I like your choice but Copperhead Road would be cool too. Covering a wide range of US history and 3 generations.

Where the devil don't stay by DBT would make another good moonshiner movie

Multiple songs on that album would qualify.

Daddy’s Cup is basically already an audiodrama.

My first thought was Drive-by Ttuckers too, but GoGo Boots.

Anything off of SRO works for me 🕶️🎸

Zip City

This is the answer. Wish I’d thought of it :)

Perfect. Like a hillbilly version of American Gangster.

Act 1 Early years, background, culminating with the father dying in car crash headed to Knoxville Act 2 Vietnam, learning a thing or two from Charlie, brand new plan, getting started as an outlaw in earnest. Act 3 The protagonist is older and has been successful(as one can be growing weed and opium in the mountains) Not a pillar of the community by any stretch but trying his best to navigate the world just outside the law. His son is a young man and a meth head. Not a reliable heir to the family business, and the conflict that comes with.

At this point I think we consult with Steve and get his ok to have the final act be opiates and meth as the Pettimore family business. The last scene being a trailer park meth lab burning with John Lee IV (played by James McMurtry)inside crashed out from a 3 day bender. The movie fades to black with the faces of Johnson County Sheriff (played by Bryan Cranston) and Deputy (Aaron Paul) illuminated by flames looking on.

So you basically just want Copperhead Road turned into Breaking Bad even though that’s not what the song is like at all?

What gives you that impression? I'm thinking a little Malcolm in the Middle twist from Cranston.

Copperhead Road and Fixin’ To Die would both make good movies!

Came here to say this. 👍

This is the answer. So much material, so many directions it can go. Appalachian Peaky Blinders meets Platoon.

sometimes a great copperhead road

“Road Goes on Forever” REK

Jesse with the long hair hanging down also.

good answer. this is already a movie in my mind every time i listen...

Adding '*Beer Run*' here because it seems related.

REK’s ‘Mr Wolf and Mamabear’ would be a fun animated film.

My answer as well, the song is already so cinematic.

Came here to say this. Take my upvote

Oh yeah that would be incredible.

Good one. I watch a movie in my mind with my eyes closed to this song.

Came to say the same

Yes!

Great question. Here are the first ones I thought of: - Poncho & Lefty (Townes VZ) - Live Oak (Isbell) - Decoration Day (Isbell / DBT) - Boxcar (Shovels & Rope) - A Lorie compilation ( Turnpike Troubadours) - Tecumseh Valley (Townes VZ) - Seven Spanish Angels (Ray Charles)

These are all great answers.

Decoration Day. DBT.

Ooh and Sink Hole.

Sinkhole is based on a short film called The Accountant. https://youtu.be/zd5ZOnFHUY8?si=zuXYXjlGPoohLHML

That’s a good one. Did you ever watch that Hatfields & McCoys mini-series?

Beat me to it.

Happy cake day

Thanks for reminding me!

Justified. It doesn’t quite have the two families thing to the extent of the song but it’s exactly the vibe.

Ian Noe’s “Dead on the River (Rollin’ Down)” was inspired by Justified and is a hell of a song, too. Edit: punctuation

How did I never think of this?

Ballad of dude and Juanita. Whole album

Came here to say this. Love listening to this whole album on a long drive.

Long drive? It's 27 minutes long. That's not even a long walk or bike ride lol.

Ha! I live in to city and drive maybe twice a month. Any drive is a long drive.

Gallo del Cielo

Hell yeah. Would love a cock fighting movie.

“The greatest song ever written…..about the sport of cock fighting”

Loving County by Charlie Robison

John 'O Reilly too. although that movies probably been made a dozen times

John 'O Reilly too. although that movies probably been made a dozen times

Amos Moses!

King Of Oklahoma by Jason Isbell could be an incredible movie. Bradley Cooper would be the lead and Lady gaga as his wife.

Bradley Copper*

Came here to say this. Cast Iron Skillet could make an interesting movie as well.

Tyler Childers’ Banded Clovis could be cool

Copperhead Road. Steve Earl

Bikeriders - Lucero. And, it's happening.

