True Blood Season 3 Music: Episode 11 “Fresh Blood”

In episode 11 of True Blood’s season 3, titled “Fresh Blood,” everything started coming together, brewing for the finale. Who can you trust at this point? Relive the episode with this soundtrack list. Here is the complete list of songs used in Episode 11, “Fresh Blood,” including artist, song title, and plot point when each song was played.

(Songs marked with a [*] are available for purchase on HBO.com)

Toro Y Moi – Blessa*
Lafayette and Jesus talk about their experience on V.

Nathan Barr – You Are My Sunshine
Eric and Russell are interrupted by a cell phone.

Wanda Jackson – Tears Will be the Chaser (For Your Wine)*
Tara shows up at Merlotte’s and confronts Andy about the cover-up.

Karen Elson – The Ghost Who Walks*
Sam fires Tommy and kicks everybody out at Merlotte’s.

Beto Villares – Africa La*
Lafayette wakes up frightened by his religious dolls.

BB King & Eric Clapton – Help the Poor*
Sam and Tara have late night drinks.

Eels – Fresh Blood*
End Credits.

One more, baby.

Source: HBO.com

(Photo Credit: Screencap by James)

Nathan Barr Talks True Blood and Future Projects

Many people work behind the scenes on HBO’s True Blood adding in the sound effects, visual effects and music once the scenes have been filmed.  Composer Nathan Barr is responsible for the musical score that we hear each week on the show.  Nathan sat down with Dreadcentral.com to talk about how he got his start in the industry, his work on True Blood and his upcoming projects.

GETTING STARTED

Although Nathan loved music and movies as he was growing up, he did not start out in the industry as a composer.  His first job was as an assistant on the business side.  After responding to an ad where a prominent composer was looking for an assistant he ended up working for Hans Zimmer, who is now head of the film music division at DreamWorks.  He worked for Zimmer for 8 months and he describes the experience saying:

“The experience of working with someone like Zimmer inspired me to continue working as a composer when I finished my time with him.  When he told me that he thought I had a future as a composer, I knew I had to go for it.”

He started his career working on projects such as the wrestling documentary Beyond The Mat and From Dusk Til Dawn 3, however it was a meeting with horror director Eli Roth that really launched his career.  After the director saw Nathan’s DVD collection of horror movies, Roth knew he had found the right person to score the movie Cabin Fever.  The two have since worked together on a number of movies including both Hostel movies as well as the upcoming movie The Last Exorcism.

TRUE BLOOD

Currently Nathan works closely with Alan Ball and is in charge of the music we hear on True Blood.  Barr says that working with Alan has been a “dream” from the start.

“It was between me and a few other composers for ‘True Blood’ in the beginning.  We met with Alan and his team, and I pitched him my take on the score and how I thought the songs we picked at the end of the show should be what define the Southern style of the series, by finding songs that incorporate the blues or instruments like the harmonica.  This would then free up the score for the episode to complement the story being told each week. He really liked my approach, and from there I got hired.”

Nathan says that the first character theme song he wrote was the Bill/Sookie love theme because it was so central to the first season and he felt that if there was one song that had to really work it was that one. His method of writing is to use the music to enhance the cast’s performance not to outshine it.

“The ‘True Blood’ cast is so strong that when I score an episode, it’s less about helping make a scene work as it is more about the music gently supporting the characters and their stories.”

UPCOMING PROJECTS

Barr’s next project is the documentary style horror film The Last Exorcism which is released in theatres August 27th.  Creating the score for this film was quite a bit different from his work on True Blood and he admits that he was very nervous going into this film.  Director Daniel Staam sent Barr a long email before filming began and told him he wanted the music to sound “warped”.  Barr immediately thought of the sound his guitar makes when it is tuning and used that as his focal point for the score.  Since the film was done documentary style, the score was more understated with effects made to jump out at you.

“The last thing you want to do with a movie score like this is to do too much too quickly so I had to let all those sounds build to something huge near the end.  I think what I created really lent itself to the creepy feeling of the movie.  I actually got creeped out watching it.”

With Season 3 of True Blood almost finished, Barr will tackle another “first” for him – a drama film.  He will be working on a film called The Ledge staring Liv Tyler and Terrence Howard.

Source: Dreadcentral.com - Composer Nathan Barr Talks True Blood and The Last Exorcism

(Photo Credit: Dreadcentral.com)

My True Blood Experience at Comic-con 2010

Exactly a week ago today, I was at Comic-Con, pumped up for the True Blood panel and everything else True Blood related that I could see and do. There was a TON of True Blood stuff at Comic-Con, and regardless of what someone told me, True Blood was THE talk of Con once again! (That person told me Inception would be all people were talking about.)

For me, the True Blood experience started Wednesday when I arrived in San Diego for Preview Night at Comic-Con. I was lucky enough to be staying at the San Diego Bayfront Hotel, which is the hotel that had the True Blood elevators. I loved those elevators, and each trip up and down was an absolute pleasure!

