Ralph Stanley Records Songs for New Movie!

~A crime-drama centered on a family of Depression-era bootleggers in the American South~

Ralph Stanley has recorded three songs for the soundtrack of The Wettest County in the World, a crime drama about bootlegging in Prohibition-era Virginia. Hal Willner, whose credits include projects for Marianne Faithfull, Lou Reed and Bill Frisell, produced Stanley's sessions. Set for release in December, the movie stars Jessica Chastain, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and Shia LaBeouf.
It seems that Hillcoat is going for some musical authenticity in the Prohibition-era tale led by Tom Hardy, Shia LaBoeuf and Jason Clarke as the Bondurant brothers who run a bootlegging gang but find their moonshine dynasty in Franklin County, Virginia threatened by the authorities wanting a cut.
The supporting cast features Jessica Chastain as Hardy’s love interest Maggie; Mia Wasikowska as LaBeouf’s belle; newcomerDane DeHaan as Labeouf’s partner-in-crime; Guy Pearce as a violent deputy with the brothers in his sights, and Gary Oldman as a gangster who employs the boys. It’s not known if Stanley has penned new tunes for the film or delivered renditions of traditional songs, but we suppose we’ll find out soon enough.
While there is no exact release date yet, when the The Weinstein Company picked up the film in May, they said it was being readied for a release by the end of year.
The movie is based on the novel The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant. The novel, which is based on the true story of Bondurant’s grandfather and two great-uncles, is set in Prohibition-era Virginia. The story details the life of the Bondurant boys, moonshine running brothers who take the law into their own hands.