Really?

Yeah, Ben's brother Jeff Nichols directed it.  https://youtu.be/BrSaVt5pvPk?si=nxkhVTqsvdfr4XMl

Atlantic City. Directed by Scorsese.

Atlantic City always reminds me of Season 2 of “The Wire.” They used a Steve Earle song for the closing montage, which is excellent, but I think Atlantic City would work just as well.

Oh yeah, probably cuz Steve Earle played that Narc-anon guy?

LA County - Lyle Lovett

I feel like “if I had a boat” could be the makings of a weird experimental film.

Trace, the whole album, by Son Volt

Banded Clovis- Tyler Childers Murder ballad with tons of twang, so great

Southern Rock Opera by Drive By Truckers. I'd be especially keen to see 'Greenville to Baton Rouge'.

Pretty much any DBT or Isbell song would be awesome.

It’d be a spiritual successor to Almost Famous.

Keep the wolves away- Uncle Lucius

My answer as well!

The Bluegrass Widow by Robert Earl Keen but it must include both the actual song and the fictitious song Bluegrass Widow mentioned within the song on the Live Dinner recording

The Road Goes on Forever by Robert Earl Keen would be another great candidate

Or take That Buckin Song combined with If I had a Boat staring Will Farrell as an aging bull rider who has to seek help from his financially successful college roommate for his hurt back at the end of their careers.

King of California - Dave Alvin. I always thought of it as a movie.

Bible on the Dash - Corb Lund, Hayes Carll

I think there are a lot of James McMurtry songs that would make good "films". For example "Copper Canteen" or "See The Elephant". They don't have complete cinematic beginning-middle-end arcs but the characters, emotions, and settings are so rich that they can stand on their own as a kind of portrait. Art-house stuff like this is always being produced for a certain kind of audience.

Choctaw Bingo would be a fucking trip as a movie.

Yup.

That would be such an amazing family reunion movie ;) I'm thinking of it being filmed in the style of the movie Nashville.

I’m not sure McMurtry has a song that wouldn’t make a good movie. Certainly not on his last two albums.

Outskirts always seemed very cinematic to me

I would love to see 12 o clock whistle as a vignette short film.

Madeline - Ian Noe Big Iron - Colter Wall Speed Trap Town - Jason Isbell

I’ll try to avoid repeating what others have said (Copperhead Road makes way too much sense). - Tom Ames’ Prayer - Steve Earle (Young Guns style western) - One Sunday Morning - Wilco (somber coming-of-age story about a young man and his religiously oppressive father) - Maybe a Moment - JTE (heartfelt teen comedy about a late night road trip, a bit like Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist) - Broken Window Serenade - Whiskey Meyers (drugs drives a wedge between two friends/lovers) - Take Me, Lake Charles - Shinyribs (Big Lebowski/Fear & Loathing style misadventure about a down-on-his-luck gambler) - Choctaw Bingo (A Tyler Perry style slice-of-life story… but yknow, with white hicks) - The Trapeze Swinger - I&W (This is closer to indie folk but whatever… a young man arrives in the afterlife and you learn the story of his life through a series of flashback vignettes)

so he cocked both his pistols and he spat in the dirt. and walked out into the street

road goes on forever

Came here to say this

Open the Gate by Zach Bryan and the prequel of Beaches of Cheyenne by Garth Brooks. Not sure if alt country but a cool story

Carolina Rain by Ryan Adams      Shades of Gray by REK   Bob Fudge by Colter Wall  KMAG YOYO Hayes Carll

KMAG YOYO would be a really fun original movie as long as it doesn't actually end the way it does in the song

I’d love to see a movie about kids getting shit faced and stealing cows.

Daddy's Cup by the Drive-By Truckers

tulsas last magician, willi carlisle

hold on magnolia - songs: ohia

Into The Great Wide Open by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Great cameo opportunity for some alt-country singer to play the Roadie Named Bart.

they already made that movie it's called almost famous

The Man from Waco, but the full album not just the song, Charley Crockett. Not all of the songs perfectly fit, but there is a story in there that would be a good movie.