I did attend Preview Night, and while there, I did get my hands on the True Blood comic book issue #1 with the IDW exclusive cover. However, Preview Night was pretty overwhelming for me, so I left early in order to get extra sleep and prepare for the first official day of Comic-Con.

On Thursday, the first day of Comic-Con, I went to the composer panel that featured not only True Blood scorer Nathan Barr, but many other composers who I really admire. As a massive surprise to myself and the rest of the audience, Charlaine Harris opened the panel. It was great, and hearing Charlaine talk about how important music is was a great treat!

As the panel went on, Nathan (who was third from the right on the panel) had a lot to say about scoring, but one thing that really stood out to me in the panel was when Nathan talked about how he has some weird instruments, including one made from human bone! (It’s a human bone trumpet, it came from Tibet, and it’s made from a femur.) Talk about something that’s both creepy and cool! Of course, lots of things were said that were really interesting. Musicians and composers often have great tales about their projects you wouldn’t hear about otherwise, so if you have a chance, take advantage of that and talk to the composers of the shows you like! You never know what you may hear from them!

After the panel, I had the chance to say hi to Nathan again (I’ve met him a couple of times previously) as well as send him another hello from my godfather, who knows him. Nathan was super sweet, as always, and I’m grateful that he and the other composers were all willing to take time for the fans.

Thankfully, that was an easy and very fun part of Comic-Con. I only wish Friday had gone as well as Thursday did.

Friday at Comic-Con was absolutely insane. Not only was I surrounded by 125,000 of my closest friends, my first experience of the day was an absolutely frustrating one. I made sure to arrive early so I could say hello to a friend at a booth before heading towards the WB booth to wait for hours until the True Blood signing.

Once I got over to the area where the WB Booth was, everything was pure pandemonium. First, I had to find a place to sit near the wall, and security at Con was not very good. Every time a new security person came around, new directions were issued at me and everyone sitting around me. It was very frustrating, and only got worse as the hours went on.

During that wait, I sat and talked to tons of True Blood fans about what they liked about Season 3, and everyone had nice things to say about how intense True Blood is and how waiting for a new episode every Sunday can be painful because everyone wants more, and they want it now! To me, it was like being in TrueBloodNet’s fan community, where I’ve heard the same thing over and over again!

There was one strange surprise during that wait time, though. Sarah Palin was at Comic-Con. I didn’t believe it was really her until I walked up to her (as a nice fellow fan saved the area I was sitting at) and saw that it really wasn’t Tina Fey in costume. I did say hi, then walked back to where I was sitting. The other True Blood fans and I all joked around about the reasons Sarah might have for being at Comic-Con, but really could’t come up with any reasons. Either way, it was a nice distraction during the long wait for the True Blood signing.

This is where the pandemonium began. The line setup for the True Blood signing line was absolutely horrific. There were probably around 1,000 fans eagerly awaiting the True Blood signing, and all had been told different things by security. By the time lining up for the panel was approved, there was a whole set of new usurpers in the “official” line, and those people were the ones who got in over everyone else. Security also allowed a smaller aisle near the WB Booth to be entirely blocked by even more fans waiting for the True Blood signing! The final effect was that a lot of people, myself included, could not get into the panel and were very upset. Were I to have been in charge of security and lines near the WB Booth, I would have done a lot of things differently. First, I would have put the signing in a different room and not on the dealer’s floor. Second, I would have held drawings to get in line for the signing. The insanity would have been prevented had that done been done. Hopefully next year, the True Blood signing line will be set up differently.

That’s not the end of my story, though. I was lucky, once again, to get into the True Blood panel, thanks entirely to a friend. Once I got in (a couple panels early), I searched for a seat and even found a really good one. I was in the second set of seating (behind the first main aisle) on the left side of the room. My seat was not as close as it was in 2009, but it was pretty close! However, I was not in that seat for very long. Instead, as soon as the question line was announced, I walked over to it and sat there for the majority of the panel.

The panel was fantastic! The moderator of the panel was awesome, and he made sure to spread his time and questions amongst everyone on the panel. There was also a very amusing moment where Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin brought a cardboard cutout of Alexander Skarsgard to the panel and jokingly caressed it as they set it down. The panel audience was howling with laughter!

There were several great moments throughout the panel, and a few really stick out in my mind. One was a joke aimed at Rutina Wesley about how Tara should try dating using Match.com. I thought it was really funny, and a lot of the audience agreed! Another great moment was hearing directly from Alan Ball that Joe Manganiello is now going to be a full cast member for Season 4. Lots of cheering and hooting was heard after that announcement.

For me, though, the top moments of the panel over anything else were Alan Ball’s declaration that Bill and Sookie are soul mates and getting the chance to ask a question during the panel.

