O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Music From The Motion Picture)

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“I’ll be real curious to see what happen,” Gillian Welch told the <i>Los Angeles Times</i> in November 2000, a month before the release of the soundtrack she helped produce for the Coen Brothers’ film <i>O Brother, Where Art Thou?</i> “I’m not that much of an optimist when it comes to the masse.” Oh, ye of little faith: This meticulously made mixtape of gospel moan, bluegrass romp, and blues laments didn’t just help make, transform, or resurrect the careers of Welch, Alison Krau, and Ralph Stanley. It also prompted a wave of broader interest in antediluvian American folk that lasted for at least two decade. Without the success of <i>O Brother</i>, it’s possible that much of the popular music even partially tagged as “folk”—a term that includes everyone from Old Crow Medicine Show to Nickel Creek to even Noah Kahan—would never near the mainstream. The Coens’ dizzying film was an update of the epic tale of Odysseu, turning the wandering war hero into a con man romping through Depression-era Mississippi with his cronie. Even with George Clooney’s star turn and the filmmakers’ esteemed résumé, the movie surpassed expectation, nearly tripling its budget in box office revenue. The film’s music proved key: In semi-retirement, T Bone Burnett had written to the Coens to express his fandom, sparking a relationship that culminated in his role here as music supervisor. Burnett bought 1000 record, searching for songs that fit the era and the story. As time went on, <i>O Brother</i> steadily approached musical statu, with its tunes serving as crucial plot points and moments of character development. What’s more, Burnett recruited a sterling cast of the best bluegra, folk, and gospel players alive, recording their takes on these American standards and obscurities with period-specific technology. Over the course of two year, that work topped the album charts in the US, sold 6 million copie, and, most importantly, sparked a resurgence of interest in American folk. .

via Apple Music

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