DALLAS — As “Twisters’ swept the Box Office this week, its all-country soundtrack, featuring some well-known North Texas musicians, touched down on streaming services and radio.
The soundtrack of the filmed-in-Oklahoma sequel to the 1996 hit “Twister,” which hit theaters Friday and raked in more than $80 million in ticket sales opening weekend, sets it apart from the original. According to “American Songwriter”, it’s the first blockbuster movie to have a completely original country soundtrack since" Urban Cowboy" in 1980.
The 29-song soundtrack features tracks from modern country stars like Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, Shania Twain, and even some songs from stars from close to home.
“We worked closely with [director] Isaac Chung to conceive a music soundscape for the film that would be organic and authentic to where the story takes place, which is in Oklahoma,” NBCUniversal Music and Publishing president Mike Knobloch told Billboard. “We got to do something we don’t typically do, which is not just dabble in country music, but really lean in an authentic way to work with Nashville writers and country artists. And not just for a song or two, but for the entire film.”
The Lindale-raised Miranda Lambert contributed a new song -- the title of which references "The Wizard of Oz", another prominent Hollywood production feature tornadoes -- called "Ain't In Kansas Anymore" to the effort.
Fort Worth-raised crooner Leon Bridges, who has collaborated with Lambert in the past on the duet “If You Were Mine”, also features on the “Twisters” soundtrack with the song “Chrome Cowgirl”.
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Tanner Usrey, who grew up in Prosper, appears on the soundtrack with the song “Blueberry Wine”.
The Dallas-raised Charley Crockett additionally appears on the soundtrack with a cover of Johnny Cash's “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky”.
Meanwhile, the band Flatland Cavalry from Lubbock contributed the song “Touchdown” to the soundtrack, and singer-songwriter Dylan Gossett from Austin offered up the song “Stronger Than A Storm”.
Since its released on Friday -- the same day the film hit theaters -- the "Twisters" soundtrack has garnered more than 75 million combined streams, with Luke Combs’ new single “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” alone garnering more than 56 million audio streams.
“Twisters,” directed by Lee Isaac Chung, doesn’t include any of the characters from the original film, which starred Helen Hunt and the late Fort Worth native Bill Paxton, instead introducing a new crew of storm chasers.
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