I was the second to last question that the panel answered, and I asked Stephen Moyer about how Bill’s evolution as a character has affected him as an answer. I swear I could feel myself glowing when Stephen told me that I’d asked a good question!

I had one other True Blood experience while at Comic-Con. Like the previous year, True Blood hosted the annual blood drive (which it turns out that my godmother named), so on Saturday, I went over and donated blood. In exchange for the blood, I got a really cool “My Blood is True” t-shirt, a True Blood water bottle, and a couple of other minor things. The other thing I came home with from donating blood? A giant bruise that’s still healing now. However, even without the stuff, I’m really happy that I gave blood, as blood banks everywhere need the donations!

All in all, even though some of the things that happened to me at Comic-Con was sincerely frustration, I had a great time. I just wish it all hadn’t happened so quickly, because I can barely remember a lot of what I experienced. Thankfully, though, you all can join me in seeing what I saw live by clicking here and watching the videos of the True Blood panel!

(Image Credits: Isis Nocturne and @mariluvsHP)

True Blood at Comic-con 2010: Behind the Music with Nathan Barr

Comic-con is finally here and True Blood is well represented with the actors and crew attending various panels this year.  One of our writers here at TrueBloodNet.com, Isis Nocturne, is attending the Behind the Music with CW3PR: Composing for Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy Film & TV panel which has True Blood composer Nathan Barr as one of the seven panelists discussing the behind-the-scenes perspective on creating music for television and film.  Below are Isis Nocturne’s tweets from the event and photos.

Next up is the music panel with True Blood’s composer Nathan Barr!

OMG! Charlaine Harris is opening the panel!

Opening with music from each composer…

Introductions are awesome!

Waiting to hear from Nathan Barr…

Nathan Barr started working under Hans Zimmer.

Nathan was there only 8 months.

Nathan practiced by doing other movie scores earlier in his career.

Music from Nathan’s score for Hostel was put into the pilot for True Blood, then he wrote music for True Blood to use instead…

Talking about composing for character-driven shows/movies & the difficulties

Everyone says that silence needs to be a part of tv and film b/c it can be so powerful.

Nathan uses cool instruments like a human bone trumpet…

this instrument is made of a femur… it’s from Tibet

Nathan looks up weird instruments on Ebay

as we know, Nathan plays his own instruments

That panel felt soooo short! It was very interesting!

In closing, that panel was great & Nathan Barr and John Ottman were both really nice!

First Pics of Nathan Barr and Lisbeth Scott at Ubeda Film Fest!

As reported to us by FILM MUSIC LIVE, a new channel on Justin.TV, last week Nathan Barr (True Blood, The Dukes of Hazzard) and vocalist Lisbeth Scott (The Passion of the Christ) performed in concert at Ubeda Spain’s International Film Festival. We were lucky enough to receive some great pictures of the event that we can share with you now and have the promise of live video of the concert to come! We’re really looking forward to seeing, and hearing, Nathan and Lisbeth’s ‘live’ concert but until then these wonderful photos will have to sustain us.

(Photo credit:  nathanbarr.com)

True Blood 3.05 “Trouble” Review

“Trouble” is an understatement for what happened on True Blood last night! Not that I didn’t love every second of it. This was my favorite episode of Season 3 so far, with some great acting from the whole cast and engaging writing by Nancy Oliver. For the first time, I felt like what was going on in Bon Temps was just as interesting as the events brewing down in Jackson, MS.

The episode begins in the King’s mansion with Talbot and Franklin throwing snide remarks at one another and baring their fangs threateningly until Russell, Lorena, and Bill walk in, still bloody from their evening meal (depressed stripper a la carte). Tied to a chair, Tara is shocked to find her best friend’s boyfriend in such strange company. Bill doesn’t do anything to rescue her from her situation, which makes Lorena gloat, as if his seeming indifference to Tara proves something. She follows him up to his room, thinking he’s just playing hard to get and will be hers again eventually. Bill couldn’t care less: “You know, Russell was right–you’re not very smart. You’ve played yourself into a corner, you tiresome cow.” (Hopefully she finally gets the message!)

Franklin presents Russell with the file on Sookie that he uncovered in Bill’s home. The King is now certain that his new Sheriff isn’t sharing everything with him. He changes his mind about Sookie and wants her brought to him. Franklin gets to tell him the joyful news–he won’t have to look far since she’s already in Jackson. The exchange between them is just one of many brilliant moments for James Frain throughout this episode, from his request that he be paid in cash (“The last time you had any real money, you ended up at the slots in Biloxi slaughtering a church group of elderly women.” “They wouldn’t let me have a turn!”), to his insistence that his relationship with Tara is different because she’s so messed up, they could be twins.

