10/06/2026
We had a fantastic time last Saturday at the Epping Community Theater for a screening of the new documentary, We are the Shaggs. Director Ken Kwapis, producer Reynolds Anderson, and Dot Wiggin of The Shaggs were all in attendance. I absolutely loved the film, which beautifully explores the merits of creating entirely unique, uncategorizable art. When the Wiggin sisters recorded their music in the late 1960s and early ’70s, it left most listeners dismissing it outright or scratching their heads in disbelief, lacking any frame of reference. No music resembled theirs then, and none has since. While they never found commercial success, their work influenced generations of musicians—from NRBQ, Kurt Cobain, and Patti Smith to, more recently, Wilco. As an added bonus, because The Shaggs were from Fremont—where we have lived for the past twenty years—I was familiar with many of the film's locations and landmarks. Not to mention that my friend Matthew Thomas, with whom I recently co-wrote a screenplay with (on the life of Franklin Pierce), appears throughout the film; he is Fremont’s Town Historian and was friends with the Wiggin sisters. Congratulations to Ken, Reynolds, Cinematographer Jeremy Seifert and their entire team for making this wonderful film (and thanks too to my friend Michael Hall for taking these photos).
