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!
Bezos: The Beginning | Music from the Film | Miami Premiere
It’s taken a little while to get the Bezos: The Beginning score to an album-style mix and assembly. I’ve enjoyed the process, but moving it from film-score > album-mix is involved! I put together some of the music from the film, to share here. I also put this playlist on the credits page, with all the info on Bezos: The Beginning.
Miami Premiere
Attending the premiere in Miami was a treat. I got to link up with director Khoa Le again, I met the production team of Armando Gutierrez, Alberto De La Cruz and Nehir Ornay. I also got to meet Emilio and Gloria Estefan. Emilio plays Jeff Bezos’ father, Miguel Bezos in the film. Getting to hear him speak at the premiere, especially about his personal journey, was inspiring. I was fortunate to be able to hang with Gloria Estefan afterwards, where we got to talk a little bit of music shop, and I got to hear some awesome stories of her early years with the Miami Sound Machine and Emilio. It was one of those special moments where you just have to sit there, enjoy a rich conversation with some of the most influential people in the game, and be grateful you got a seat at the table. Truly awesome.
The film is available on Prime, Apple TV and Google Play. Here are a few pics I took from the premiere.