Franklin’s psychotic antics continue. He dresses Tara in a white gown and ties her to the bed. He sees a text message on her cell phone from Lafayette and is jealous until she tells him it’s her gay cousin. Franklin has lots of fun showing off how fast he can type a response with his vampire reflexes. During the day, Tara unties herself and creeps out of the house while all the vamps are dead to the world. She takes off running across the yard, but Coot chasesher down in wolf form and brings her back. When Franklin learns that she tried to escape, he cries like a baby: “[I tie you up] to keep you safe! What other reason could there be?! You have no idea how much you’ve hurt me. I feel like I’ve been staked!” Tara plays her part well. She knows she’ll lose her life if she upsets him.

Franklin later finds her crying, sitting at the table with a bowl of flowers in front of her: “Who made you cry? I’ll kill him!” “Nobody,” Tara replies. “It’s only–I’m hungry, and they brought me this. And I can’t eat daylilies.” She calmly explains that if they’re going to be together, she needs things like food. He apologizes for forgetting to take care of her, but it won’t matter in a day–he’s going to make her his vampire bride. Lesson to Tara: if you get through this, perhaps in the future you should be more cautious of strangers.

Eric arrives to visit Russell to ask for permission to hunt Bill and bring him to justice for selling vampire blood. Russell teases Eric a little bit: “Oh no! That’s heinous. Are you sure? Let’s ask him.” Bill enters, not surprised that Eric has tried to pin Queen Sophie-Anne’s plot on him. For a few seconds, Eric looks around in surprise at this new arrangement. Then he smiles at the realization that Bill has relinquished Sookie as his human. Eric turns to the King for advice on how to address the situation with Pam. Russell growls about the Magister’s outdated methods of judgment and inflated power. He invites Eric to stay while they figure out how to proceed. Bill looks grumpy about their new house guest, but Talbot couldn’t be more thrilled. The next night, he delights in giving Eric a tour of the house. Eric admires some of the interesting and beautiful objects, while Talbot admires the beautiful vampire.

Alcide drives Sookie back to his place, still upset over what happened at Lou Pine’s. He reminisces about how good Debbie could be sometimes: “She used to play horseshoes with my dad, help my mom plant tomatoes.” But whoever that woman was has been corrupted by her new pack, lost to her V addiction. She shows up later screaming at Alcide, but good intentions almost shine through–she might actually be trying to warn him for his own safety. But Debbie goes crazy when Sookie wanders in: “Awww, hell no! You’re f—ing my wolf, bitch!…I will cut you!” From overhearing her thoughts, Sookie can tell that Debbie has no idea who or where Bill is.

Jason shows up at the police station reporting for his first day on duty. Andy puts him behind the desk to answer phones, and he spends the day passing the time with various amusements–making a chain of paper clips to limbo under; paper football; playing with the fingerprinting stuff and getting ink all over his face and shirt like a little boy. He gets very frustrated and demands he be given a special assignment, so Andy sets him to work washing the police cars. When the pretty blonde girl from the drug house in Hot Shot drives by, Jason jumps in the car and follows her. He puts on the flashing lights and pulls her over. He turns on the charm, but all he gets from her is her name: Crystal. Gotta give that girl credit–confronted with a shirtless Jason and she doesn’t cave easily! He invites her to Merlotte’s that night. Even though she says she can’t come, he says he’ll be waiting. And he does. Crystal shows up just as he’s leaving, but she’s hesitant for some reason. There are things about her that she can’t explain to him. He takes her for a walk to the lake. They kiss, and she tells him this thing between them can’t last: “Now is everything. Now is perfect. I’ve never been happier in my whole life than I am right now with you.”

Lafayette has plenty of cute flirting in this episode, too. When Jesus shows up at Merlotte’s out of the blue, he thinks Ruby Jean has passed away. Jesus feels bad for scaring him, but no, she’s fine, still her rude self. He just came by to see if Lafayette wanted to go out with him. When it sinks in with Lafayette that this cute guy has no ulterior motives and just wants to spend time with him, he looks a little shy for the first time ever on this series. Jesus decides to wait around all day for him to get off work.

Tommy is less obnoxious now that Sam has proven he wants to help his family. The Mickens move in to one of the houses he rents out (looks like the same one Dawn lived in before she was killed in Season 1!). Across the street, Terry is moving in with Arlene. He’s positively beaming, and Arlene is positively sick-looking. Her bad mood continues at work, where she hurts Jessica’s feelings by not making eye contact with her because she’s afraid of being hypnotized. (So what does Jessica do, but turn around a glamour a couple not to tip Arlene). Tommy now has a job at Merlotte’s, he shares a nice moment with Jessica when Hoyt shows up with a date (“That’s a giant 6th grade boy…Come on, you’re a smoking hot vampire. You’re the majors.”), but things get weird when we start to see more into Tommy’s relationship with his father. There’s definitely something amiss there–Tommy acts all badass, but he’s clearly frightened of Joe Lee. Sam gets to witness it firsthand when Tommy stays over in his trailer that night and his father shows up infuriated.

