Execs Talk The Country-Packed ‘Twisters’ Soundtrack [Interview]
Ian Cripps (SVP of A&R, Atlantic Records), Twisters: The Album, Rachel Levy (EVP, Film Music for Universal Pictures)
Twisters, the current-day chapter of the 1996 blockbuster, hits theaters July 19. Starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell and Anthony Ramos, the film has been highly anticipated. But perhaps equally as anticipated has been its accompanying soundtrack, Twisters: The Album, a 29-song opus featuring only country music artists.
The project was first revealed in May with the release of leading track, “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma” recorded by genre-leading superstar Luke Combs.
After the track list was announced, it was shared across major media outlets and social media accounts everywhere, impressing most everyone from casual country listeners to high-brow genre purists due to its expansive list of artists. Present are established commercial hitmakers like Combs, Miranda Lambert, Kane Brown, Lainey Wilson, Thomas Rhett and Jelly Roll alongside rising stars Megan Moroney, Bailey Zimmerman, Conner Smith, Warren Zeiders, Tucker Wetmore and Tanner Adell. Also included are artists that find themselves on the outskirts of the mainstream like Tyler Childers, Sam Barber, The Red Clay Strays, Charley Crockett and Tanner Usrey.
It was clear that whoever put Twisters: The Album together did their homework.
Universal Pictures tapped experts for the challenge, with the album being produced and overseen by multi-Grammy winner and Atlantic Records West Coast President Kevin Weaver, among others at Atlantic Records and Universal Pictures.
Lainey Wilson and team with Twisters execs at the film’s premiere. Photo: Erick Frost
Two of those experts, Atlantic Records’ SVP A&R Ian Cripps and Universal Pictures’ EVP, Film Music Rachel Levy, recently spoke to MusicRow about the project.
According to them, the musical landscape was in the mind of the film’s director, the Oscar-nominated Lee Isaac Chung, early on. Chung, who grew up in Arkansas, wanted the soundtrack to be as authentic to Twisters‘ setting in Oklahoma as possible.
“We started with the idea of placing existing country songs,” says Levy. “It all very quickly turned into a much broader conversation based on Isaac’s willingness to really feature music in the film, Atlantic Records enthusiasm and shared vision to make something big—and also based on the excitement and interest from the artists and songwriters we reached out to initially.”
Once the team had fleshed out what kind of sound the scenes would need, they were off to the races. They made a list of their top picks and started there first.
“I have immense respect for Nashville’s creative community, and was excited to collaborate with these amazing artists and their teams,” shares Cripps. “First order of business was to come up with ideas of who would be the best fit for each scene, and then we started making calls to those artists. Everyone was super excited to be a part of the film, which made the process of getting 29 songs much easier.”
The first songs the Twisters team received back were Combs’ exhilarating “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma,” written by the artist alongside Jessi Alexander and Jonathan Singleton; Wilson’s gorgeous “Out of Oklahoma,” which she penned with Luke Dick and Shane McAnally; and Moroney’s reflective “Never Left Me,” written by Moroney, Alexander, Connie Harrington and Jessie Jo Dillon.
Once those were in, they knew the Twisters album was going to be big.
“Everyone’s process was different,” says Cripps. “Some artists met with their core teams to write together, others wrote solo. Luke Combs was at his cabin with some of his writing partners and us on a Zoom. We discussed the scene and a few days later he sent us ‘Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma.’ That was an incredible moment.”
To build anticipation for the film, songs continued to roll out after Combs’ kicked off the excitement. In addition to Wilson and Moroney’s tracks, Rhett dropped the infectious “Feelin’ Country,” Childers delivered the heartfelt “Song While You’re Away,” Adell released the party-ready “Too Easy” and Zimmerman dropped the powerful “Hell or High Water.” Exciting newcomer Wetmore rolled out “Already Had It” and a collaboration with Smith, “Steal My Thunder.” Each track seemed to feature the artist’s unique sound in an elevated way, bringing a lot of focus to the movie and its tunes.
Cripps and Levy give a lot of props to the Nashville music industry for the caliber of music and its stellar marketing.
