(left to right) Jessica Simpson, Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott star in THE DUKES OF HAZZARD.
© Warner Bros.

Related Links

0

Hazzard Pay for Nathan Barr

Composer Nathan Barr is scoring Warner Bros.' THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, the feature film based on the popular 1980s television show of the same name. To create the sounds of Hazzard County, Barr will employ ZZ Top's legendary Texan guitarist Billy Gibbons for an authentic classic rock feel. The film, a Southern-fried action comedy starring Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott and Jessica Simpson as the cousins Duke, Willie Nelson as Uncle Jesse and Burt Reynolds as Boss Hogg, will be released August 5. This is the second film Barr has scored for director Jay Chandrasekhar, the two previously collaborated on 2004's dark comedy CLUB DREAD.

Barr's score for The Dukes of Hazzard inflects the free-wheeling good times that come with car chases, short-shorts wearing Southern belles and seeing right prevail over wrong in Hazzard County. Barr, who describes the music as "Allman Brothers meets AC/DC meets ZZ Top," will feature ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons on the guitar-heavy classic rock and roll score, and use Beck's keyboardist and rhythm section. As one would expect, a healthy dose of Hazzard County fiddle will round out the score.

A gifted musician who began studying at age four, Barr has studied and performed all over the world. After studying an eclectic array of strings and percussion instruments in Japan and experiencing operas and orchestras in Bali and China, Barr toured Europe with the Julliard Cello Ensemble, and after graduating college, joined the industrial band V.A.S.T., playing guitar and electric cello. Looking to explore a career in film music, he moved to Los Angeles in 1996, where he met Academy-Award winning composer Hans Zimmer, who mentored him for several months before he landed his first feature. Barr has since scored dozens of films including FROM DUSK TIL DAWN 3 and CABIN FEVER, as well as several TV series. He resides outside Los Angeles with his wife, recording artist Lisbeth Scott, well known as the soloist for films including THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, SHREK and SHREK 2.

For more info on Nathan Barr, see: www.nathanbarr.com