Alcide goes out to report what he saw to his pack master. Sookie wants to find out more about Russell, but Alcide doesn’t want to bring her. She won’t take no for an answer: “Work with me, Alcide. It gets easier.” (Ha! As if…) The alpha were is a tough-looking middle aged guy. He already knew about Russell’s dealings with Coot’s pack, and other branded weres for centuries. He commands Alcide to leave it alone, just let Russell do what he wants and then he’ll move on to someplace else. Sookie listens in on the pack master’s mind and realizes how afraid he is.

Russell talks with Bill about Sookie’s family tree. He thinks Bill has been investigating where her telepathy comes from because the Queen has some big reward for him if he discovers the truth. It becomes clear that Bill has fallen out of favor. Coot comes to see Russell and Bill is sent to his room, afraid of what will be done to him. Coot comes in to see him and laughs that he gets to break the news to Bill–Sookie is in the same city, sleeping with a werewolf. Bill’s protective instincts are awakened. He beats Coot bloody: “WHERE IS SOOKEH?!” A guard hears the noise and comes in to check. Bill smashes his face into the silver door and flees. We know that this is a trap laid by Russell, but that doesn’t stop Bill from going to her.

While on his tour with Talbot, Eric sees a gold crown with some engraved designs on it. He recognizes it as a Viking design, and he should know; it belonged to his father. The flashback that follows shows us just why Eric has a vendetta against the pack of werewolves with the ‘Operation Werwolf’ symbol branded onto their skin.

When he was a young man, Eric’s family was Viking royalty, and had responsibilities within their community. Eric wasn’t ready to take on any those responsibilities, and he and his father argued over dinner one night about it as his mother and baby sister watched. The argument ended with Eric leaving to indulge in some youthful exploits with a redheaded goat girl. While otherwise involved, Eric hears screams and crashes, and he returns to find his entire family killed by wolves. With his father’s dying breath, he says that Eric must seek vengeance. Outside in the snow, a cloaked figure with Russell’s voice takes his father’s crown and sweeps off into the night.

Sookie is lying in bed when Alcide calls her into the living room. He steps aside, revealing Bill standing there. She runs and jumps into his arms (cue their beautiful love theme by Nathan Barr). He has no time to explain, but she has to leave immediately. It’s too late, though. Coot breaks down the door and in comes a hulking vamp to restrain Bill, and Russell (I want to know why Coot was able to invite them in when he doesn’t live there). Coot chases Sookie, but she forces him off with her electro hand shock. And Russell couldn’t be more delighted to see that.

Based on the previews, the drama in Russell’s mansion continues to heat up next week. What will Eric do now that he’s in the presence of the one responsible for his family’s death 1,000 years ago? How will Sookie escape everyone who’s out to hurt her (Russell, Lorena, Coot, Debbie, could this list get any longer)? Will Tara become a vampire?

Ok, everyone, let’s hear it–what did you think about “Trouble“?

(Photo credit: HBO, Inc.)

Talking Music with Jace Everett, Nathan Barr and Gary Calamar

Music is the universal language; no matter who and how it’s played, musicians and music fans alike will talk for hours about this wonderful craft. Jace Everett, Nathan Barr and Gary Calamar are no different. APM Music created three podcasts with these musicians, better known for their musical work on the HBO hit show True Blood.  All three men discuss their music, their success, and the future of their musical endeavors.

Though only six minutes long, Jace Everett shines in Podcast 65. He not only discusses how he got involved with True Blood, but he also explains how the show inspired his new album “Revelations.”  The first thing Jace mentions is that while having his song, “Bad Things” be the theme song for True Blood, he must tread lightly; he doesn’t want to be known for the rest of his life as the True Blood guy.

However, True Blood has been a great opportunity and he was lucky that Alan Ball found his song. While writing, Alan Ball took a break and while searching through iTunes, discovered Jace’s song, which he had wrote and released years ago. Alan Ball gave the song to Digital Kitchen and asked them to add visuals to the song; when the finished product was made, Alan Ball knew this was the mood and tone of the show. Jace believes having Alan Ball find his song was like a jackpot and really pulled his career out of the stagnant place it had been.

With being part of True Blood, Jace was able to create and push his new CD quickly; many of the new songs are inspired by the first season, but don’t have to be literary taken. “Burn for You” is based on the scene where Bill walks out under the sun in order to save Sookie, while “Damned if I Do” can be taken as a love song between a human and a vampire. However, the songs transcend the show and the genre of vampires.

Even if people aren’t into vampries, they can enjoy Jace’s songs. The inspiration of a song is not always what the songs can represent. For example, “Bad Things” was inspired by a time when Jace was living in Nashville working as a bass player for someone who was pursuing a record deal. The guy owed Jace money and he was a little upset about not getting it. The original song was based on Jace doing bad things to this guy, like moving his furniture around. Soon though, he realized the idea was ridiculous and the song held more of a sexual mood than a menacing one.