“The Nashville community of writers, producers, artists and managers were genuinely fantastic to work with, and everyone turned in incredible work,” says Levy, adding a special shout out to Allison Jones at Big Machine Label Group and Sophie Hopkins at Warner Chappell as well as all of the clearance and sync teams at the major publishers for helping to make it happen.
“Every song is so special to me, and I’m so excited for everyone to hear the full body of work,” Cripps shares. “We’re so thankful for everyone’s involvement and we’re so proud of the album that’s been put together.”
Twisters, and its excellent accompanying album, are both out now.
Twisters: The Album Track Listing:
1. “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma” – Luke Combs (Jessi Alexander, Luke Combs, Jonathan Singleton)
2. “Ain’t In Kansas Anymore” – Miranda Lambert (Jenee Fleenor, Jesse Frasure, Miranda Lambert)
3. “Steal My Thunder (feat. Tucker Wetmore)” – Conner Smith (Ben Johnson, Matt Jenkins, Blake Pendergrass, Conner Smith)
4. “Feelin’ Country” – Thomas Rhett (Ashley Gorley, Chris LaCorte, Chase McGill, Thomas Rhett, Parker Welling)
5. “The Cards I’ve Been Dealt” – Warren Zeiders (Warren Zeiders, Charlie Worsham)
6. “Never Left Me” – Megan Moroney (Megan Moroney, Connie Harrington, Jessi Alexander, Jessie Jo Dillon)
7. “Out of Oklahoma” – Lainey Wilson (Luke Dick, Shane McAnally, Lainey Wilson)
8. “Hell Or High Water” – Bailey Zimmerman (Ashley Gorley, Austin Shawn)
9. “Dead End Road” – Jelly Roll (Brock Berryhill, Jason DeFord, Jaxson Free, Taylor Phillips)
10. “Country Classic” – Kane Brown (Jon Capeci, Gabe Foust, Jaxson Free)
11. “Tear Us Apart” – Sam Barber (Sam Barber, Ben Johnson, Eddie Spear)
12. “Song While You’re Away” – Tyler Childers (Tyler Childers)
13. “Already Had It” – Tucker Wetmore (Johnny McGuire, Grant Vogel, Tucker Wetmore)
14. “Chrome Cowgirl” – Leon Bridges (Amy Allen, Leon Bridges, John Ryan)
15. “Death Wish Love” – Benson Boone (Benson Boone, Philip Plested, Morten Ristorp, Johnny Simpson, Madi Yanofsky)
16. “Boots Don’t” – Shania Twain & Breland (Daniel Breland, Steph Jones, Jimmy Robbins, Sean Small, Sam Sumser, Theron Thomas, Shania Twain)
17. “Stronger Than A Storm” – Dylan Gossett (Dylan Gossett)
18. “Chasing The Wind” – Lanie Gardner (Cleo Tighe, Rollo Spreckley, Ryan Linvill)
19. “Leave The Light On (feat. Alexandra Kay)” – Jelly Roll (Jason DeFord, Jessie Jo Dillon, Jesse Frasure, Hillary Lindsey, Blake Pendergrass)
20. “Before I Do” – Wyatt Flores & Jake Kohn (Wyatt Flores, Jake Kohn)
21. “Caddo County” – The Red Clay Strays (Dave Cobb, Brandon Coleman, Matthew Coleman, Eric Erdman, John Hall, Andrew Nix)
22. “Blackberry Wine” – Tanner Usrey (Tanner Usrey, Beau Bedford, Aaron Raitiere)
23. “Too Easy” – Tanner Adell (Tanner Adell, Akil King, Stephen McGregor, Jared Mullins, Will Weatherly)
24. “Shake Shake (All Night Long)” – Mason Ramsey (Mason Ramsey, Dan Fernandez)
25. “New Loop” – Tyler Halverson (Tyler Halverson)
26. “Touchdown” – Flatland Cavalry (Cleto Cordero, Dwight A. Baker)
27. “Driving You Home” – Nolan Taylor (Nolan Taylor, Ehren Ebbage)
28. “Wall of Death” – Wilderado, Ken Pomeroy, & James McAlister (Richard Thompson)
29. “(Ghost) Riders In The Sky” – Charley Crockett (Stan Jones)
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