How the ‘Twisters’ Soundtrack Became Country Strong

By today (July 19), when Universal Pictures’ *Twisters* hits theaters, more than a dozen songs from its all-country soundtrack will make their way onto radio and streaming services.

Propelled by Luke Combs’ powerful single “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” which is already No. 10 on *Billboard*’s Country Airplay chart after just nine weeks, the soundtrack features new songs by big names like Miranda Lambert, Kane Brown, Lainey Wilson, Shania Twain, and Jelly Roll. Emerging artists such as Bailey Zimmerman, BRELAND, Dylan Gossett, Tucker Wetmore, and Tanner Adell also make an appearance. Twenty of the soundtrack’s 29 tracks are part of the movie.

A soundtrack dedicated to country music is still a rarity and, when they do happen, they are usually for country-themed movies like *Urban Cowboy* (1980), *Pure Country* (1992), *Crazy Heart* (2010), or *Country Strong* (2011).

*Twisters*, starring Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones as storm chasers, serves as a standalone sequel to 1996’s *Twister*, which boasted a rock soundtrack. Shania Twain, who had a significant song in the original soundtrack, returns with BRELAND for “Boots Don’t.” “She had a big song [“No One Needs to Know”] from the first soundtrack, and we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if she did one for this one,’” says Mike Knobloch, president of NBCUniversal Music and Publishing.

“We weren’t trying to recreate the original soundtrack,” Knobloch explains. “In the same way that the movie is different, we treated this initially like its own project. We worked closely with [director] Isaac Chung to create a music soundscape for the film that would be organic and authentic to where the story takes place, which is in Oklahoma. We got to really lean into country music, working with Nashville writers and artists not just for a song or two, but for the entire film.”

Universal and the filmmakers met with several labels but eventually chose to collaborate with Atlantic’s west coast president Kevin Weaver, fresh off the success of the *Barbie* soundtrack. “We know from past experiences that Kevin and his team, like us, are super-competitive and uncompromising perfectionists,” Knobloch says. “They want to take big swings like we do. It just felt like Atlantic as a partner had the right attitude. Everyone on the core team [at Atlantic] has great Nashville relationships.”

Atlantic has increasingly been signing more country artists as the genre’s popularity grows. Weaver saw this project as a perfect opportunity. “I’ve been trying to find a really credible good vehicle to curate a project within the country genre,” he says. “This was really appealing to me. That’s how we started the dialogue about how this might make sense for us together.”

Beyond BRELAND, several up-and-coming country artists like Sam Barber, Nolan Taylor, and Morgan Ramsey appear on the soundtrack.

Before approaching any artists, Weaver, Chung, Knobloch, and Universal Pictures’ executive VP of film music Rachel Levy had several meetings to select up to 20 scenes for which they wanted original songs. Atlantic then began reaching out to artists, providing them with a detailed brief for their scene, including tempo, tone, and thematic suggestions.

“What’s really important to me when doing soundtracks is making sure the music is a character of the movie. We’re not just trying to shoehorn songs into something for a soundtrack,” Weaver notes.

Almost every song was written specifically for the film, except for BRELAND and Twain’s track. “I already had my song with Shania and was looking for a good opportunity to release it, and it ended up being a good fit for the film,” BRELAND says.

BRELAND was excited to get involved in one of the summer’s biggest movies. “I got a taste of what films can do for my career after my appearance in *Roadhouse* earlier this year, so it was a no-brainer when I heard about *Twisters*,” he adds. “The original movie is a classic, and the trailer for this looked really good.”

Lainey Wilson was among the first artists to sign on. Atlantic’s VP of A&R recalls, “We started reaching out to artists and their teams in early January, and the momentum was incredible from the get-go.” Within 24 hours of contacting Wilson’s manager, they showed her the clip, and by that weekend, she had written “Out of Oklahoma.”

While some artists couldn’t participate due to scheduling, word quickly spread in Nashville, leading to a soundtrack featuring nearly 30 artists. “Everyone seemed really interested, and we didn’t want to leave anybody out,” Knobloch says. “We had this embarrassment of riches in terms of who was answering our calls.”

With so many songs, managing the music budget was crucial. Though Knobloch didn’t disclose the budget, he noted that country songs typically have fewer writers and samples than other genres, making the dollars stretch further.

“We had artists and managers who really leaned into what we were doing,” Weaver says. “One unique aspect is that country artists don’t typically get calls to write songs for $100 million Hollywood blockbusters, while pop artists do. Because of that, people really wanted to be a part of this.”

Luke Combs’ manager says Combs was enthusiastic about participating. “We felt the movie was going to be an epic moment to be a part of,” says Chris Kappy. “The team at Atlantic and Universal were professional and fun to work with, and gave Luke full creative control on the song.”

Combs’ song, which Sony Music Nashville is promoting to country radio, is also in the trailer, helping to tie the promotion and the movie together. This strategy started a “chain reaction” of releases, featuring Jelly Roll’s song and video, which dropped on July 18. Over the past 10 weeks, the marketing campaign of releasing one song a week—plus a song on release week—created a long musical runway and robust social media campaigns. “We have really been activating in every possible way to make as big an impact as possible over a longer period,” Knobloch says.

Additionally, the staggered releases allow more songs to have their own moment, leading to better performance. Despite country music’s current surge, Knobloch emphasizes that the goal was to make a soundtrack that is broadly accessible. “It didn’t really feel like we were making a country record,” he says. “We were just making great songs with great artists and writers.”