This evening (1/17) marks the season debut of Justified on the FX television network. The show has been discussed several times at Bluegrass Today as its theme and soundtrack have incorporated bluegrass music since the program first launched in 2010.
Prominent in the first season was the music of GangstaGrass, which blended banjo, fiddle and res0-guitar with a hip hop beat. The show still uses the GangstaGrass as the main theme, but since the second season in 2011, they have also featured original bluegrass music from Cumberland River, who hail from Harlan, KY where the show is set.
One of their songs will be included in tonight’s episode, Antietam’s Hill, from their current Rural Rhythm album, The Life We Live. The song was written by band members Dustin Middleton, Jamie Dean and Jamie Stewart, along with Dean’s brother Mickey. It tells a Civil War story, well-suited to the hardscrabble characters that Justified depicts.
They sent a man to do the devil’s work
But the job is never done
I’ve got a mark for ever soul I’ve stolen with my gun
From the beginning man has had his hand on the trigger of a gun
It’s either be a slave or it’s in my grave and I’m not the only oneAnd the cannons roar what an awful sound
Another flag goes up another man falls down
I’m southern raise I believe all men are free
So I’ll fight this fight till death comes for me
I’ve fought so long in Lincoln’s war for the peace God keep’s from me
I’ve wished so long to get back home to see my family
17 more miles to go till we reach that battlefield
Where men will die and loose there lives upon Antietam’s HillAnd the cannons roar what an awful sound
Another flag goes up another man falls down
I’m southern raised, I believe all men are free
So I’ll fight this fight till death comes for meAnd the cannons roar what an awful sound
Another flag goes up another man falls down
I’m southern raised, I believe all men are free
So I’ll fight this fight till death comes for meSo I’ll fight this fight till death comes for me
In addition to Middleton on mandolin, Stewart on resonator guitar, and Dean on banjo, Cumberland River includes Joey Jones on bass and Brad Gulley on guitar.
Look for Justified tonight on FX at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT).
