Cover Me Up Free download on SoundCloud. Cover Me Up was the song that first introduced me to incredible singer/songwriter Jason Isbell. Forget the writing – the raw honesty of the song, and power of Isbell’s voice is what captured me. It’s just brutal in […]

Grieving Free download on SoundCloud. Grieving is some very creative (yet minimalist) guitar work by Gustavo Santaolalla, from The Last of Us Part II soundtrack. It fits well with the ‘All Gone’ themes from both game soundtracks. I expanded well beyond the original motif to […]

Wayfaring Stranger Free download on SoundCloud. The Wayfaring Stranger is a well-known American folk and gospel song that originating in the early 19th century. The song is about a plaintive soul on the journey of life. The most popular variation is from Johnny Cash. In […]

Unbroken Free download on SoundCloud. It took me all of two seconds to realize that Unbroken occupies the same space (and delivers the same poignancy) as The Choice from the first game. What a great piece of music from the master, Gustavo Santaolalla. Lately, I’ve […]

Vanishing Grace (a variation) Free download on SoundCloud. I’ve been steeped in Gustavo Santaolalla’s music and guitar playing since 2005 when his iconic score for Brokeback Mountain was first released. The minimalism of his playing captivated me immediately. Santaolalla’s style has informed my playing ever […]

Paint It Black Free download on SoundCloud. While playing around with the Paint It Black riff — my guitar (with a mind of it’s own) — decided to toss in The Night King by Ramin Djawadi, and a little bit of the James Bond Theme […]

The Choice Free download on SoundCloud. Though I haven’t played The Last of Us (not a gamer) The Choice has long been one of my favorite pieces of music by composer, Gustavo Santaolalla. He truly has a knack for the “major lift” which is why, […]

No Time for Caution Free download on SoundCloud. This music is from one of the more intense scenes of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. The scene is literally known as No Time for Caution. To this day, it gives me chills. Hans Zimmer’s entire score for Interstellar […]

Joaillerie By 1998, Gustavo Santaolalla was already an iconic musician and producer in the Latin alternative rock scene. His album, Ronroco, launched his reinvention as a film composer. The song, Iguazu, was used to great effect in, The Insider. Following 1998’s Ronroco, Camino is a […]

“At first the music almost repelled me, it was so intense, and this man (Robert Johnson) made no attempt to sugarcoat what he was trying to say, or play. It was hard-core, more than anything I had ever heard. After a few listenings I realized […]

Young and Beautiful Free download on SoundCloud. This song is from The Great Gatsby (2013) starring Leonardo DiCaprio. I don’t normally get into Baz Luhrmann films, but The Great Gatsby was excellent. I love this song by Lana Del Rey. Her singing is intently insecure […]

28 Weeks Later Free download on SoundCloud. 28 Weeks Later was first film that truly horrified me. I left the theater with a sense of creeping dread and hopelessness. Don’t get me wrong, it was excellent. I just needed to watch a comedy — or […]