Little Rock native Ben Dickey will star in “Blaze,” a feature film directed by actor and director Ethan Hawke, Deadline Hollywood reports. The movie is an adaptation of “Living In the Woods in a Tree,” a memoir by Sybil Rosen about her life with cult country songwriter Blaze Foley, a Malvern native who spent much of his rambling life in Texas. Foley penned “If I Could Only Fly,” popularized by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson, and “Clay Pigeons,” perhaps best known for John Prine’s version. Dickey, who stars as Foley, released his debut solo album, “Sexy Birds & Salt Water Classics” last year on Max Recordings and played in Shake Ray Turbine, a beloved post-hardcore band that had its heyday in the late ’90s in Little Rock. This is his first film role. Hawke, a longtime friend of Dickey’s, directed two music videos for songs from “Sexy Birds.” Hawke wrote the script with Rosen. Alia Shawkat (“Arrested Development,” “Search Party”) co-stars as Rosen. “Blaze” is currently shooting in Mississippi and Louisiana, where Dickey now lives.

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