Cowboys & Aliens Free download of this performance on SoundCloud. Cowboys & Aliens is a 2011 American space Western film directed by Jon Favreau. It stars Daniel Craig, Oliva Wilde, and Harrison Ford. The film is based on the 2006 graphic novel of the same […]

Brokeback Mountain Suite Free download of this performance on SoundCloud. About 10 years ago, Gustavo Santaolalla performed the Brokeback Mountain Suite for the Latin program, Encuentro en el Estudio. To date, it’s his best performance of the Brokeback Mountain score (and I’ve watched them all). […]

Hurt Free download of this performance on SoundCloud. Hurt was originally written and performed by Nine Inch Nails (Trent Reznor). It was actually a pivotal NIN song long before the seminal Johnny Cash cover. [The dissonant note in my intro is an ode to the […]

Wicked Game Free download of this performance on SoundCloud. For my money, the two greatest unrequited love songs are: U2’s With or Without You, and Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game. The former can prompt one to hold a lighter in the air and bellow “…and you […]

Wonderful Tonight Free download on SoundCloud. Wonderful Tonight is far and away Eric Clapton’s most famous song — and one of the most romantic songs ever written. I’ve had this arrangement in my back pocket for 20 years. I had been developing and playing it […]

Motion Sickness Free download of this performance on SoundCloud. As a guitar teacher, I’m fortunate to be in front of some really cool, music obsessed young people on a daily basis. My student Hannah tips me off to new music all the time, and routinely […]

News of the World Free download of this performance on SoundCloud. News of the World is an American Western directed by Paul Greengrass. It’s based on the 2016 novel (of the same name) by Paulette Jiles. The film follows a Civil War veteran (Tom Hanks) […]

Morning Free download of this performance on SoundCloud. Morning is the central theme from August: Osage County — a highly underrated soundtrack by Gustavo Santaolalla. Much like Brokeback Mountain, the film’s score has Santaolalla exploring uniquely Americana themes. [I posted this song in 2014, but […]

The Last of the Mohicans Free download of this performance on SoundCloud. While the film and soundtrack are timeless — the music production was fairly chaotic for The Last of the Mohicans. Director Michael Mann had initially requested that Trevor Jones (composer) provide an electronic […]

The Ludlows Free download of this performance on SoundCloud. Legends of the Fall (1994) is an epic American historical drama, directed by Edward Zwick and starring Brad Pitt. The film is about three brothers and their father living on the plains of Montana in the […]

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 […]

cardigan Free download on SoundCloud. I’ve always liked Taylor Swift. In fact, she’s responsible for most of my physical lesson business. In the mid 2000’s, mostly boys (and very few girls) played guitar. That suddenly changed around 2007 when Taylor Swift became the biggest star […]