Currently, Jace is on tour on the West Coast for the next ten days and moving through the country gaining fans. He does sing “Bad Things” but not surprisingly fans leave with a lot more favorites by Jace Everett than just the True Blood theme song.

With Podcast 66, Gary Calamar discusses his job as music supervisor for True Blood, the differences between “Six Feet Under“and True Blood, the Southern influences of the show and its music, as well as how the show has influenced his own work. He also gives us an inside view of Alan Ball as a songwriter.

After serving as the music supervisor for “Six Feet Under”, Gary is now working with True Blood, “House“, and “Dexter.” He also chose the songs for the feature film “Varsity Blues“, which won him a gold record. He hosts a hit radio show on KCRW in Santa Monica California every Sunday. He is also in the process of writing a book about the rise and fall of the record store, which will be released on record day.

It seemed natural for Alan Ball and Gary Calamar to work together again. However, there’s a difference between working on “Six Feet Under” and True Blood. While Alan Ball is still meticulous about the music, he seems to want to have fun with the music for True Blood. Gary felt like perhaps his initial music choices were too serious and Alan Ball reminded Gary that the show was about vampires, giving them license to get crazy with the music.

There is a strong Southern influence as the show is set in Bon Temps, Louisiana. For Gary, it makes it easier to choose music; there is such a rich music that comes out of that region, old artists and new. Gary gets to use twisted rockabilly Southern rock in Merlotte’s, while bringing in some dark and heavy death metal in Fangtasia. Gary is allowed to explore different types of music and be creative in the choices he makes in order to create a true atmosphere for True Blood.

Gary appreciates working on True Blood; given the large budget, Gary is allowed to use five to ten solid songs in one episode, which gives him a lot to work with. Other shows don’t give too much money or thought on the music of a show. While they do end up sounding fantastic, they rely heavy on the score, while True Blood is allowed to combine score and different artists to create something interesting and new.

Speaking of new and interesting, Gary tells a great story about Alan Ball and his song writing abilities. In Season 2, there was a party scene where they wanted to have a unique sound attached to it, rather than a song that was overly exposed. Alan Ball collaborated with the music editor to create a rough song called “Dig“. The song somehow managed to make it on the end credits; though initially a joke, the song ended up causing a flurry of inquiry from fans. No one thought the song would be such a success, but it is now a part of the second volume of the True Blood soundtrack.

When asked about the end credits and how the songs played at the end seem to be connected to the last gotcha of the show, Gary noted that the last song of every episode usually come from a collaboration, between himself, Alan Ball, and the writers. In the end, it truly is about having fun and creating intrigue in their fans through music. By using fun and inspiring music, fans get to view True Blood in a different and exciting way.

In Podcast 67 in the APM Music Podcast Series, Nathan Barr explains how he got involved with True Blood, what inspires the music for the show and how he has created the sonic themes for each season, and his views on himself as a musician as well as his collaboration with Lisbeth Scott.

Composer Nathan Barr has scored more than 24 feature films, including the “Dukes of Hazzards” and his most ambitious project to date has been composing the music for each episode of True Blood. His score for “Hostel” was used for the temp in the pilot, which placed him on the short stack of composers Alan Ball was considering for the show. Though he was proud of his work in “Hostel” he didn’t think it fit the mood of True Blood and gave Alan Ball a CD of his other work, which won him the job as composer for this hit show.

When it comes to inspirations for the show, Nathan wanted something that had a small and intimate feel; the show is always revolving around human interactions: couples, or close friendships. Nathan wanted to keep it very simple, using instruments such as acoustic guitar, cello, and the piano to name a few.

The best part of working for the show is that Nathan plays his own instruments, which allows him to be a part of the musical process 100%. He composes by improvisation and he finds that he can completely be involved in the process and truly infuse himself into the music and show.

Other than the instrumentation, the sonic theme of the show consists of the characters and their relationships. Bill and Sookie’s theme, the love theme or as Stephen Moyer puts it “Bill’s Lament” is the most famous and comes up throughout the season. Many of the characters have a musical themes: Godric, Eric, and Sam.

When he started this project, Nathan bought a few new instruments in order to mix up the way he writes and show him new ways of thinking about music. When he first saw the pilot, he new the sounds he wanted to create would be dark and scary. He had a piano sawed in half in order for his to have access to the hammers and strings.

However, Nathan doesn’t write and play alone. For the show, he’s collaborated with his ex-wife Lisbeth Scott. As dear friends and collaborators, they worked together to really create great texture in music and add lyrics that showcase the emotion of the show. Nathan praises Lisbeth’s unique voice and her talent as a singer.

