Billy Ray Cyrus photo courtesy of Walt Disney Records.

Billy Ray Cyrus’ next film just had its premiere, Kenny Chesney is in production on his upcoming 3-D picture, and Tim McGraw’s next movie starts shooting in Middle Tennessee this week.

Country artists have a hand in every part of Hollywood’s business these days, from the initial roll of the camera to the glitter of the post-release awards-show circuit.

Here’s what’s up for country’s stars on film:

Continue Reading

ShareThis

T Bone Burnett photo courtesy of tboneburnett.com.

One of the oddities of Hollywood’s awards process is that films that haven’t been released to the general public can still secure major nominations, which pretty much guarantees them getting attention from ticket buyers who might not have gone otherwise.

And that might be at work with Crazy Heart, a movie starring Jeff Bridges that opens on a limited basis Wednesday. Jeff, who sings in the film in his role as a washed-up country star, secured a Golden Globe nomination Tuesday for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture. The music that plays over the closing credits, “The Weary Kind (Theme From Crazy Heart),” likewise snared a nod for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture for songwriters Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett.

Continue Reading

ShareThis

T Bone Burnett photo courtesy of tboneburnett.com.

Producer T Bone Burnett has had a hand in a slew of important albums this decade, including the Robert Plant & Alison Krauss project Raising Sand, Elvis Costello’s current Secret, Profane And Sugarcane, plus the soundtracks to O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Cold Mountain and Walk The Line.

Now T Bone’s got his fingers on a picture that has pre-release Oscar buzz all over it, and the song that runs over the end credits should heighten the profile of Americana artist Ryan Bingham.

Jeff Bridges stars in the new picture, Crazy Heart, in which a formerly successful country singer grapples with life after his career has faded. Robert Duvall, who won an Oscar for a similar role in the 1983 movie Tender Mercies, is a co-producer of the new release. In an unconventional move, T Bone wrote the music before shooting commenced with co-producer Stephen Bruton, a Kris Kristofferson band member who died this year after working on the project. Much as he did when he oversaw the vocal performances of actors Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix in Walk The Line, T Bone also produced Jeff’s performances as a has-been singer.

Continue Reading

ShareThis