“Hell or High Water” Soundtrack Could Be Big Boon for Cool Roots Artists
Unlike country music, in the movie industry eventually the cream tends to rise to the top. Whether it’s a small-budget indie film with an unknown cast, or a commercial blockbuster with an all-star lineup, in the movie world critics are actually allowed to be critical, critical-acclaim can actually translate to commercial acceptance, and award shows are not about who made the most money, but who expended the best effort. For the most part at least.
A movie that many are calling a sleeper hit, a new Western classic, and a candidate for the Oscar’s Best Picture is the heist film Hell or High Water. Starring Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine, and Ben Foster, it currently holds an incredible 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes heading into its second week after wide release, and is beginning to put hefty numbers together at the box office.
All this bodes well for the folks who appear on the movie’s soundtrack that was crafted by score writers Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. Cave and Ellis perform 9 of the 15 songs for Hell or High Water, but they also selected a few really worthy roots artists to feature in the movie, including country legends Waylon Jennings and Townes Van Zandt, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Chris Stapleton, Scott H. Biram, and even up-and-comer Colter Wall.
The rising tide of Hell or High Water could raise all boats, including the cool country and blues artists who contributed to the soundtrack. Scott H. Biram and others have been favorites on the soundtracks of cable shows for years, but a feature film with a lot of gusto and interest swarming around it and an official soundtrack release could be an entirely new ballgame. Many music performers can point back to the inclusion on the soundtrack of a popular movie as the point where they were introduced to a wider audience.
The soundtrack is also selling well after being released on August 19th (the movie was released on August 12th). Look for it to be a player on the soundtrack charts in the coming weeks.
Purchase the Hell or High Water Soundtrack
TRACK LIST:
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis ‘Comancheria’- Townes Van Zandt ‘Dollar Bill Blues’
- Nick Cave and Warren Ellis ‘Mama’s Room’
- Ray Wylie Hubbard ‘Dust of the Chase’
- Nick Cave and Warren Ellis ‘Texas Midlands’
- Nick Cave and Warren Ellis ‘Robbery’
- Waylon Jennings ‘You Ask Me To’
- Nick Cave and Warren Ellis ‘Mountain Lion Mean’
- Colter Wall ‘Sleeping on the Backtop’
- Nick Cave and Warren Ellis ‘From My Cold Dead Hands’
- Nick Cave and Warren Ellis ‘Lord of the Plains’
- Scott H. Biram ‘Blood, Sweat and Murder’
- Nick Cave and Warren Ellis ‘Casino’
- Nick Cave and Warren Ellis ‘Comancheria II’
- Chris Stapleton ‘Outlaw State of Mind’
August 22, 2016 @ 7:22 pm
Saw the feature on CBS Sunday Morning. A couple Bluegrass folks were talking about it also.
August 22, 2016 @ 7:27 pm
This movie looks pretty kick ass. A good soundtrack doesn’t always indicate a good movie, but a good movie has a way of taking the music to another level.
August 23, 2016 @ 2:21 am
Think O Brother, Where Art Thou…
August 23, 2016 @ 4:17 am
Good–something to cleanse my palette after ‘Sausage Party’.
August 23, 2016 @ 5:10 am
Looks interesting.
August 23, 2016 @ 6:17 am
Should a great movie and I love seeing Nick Cave and Warren Ellis being responsible for the soundtrack. On the Nick Cave subject, you should watch “The Proposition” an excellent Aussie “western” with a Nick Cave penned screenplay. (On another Nick Cave note, if you want to read the most incredibly grotesque Southern gothic novel ever check out “And the Ass Saw the Angel”. So brutal and beautifully frightening.)
August 23, 2016 @ 8:37 am
I was going to say all those things! Nick Cave is such an outstanding, versatile artist. I was awestruck by “The Proposition”, and “And The Ass Saw The Angel” knocked my shoes off. I bought the book way back when because I loved “The Weeping Song” etc – I mean, one of your fave singers is writing a book, of course you’re going to read it. But I never expected it to actually be so damn great. And we have not even mentioned any of his albums! I’m guessing the upcoming “One More Time With Feeling” move and “Skeleton Tree” album will be haunting but indispensable watching/listening – given its tragic subject matter.