Currently, aside from True Blood, Nathan is working with Anna Paquin’s brother on his first feature film “Open House“, as well as working with Eli Roth on a film titled “Cotton“. He is also composing for a film called “Mother’s Day” (starring True Blood’s Deborah Ann Woll) and a dramedy called “Peep World“. With so many projects that Nathan will be infusing his musical skills and talents into, fans will be able to truly experience the emotion of these films.

Three podcasts with three talented musicians, who are the best in the business of film, television, advertising, and video game music. APM Music has given fans a chance to really learn and experience the music they hear in the background of their favorite dramas in a whole new different way.

The podcasts shed light on the creative process as well as inspire young musicians to look for collaboration opportunities with visual projects. These are only three out of a number of amazing interviews. Of course, because they revolve around True Blood’s great musicians, Truebies will sink their fangs into these interviews a little faster than the rest!

To listen to the Jace Everett’s podcast click here.

To listen to the Gary Calamar’s podcast click here.

To listen to the Nathan Barr’s podcast click here.

SOURCE: apmmusic.com

(Photo Credits: apmmusic.com)

True Blood Takes Comic-Con 2010

Comic-Con is getting closer and closer, and now information about panels is coming out day by day.

This year, unlike the last several years, Comic-Con is throwing the programming around to make it easier for fans to see everything they want to. (In the past, all the biggest shows, movies, etc. had panels on Saturday.) So far, only two days of Comic-Con panels have been announced, but True Blood is already a hot commodity with hands in several different panels.

As we announced today, Charlaine Harris and Nathan Barr will both have panels on Thursday at Comic-Con. Now we also know that True Blood will be prominent in Friday programming!

In one panel, True Blood’s costume designer Audrey Fisher will be discussing Costume Designing.

Costume Designers: Designing for TV Production— Costume Designers work in collaboration with Directors, Production Designers, Directors of Photography and Actors in creating fantastic and memorable stories told via moving images. Characters created by Comic Book Writers and Illustrators are made real for the screen via the artistry of Costume Designers. Meet the men and women who are the Costume Designers on this year’s most popular television productions. Moderator  Kristin Burke, Costume Designer, a Member of  the Costume Designers Guild, Local 892, and creator of her own Costume Design website “Frocktalk.com”, hosts Costume Designers from CDG, local 892: Audrey Fisher (True Blood),Ane Crabtree (Justified), Shawna Trpcic (Firefly), Pamela Shaw (Assistant Designer,Vampire Diaries),  Jennifer Eve (Assistant Designer, Glee).

In another panel, James Frain, who we all know as the chilling Franklin Mott will be discussing his new show The Cape.

One panel that will be discussing True Blood isn’t going to focus on the show. Instead, that one will focus on urban fantasy beyond the commercial appeal of vampires and will include writers of many other vampire series such as Tanya Huff (whose books were the basis for the vampire show Blood Ties), Mario Acevedo (who created the Felix Gomez series about a vampire detective) and Marjorie M. Liu (who writes lots of urban fantasy/paranormal books).

Another favorite True Blood villain will have a panel too. Michael McMillian (who we know and love to hate as Rev. Steve Newlin) will have a panel about his new comic book Lucid.

And finally, the actual True Blood panel will also be Friday.

True Blood Panel and Q&A session— Mixing romance, suspense, mystery, and humor, True Blood kicked off its 12-episode third season June 13 on HBO. The series, which has earned two Golden Globe nominations for Best Television Series—Drama, follows the romance between waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin, Golden Globe winner for True Blood season one; Oscar-winner for The Piano), who can hear people’s thoughts, and her soulmate, 173-year-old vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer). Alan Ball (creator of the Emmy-winning HBO series Six Feet Under) created and serves as executive producer of the series, which is based on the best-selling Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris. The series also features Nelsan Ellis as Lafayette Reynolds, Sam Trammell as Sam Merlotte, Rutina Wesley as Tara Thornton, Deborah Ann Woll as Jessica Hamby, Kristin Bauer van Straten as Pam, Denis O’Hare as Russell Edgington, the Vampire King of Mississippi, and Joe Manganiello as Alcide Herveaux. (Note: names in bold will be appearing on the panel.) Moderated by Tim Stack of Entertainment Weekly.

As we can see above, it appears that Ryan Kwanten will sadly not be making a Comic-Con appearance this year, and neither will be Alexander Skarsgard. It is going to be fantastic to see the cast at Comic-Con this year and the True Blood panel is going to be a definite MUST see!

To learn more about any of these panels, go to Comic-Con.org and take a look through the panel listings.

SOURCE: Comic-Con.org

(Image Credit: scifiscoop.com)

Nathan Barr at Comic-Con 2010 Panel

TOP FILM & TELEVISION COMPOSERS TO SPEAK ON
ANTICIPATED NEW PANEL AT COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL

Appearances by Oscar and Emmy award-winning music talents Michael Giacchino, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Nathan Barr, Jim Dooley, John Ottman & Jeremy Zuckerman.

