film explores how folklore, secrecy, and belief collide — and what happens when truth proves harder to uncover than legend.

Mike Smith sits is joined live in-studio by Bill Payne (Little Feat co-founder, keyboardist, singer/songwriter) and documentary director Jesse Lauter ahead of the World Premiere screening of Little Feat: The Documentary at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula.

Now in its 23rd year, the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival (BSDFF) is the largest nonfiction film festival the American west and is presented by the Big Sky Film Institute, bringing filmmakers and audiences together for a packed slate of screenings, conversations, and community events in the heart of downtown Missoula. BSDFF is an Academy Award® Qualifying Festival.

The film itself, Little Feat: The Documentary (2026, 137 min), is narrated by Jeff Bridges and dives deep into the of one of America’s most influential (and often lesser-known) bands. Featuring never-before-seen footage and stories from friends and collaborators (including Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello among others, and members of the Doobie Brothers, Phish, and the Grateful Dead), the documentary fluidly traces Little Feat’s remarkable musical legacy and the wide reach of their influence across generations and genres. 

World Premiere info: 'Little Feat: The Documentary' Wilma Theatre, Saturday, Feb. 21 @ 6:00 PM (Big Sky Documentary Film Festival). 

Filmmaker John Wilson (creator of HBO’s How To with John Wilson) joins Tommy Evans on Trail 103.3’s Trail Lunchbox for a conversation that starts with a snowstorm detour in Deer Lodge and ends at the literal foundation of New York City.

Wilson’s new feature The History of Concrete follows his attempt to make a documentary about the world’s most overlooked material—until the film industry reality sets in. After taking a class on how to write and sell a Hallmark movie, he tries applying that formula to a movie about concrete… and his plan begins to crack—both figuratively and (in true John Wilson fashion) surprisingly literally.

Montana Premiere: Thu, Feb 19 at 5:00 PM at the MCT, followed by a Q&A with director John Wilson.

More info and tickets at bigskyfilmfest.org.

Director Johanna Gustin joins Mike Smith (with BSDFF’s Nick Davis) to talk about her world-premiere short I Think About Birds—a sharply funny, uneasy journey through the algorithmic rabbit hole of online dating coaches, contrasted with surprisingly romantic bird behavior and the real emotional risks of intimacy. The conversation touches on “desktop documentary” filmmaking, pulling hours of material from YouTube, and how online spaces can quietly shape the way we think about relationships.

I Think About Birds screens Thu, Feb 19 at 6:00 PM at the ZACC and Sat, Feb 21 at 12:30 PM at the Wilma, and is available to stream Feb 22–26, 2026. 

Trail 103.3 is proud to once again be a media partner of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula — and this week we’re welcoming filmmakers, directors, and special guests into the Trail studio for quick conversations about the films lighting up the festival.

In this episode, Mike Smith sits down with Peter Nauffts (archival producer) to talk about Sun Ra: Do the Impossible — the American Masters documentary spotlighting the poet, philosopher, Egyptologist, bandleader, and jazz visionary Sun Ra, and his ever-evolving ensemble, the Sun Ra Arkestra. The film traces how Sun Ra built a singular musical and spiritual vision of Afrofuturism, blending ancient Egypt, interstellar metaphors, and boundary-pushing free-form jazz. 

Peter also breaks down what archival producing actually looks like today (the sifting, the treasure-hunting, the format headaches, and the magic of finding the right shot), plus why Sun Ra’s work still feels like it’s broadcasting from the future.

Film info (Big Sky Doc Fest):
Sun Ra: Do the Impossible (84 min) — Director/Producer: Christine Turner.
Montana Premiere — Screening at the ZACC: Wed, Feb. 18 @ 8:30 PM, followed by a conversation between MTPR’s Bryan Ramirez and Peter Nauffts. 

🎟️ Full festival screenings, showtimes, tickets & passes: bigskyfilmfest.org

From the 23rd annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, we sit down with director Caron Creighton and former Wood Street resident John Janosko to talk about Wood Street—a 2026, 100-minute documentary following two unhoused men turned organizers, John and LaMonté, as they build community power in West Oakland in the face of displacement, addiction, and a failing social system. 

We talk about how the Wood Street Commons formed, what mutual aid and organizing looked like day-to-day, and why Caron chose to center unhoused voices as the experts of their own experience.

World Premiere screening: MCT — Wed, Feb 18 @ 5:00 PM (see full schedule at bigskyfilmfest.org).
--> Get involved: woodstreetcommons.org

Trail 103.3 is proud to once again be a media partner of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival—a week of powerful, story-driven cinema and community conversation right here in Missoula. Each year, Big Sky brings filmmakers, subjects, and audiences together for screenings, Q&As, and events that spotlight documentaries from around the world—stories that challenge, connect, and deepen our understanding of the people and places around us.

🎬 Film: Wood Street (World Premiere)
📍 Festival: Big Sky Documentary Film Festival (Missoula, MT)
🗓️ Screenings & Showtimes: Full schedule at bigskyfilmfest.org
🏛️ World Premiere Screening: MCT — Wed, Feb 18 @ 5:00 PM

Big Sky Doc Fest runs February 2026 in Missoula, featuring in-person screenings plus select virtual options. If you’re hearing this during festival week, check the lineup, tickets, and details at bigskyfilmfest.org—and stay tuned to Trail 103.3 all week for more filmmaker interviews and festival coverage. Special thank you to the filmmakers, directors, producers and subjects for joining us in studio to tell their stories.