Is it correct that Cave, who is a demigod in Europe, is not really that well known in the States? If so, I envy those of you who were not aware of him – because you can yet discover this tremendous body of work!
August 23, 2016 @ 9:05 am
Nick is definitely not a household name stateside but well respected none the less. If you haven’t already, grab The Death of Bunny Munro his second book. A quick and different read. Both the new doc and album are of course on my radar.
August 23, 2016 @ 6:20 am
I started to check this out last week and then kind of forgot about it. It’s on my list to listen to today. The theme song for Peaky Blinders is a Nick Cave song so seeing his name had me interested. The movie looks pretty good too.
August 23, 2016 @ 7:57 am
This movie looks excellent. Glad they got a great soundtrack for it..
November 26, 2016 @ 8:00 pm
I thought I recognized Jeff Bridges singing, and I was right. The only thing that is hard to believe is why Jeff has not approached country music before now in his long and successful acting career? He has kept this skill hidden which is a loss to the public, and his fans from back in the days of watching him on Flipper.
August 23, 2016 @ 8:19 am
My interest is piqued
August 23, 2016 @ 12:00 pm
Nice to see Colter Wall’s name getting out there a little more
August 23, 2016 @ 12:06 pm
The movie was great, the soundtrack awesome, but why did they leave Jamey Johnson off the soundtrack? “Playing the part” was in the movie.
August 23, 2016 @ 4:58 pm
Great, great movie. Easily the best movie I’ve seen this year, maybe this year and last year.
August 23, 2016 @ 6:14 pm
Another movie that had Ellis and Cave’s collaboration on the soundtrack was the incredible “Lawless.” Strong performances in that film. And the Soundtrack KILLED it (bluegrass covers of old rock songs, including Ralph Stanley doing “White Light/White Heat,” despite clearly having no idea how it went.)
August 24, 2016 @ 7:02 pm
When I saw the first notice for this movie, it brought to mind a song of that title from the ’80s by T. Graham Brown–which became a #1 hit.
Evidently, T. or his song have nothing to do with this movie.
August 26, 2016 @ 6:42 pm
The one time I saw a trailer for this movie I thought it looked good, but I’ve been so busy I haven’t looked any more in to it. Knowing it has this soundtrack just put it on my mist watch list. But it’s Colter Wall I’m most excited to see on here. Hopefully this boosts his career.
December 6, 2016 @ 1:36 am
Met Ray Wylie Hubbard in a West end bar in Dallas. Real humble guy.Unfortunately I got drunk then I couldn’t get along with my wife,who was with me,Ray Wylie, or the rest of the patrons.My wife pulled me outta there too.Good thing,I was drunken then a hoot owl by then and surely would have gotten my ass kicked.Good times for awhile though.
April 20, 2017 @ 2:44 pm
“Hell or High Water” was the best movie I’ve seen in years! I saw it two Saturday nights in a row when it played in my small town in SW Ohio. It should’ve won several Oscars but the pantywaists and wimps skipped over it. It was more of a real-life ballad than a fictional set of pictures. I was born in Texas in 1942 and it made me mad and sorry to see the poverty, closed businesses and windswept desolation–rather like the closed storefronts in Temple just a hundred feet or so from where I was born on Second Street. When I visited there in 2000 or so, I had some fine ribs at Clem McCloskey’s Barbecue and would advise anyone driving thru Texas to take it in.
August 10, 2017 @ 11:09 pm
Who did the version of Dollar Bill Blues for that soundtrack? because i got several discs of Van Zandt and i dont found it. Also, he is dead. Please if someone knows who did it, or where it came from, i appreciate.
Thanks in advance. Have a nice day you all.