Musical entertainers Jason Moon and Jaime April have expanded their creative endeavours to include a stick-man musical. (submitted photo/April Moon)

By Joanie Olson

The Ballad of Johnny West

P.A. couple entertaining from abroad with unique stick man musical

Jan 5, 2021 | 1:51 PM

Two musicians with strong roots to Prince Albert have found a constructive and creative way to spend their time during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jason Moon and Jaime April have created a stick puppet movie musical lifting spirits through entertainment. It’s called ‘The Ballad of Johnny West’ and it’s described as a “whimsical, kitschy, cowboy-themed musical journey that definitely gets a bit strange at times, touching on authoritarianism, over-indulgence and even existential crises.”

Originally, from Prince Albert, they now call the United Kingdom home. The pandemic put a halt to the musical duo’s performances and travel but they still wanted to find a way to play some gigs. It sparked a childhood memory and character Moon developed when he was a young boy of about five years old.

“I used to live down in the west flat of Prince Albert and I used to walk to school and I used to always have this fantasy cowboy in my head I called Johnny West,” Moon said.

April wrote a couple songs around Moon’s fantasy cowboy, so they creatively decided to turn it into something more.

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Their intention was to produce a short two- or three-minute video but as they worked on the project it expanded into a short 21-minute film getting quite elaborate with the use of a green screen and several stick puppet characters.

“You end up with a bit of a psychedelic theme where the main character goes in search of himself and has a bit of an existential crisis,” April said.

Moon added light-heartedly, ”It’s Footloose on mushrooms.”

Joking aside, the duo said the film also has a more serious tone to it, bringing to light issues like social divides whether that be socio-economic status or even how people are reacting to the current pandemic.

“I think that’s the biggest challenge whether you’re dealing with small town problems or this lock down it’s finding a way to find that balance both within society and within yourself in a way that you can live with it every day,” April said.

The recently posted film has been received well with nearly 2,000 views already. ‘The Ballad of Johnny West’ and other musical videos can be viewed on April Moon’s YouTube page.

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Joan.Olson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow