Christmas Cowboy | Music from the Film
“Christmas Cowboy” is a new holiday film that I composed/produced the original score. Featuring an orchestral score, the music touches on the emotions of family, Christmas, estrangement, nostalgia, and most importantly…..horses!
Christmas Cowboy is out now on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play and all cable VOD.
The musical aesthetic was purposefully intimate: a small string ensemble, with piano, celeste, woodwinds, steel string guitar, and occasional full orchestral percussion. The score needed to mix the nostalgic and warm Christmas vibe, with the complicated family drama that unfolds throughout the film.
The string musicians were Gabe Valle (violin, viola) and Ansel Cohen (cello). These are talented friends of mine, and they masterfully laid down their string recordings at Gabe’s studio, Big and Tall Recording, along with co-owner Tommy McCormick at the engineering helm.
The woodwinds (piccolo, flute, oboe, clarinet) were laid down by my friend Matt Lepek. Matt is one of the woodwind chairs on Aladdin on Broadway, and a long time music friend going back to our reggae-band touring days with Echo Movement.
The guitar was recorded by V.J. Manzo, who is a long-time friend, going back to our undergrad days at Kean University. VJ has been part of my film music team since my first film, Bezos: The Beginning, and is a critical and unique musician for my scores not only as my “guitar guy”, but as someone who programs custom software instruments and plug-ins, invents new methods of making music on guitar, and always brings new ways of making music to the table.
Songwriting was a special treat that I was able to partake in the film as well. I teamed up with long-time friend Dave Fowler, and we co-wrote a song called “Everything’s Fine” that can be heard in the end credits. The song featured Bluegrass musician Dan Whitener on vocals and mandolin. Dave also served as a score engineer on the film.
Christmas Cowboy was directed by Khoa Le, who is the CEO and founder of KVibe Studios, who produced the film. This is Colin’s 2nd film with Khoa. All press information can be found on the press page of this site.
Here are some highlights from the original score. The score album, which will also feature a number of original pop Christmas songs by various artists, will release in December 2024.
Thanks for stopping by!