‘Twisters: The Album’ Marks First Fully Original Country Soundtrack for a Blockbuster Movie in Decades [Exclusive]

For a long time, the 1996 film Twister was the principle natural disaster movie. It was action-packed and thrilling, there was romance, new weather technology, plus it had flying cows. Twisters, which hits theaters on July 19, has all of that too, plus some newer tech and an extra tornado for good measure. Some say the films are pretty similar—to the unsavvy moviegoer, maybe—but with a lot of modern updates. However, there’s one thing the first Twister definitely didn’t have—a fully original modern country music soundtrack.

This is the first blockbuster film to have a completely original country soundtrack since Urban Cowboy in 1980, and Atlantic Records—who represents some of the biggest country stars right now—had a hand in it.

[RELATED: The List of Artists on the ‘Twisters’ Soundtrack Will Blow Country Fans Away: Lainey Wilson, Jelly Roll, Tyler Childers, and More Provided Songs]

Twisters is Touching Down in Theaters Backed by Today’s Biggest Country Stars

From Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson, Jelly Roll, and Miranda Lambert to Warren Zeiders, Bailey Zimmerman, and Tucker Wetmore, the album has a unique line-up of established stars and up-and-comers. Breland sings with Shania Twain, Wyatt Flores and newcomer Jake Kohn take a track together, and Tyler Childers and Charley Crockett are on the same album as Benson Boone and Kane Brown—they each curate very different sounds, but here they all work cohesively.

An all-country soundtrack is unexpected at the same time that it makes perfect sense—country is undoubtedly having a moment. Everyone wants to get in on the genre, and those artists who already make country music their living are seeing more and more attention turned their way.

Of the album itself, it wouldn’t be what it is without the writers, composers, and producers working alongside the artists. American Songwriter spoke with two producers on the soundtrack—Ian Cripps, SVP A&R for Atlantic Records; and Rachel Levy, EVP of Film Music for Universal Pictures—via email to get more details on the overall production and inspiration, as well as their feelings about the milestone album.

From Jelly to Lainey to Miranda and More, This Soundtrack Runs the Gamut of Country Talent

We know what you’re thinking—how did this movie manage to get all of these people on this soundtrack? Barring the fact that it’s a huge Hollywood production, we wondered that too.

“Our director [Lee Isaac Chung] grew up in the South and wanted to music to be authentic to the South and Oklahoma,” Rachel Levy told us when posed the question. “Once the decision was made to create an original soundtrack, collectively, our team, the filmmakers, and Atlantic records (our label partner) all sat down and discussed who our pie in the sky/top picks would be, keeping in mind the needs of each scene and where Isaac wanted music [placed in the film].”

“We talked about what kind of vibe each scene needed and got a real feel for the movie,” Ian Cripps added. “We brainstormed internally to come up with a dream list of artists who’d be perfect for the soundtrack. For example, there’s this emotional scene where Daisy [Edgar-Jones’] character goes home to Oklahoma and we knew Lainey Wilson’s music would be amazing for that part.”

Levy shared that the album “exceeded all our expectations,” noting her pride in the project. “I think the best part about the curation is that in addition to having some of the biggest names in country music, we tried to include a little bit of something in there for everyone,” she said.

[RELATED: Luke Combs Featured On ‘Twisters’ Soundtrack with New Song “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma”]

As Soon As the Movie Was Done, Discussions Began

Twisters filming wrapped last December, and as soon as there were scenes to dissect and study, Atlantic Records and the Universal film music department went into action.

“From the first call we made, there was so much enthusiasm for the project overall, not only musically but also everyone seemed to be a superfan of the previous film,” said Levy. “We had each artist meet with the filmmakers, talked about the film with them and the specific scenes for which we were asking them to write for.” She added, “The Nashville community of writers, producers, artists and managers were genuinely fantastic to work with and everyone turned in incredible work.”

As for the milestone of creating one of the first original country soundtrack for a big Hollywood production, Levy shared that this one is personal. “It’s incredibly exciting to me personally, as we don’t often get the opportunity as music supervisors to work with and place country music,” she said. “I grew up in Austin, Texas and have always been a really big fan. I’m thrilled that Country is having the moment that it is right now.”

“We’re all incredibly proud to be involved with this body of work,” Cripps added. “We’ve been longtime fans of each artist, writer, and producer on the album and could not be more appreciative of the creative community for being the best partners in creating something so special.”

Levy, meanwhile, is getting excited that other people are getting excited for music as well. “As a fan of music,” she said, “I love that people are listening overall to music across multiple genres.”

Featured Image via Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and Amblin Entertainment