Seven of the most prolific composers in film & television are slated to appear and speak for the brand new program: Behind the Music: Composing for Sci-Fi, Horror and Fantasy Film & Television in San Diego for Comic-Con – on July 22nd, 4:30-5:30pm in room 24ABC. Moderated by Anne Cecere – Director of Film/TV Relations of BMI, the panelists will include Michael Giacchino, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Nathan Barr, Jim Dooley, John Ottman and Jeremy Zuckerman.

All of the scoring legends will discuss their respective past and current projects, how they got their big break into the music composing industry, and share some behind-the-scenes insights regarding composing for the specific sci-fi/fantasy genre of television and film, as pertinent to the Comic-Con audience and tradition. Attendees of the panel also will receive exclusive giveaways. Day and weekend passes can be purchased through Comic-Con’s website: www.comic-con.org

Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning composer Michael Giacchino has contributed music for many facets of entertainment such as films, TV, and videogames. His most recent films include STAR TREK, RATATOUILLE, and UP for which he won this past year’s Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Original Score. Giacchino has also scored the hit TV shows LOST and ALIAS.

Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman make up the composing duo ‘Wendy & Lisa’, who once performed as Prince’s leading ladies and made their mark with their first composing credit on the box-office hit, DANGEROUS MINDS. Wendy & Lisa continue to write music for hit shows like HEROES, MERCY and NURSE JACKIE. Their score album to Nurse Jackie was recently released on March 2nd and is available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon.

Jim Dooley is an Emmy-winning composer for PUSHING DAISIES. His nearly 40 film contributing credits include THE DA VINCI CODE, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, solo work such as WHEN A STRANGER CALLS, OBSESSED, and top videogame titles SOCOM, INFAMOUS and the upcoming EPIC MICKEY. Dooley is currently song writing for the film, DOROTHY OF OZ starring Lea Michele (“Glee”) as Dorothy, Martin Short as The Jester, Dan Aykroyd as The Scarecrow, Kelsey Grammer as The Tin Man, and Jim Belushi as The Lion.

Nathan Barr has scored all episodes of HBO’s hit series TRUE BLOOD. Among other works, Barr has composed for HOSTEL, SHUTTER, CABIN FEVER, THE DUKES OF HAZARD and recently completed THE LAST EXORCISM, which opens nation-wide on August 27th, 2010.

John Ottman has composed for a diverse range of films from THE LOSERS, X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, X-MEN 2, FANTASTIC FOUR 2: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER and SUPERMAN RETURNS. Having music influence his life since the 4th grade, Ottman continues to score for films, TV commercials, and direct films.

Composer Jeremy Zuckerman is best known for his work on Nickelodeon’s AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER. Jeremy, along with his composing partner, Benjamin Wynn, form the music-writing duo “Track Team”. They recently finished the animated short, DC SHOWCASE: THE SPECTRE and currently are scoring for the brand new Nickelodeon animated KUNG FU PANDA spin-off series.

Comic-Con International is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to creating awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular art forms. In addition to its San Diego convention each summer, Comic-Con International organizes the San Francisco-based WonderCon each Spring and the Alternative Press Expo each Fall.

(Photo credit:  nathanbarr.com)

Nathan Barr Talks about Writing Music for True Blood

The score of True Blood is one of the many elements that plays an important part in making it the terrific show that it is. The talented Nathan Barr serves as True Blood’s composer, and that background music you hear when you watch is written and performed by him.

In an interview with the Danish website Serienjunkies, Nathan describes what it’s like working on the series and what his favorite moments have been.

Nathan knew going into the project that it would be special because Alan Ball was in charge and because the story is just so compelling. When asked what have been his favorite scenes to compose, he talked about how much he enjoyed “Cold Ground” (Season 1, episode 6). For the scene in which Sookie eats Gran’s last pecan pie, Nathan and singer Lisbeth Scott wrote the song “Take Me Home,” which has been one of the most emotionally moving moments in the entire show. He also loved the scene from “I Will Rise Up” in Season 2 during which Godric meets the sun.

Nathan had only praise to offer for his experiences working on True Blood, but he was asked what scene was the most difficult to compose for:

“Honestly, the show is so well crafted and acted that the scoring process is painless and totally organic. If I had to choose one scene that took quite a while to complete, it would be the scene where Amy is murdered during her V-enduced trip with Jason towards the end of the first season. This scene was a challenge because we are cutting back and forth from reality – where she is being murdered – and unreality – where she is “tripping” with Jason. To find one musical piece that seamlessly joined these two worlds, took a lot of work.”

Nathan’s work on True Blood certainly puts him among the ranks of the most talented composers these days. The sounds he has created for each mood and character are astounding, especially considering how varied it is! The characters are all so colorful and different, and the tone is constantly shifting, but the music always seems to fit perfectly.

SOURCE: seriesjunkies.de

(Photo credit: nathanbarr.com)

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