Cumberland River Band will be celebrating a major milestone next month, when their music is featured on the FX television series Justified. The show is something of a modern day Western, set in rural Kentucky, and starring Timothy Olyphant as a gunslinging US Marshall.
Throughout the show’s first season, it has had a music bed from Ganstagrass that morphs bluegrass with a hip hop beat, as does the show’s theme song.
When the show’s staff were in Harlan last summer preparing to shoot the upcoming season, the band was invited to perform for the writers and producers. Thinking fast, they put together a new song, Justified, and laid it out there with only 24 hours notice. Their performance won them a standing ovation, and has led to the inclusion of several songs on the show from their debut album, Rock Island Express, released in September 2010.
Here’s a taste of the song, which they cut for the show:
Justified: [http://www.hoperiverentertainment.com/audio/clip-jusified-cumberland-river-band.mp3]
I had not caught this program until recent rerun marathons on FX promoting season 2, but it is an addictive show. It is recommended for mature audiences only, so don’t share it with the kiddies, but it is smartly-produced and very well written and acted.
I stumbled upon it while surfing late at night, and discovered that the plot line to this particular episode centered around a bluegrass musician who had just broken out of jail. How could I resist that?
The fourth episode in Season 2 (which begins on February 9) will include music from Cumberland River Band. Congrats guys for snagging a cut on Justified!