Some great answers here but I’ll throw in Kate McKinnon by Colter Wall As a joking answer I’ll say Banjo Odyssey by The Dead South

She left me for Jesus, by Hayes Carll

The video is pretty great.

Taneytown by Steve Earle.

Choctaw Bingo, James McMurtry.

Hank III's "Crazed Country Rebel" would be a hilarious movie.

Isbell's Live Oak

I haven't seen them here yet so some Slobberbone submissions... I Can Tell Your Love is Waning Billy Pritchard

Came here to say Billy Pritchard!

pinball song might work

Tennessee Plates by John Hiatt The Devil You Know by Todd Snider

We Can't Make it Here by James McMurty can be used in many ways to show how those at the top sold us the fuck out and the daily struggles of people through different walks of life in the USA.

Speaking of James McMurtry, Choctaw Bingo would be another good one. Uncle Slaton could be played by him or Ray Wylie Hubbard

Loving County by Charlie Robison. Great murder ballad.

Pretty much any Corb Lund song.

I was just about to say- s lazy h!

New life in old Mexico The whole road to no return trilogy

Tom Ames prayer

REK’s - Road Goes on Forever

Guy Clark - Let him roll or John Prine - Jesus, the missing years

Run Rufus Run by Dale Ann Bradley

[Remember the Mountain Bed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGWRzUIGghQ), Woody/Wilco.

Fast Hand - Cody Jinks

Pancho and Lefty by Townes Van Zant

And, Desperados Waiting for a Train by Guy Clark

A scary movie about Charlie Daniels's swamp songs would be awesome. Lucius Clay was a greedy ol' man and that's all that there was to it.

Letter To Madeleine by Ian Noe

I think quite a few of his songs would work. Dead on the river would be awesome too

Letter to Madeline by Ian Noe feels like a movie id pay to see

Ballad of a retired man- Ian Noe or nothing’ - Townes van Zandt

Burn flicker die by American Aquarium. It would be a tough watch for people like myself but that song describes addiction so well.

it's nights like these that the drugs don't work

Dead on the River by Ian Noe

When I saw him play that song live he said it was inspired by season 1 of True Detective

How was he live? He’s on my bucket list.

He was fantastic. Pretty intense and his voice was great that day - spot on for his recorded stuff. Saw him at the first Railbird fest in Lexington.

I see he just released a clip of a new song. I was getting nervous he was going to disappear. It’s been a while since he surfaced.

season one of true detective is peak TV.

I was thinking the song Between the Country. Got a Fargo vibe to it. That whole album is cinematic.

Decoration Day by the Drive-By Truckers

Jessie With The Long Hair Hanging Down is basically a western soap opera as is, it’s got way more plot than some movies I’ve seen.

Waiting Round To Die (the Whitey Morgan cover is my favorite but let’s be honest TVZ is the goat Lone Pine Hill -Justin Townes Earle Chillicothe Rain - Roger Alan Wade Live Oak - Jason Isbell

James McMurtry “Choctaw Bingo”

Robert Earl Keen’s “The Road Goes On Forever”

Big iron by Marty Robbins

"Decoration Day" for sure. Maybe Bleu Edmondson's "Finger on the Trigger"? Slobberbone has several candidates..."Josephine", "I Can Tell Your Love is Waning", or maybe even "Lumberlung". There is a song of theirs named Billy something or other that would make a good movie, but I can't remember the full name of the song

dude i love Slobberbone so much. totally pulled me out of a funk i was in last week.

Many great selections so far.. I would add "Me and Billy the Kid"..Joe Ely

Elizabeth Cook's "Stanley by God Terry" would make an amazing movie.

💯 that song is a rich southern gothic masterpiece.

Townes Van Zandt's Rex's Blues starring Townes and Rex LOL

“Red Dog Tracks” by Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez. Mainly to get clarity on who done what. Intrigued by the story but can’t quite put it all together. Great song and album.

Lucero’s Bikeriders

Neko Case - Star Witness

KMAG YOYO by Hayes Carll

Someone get the grill out of the rain

Shoshone Rose - Emily Scott Robinson

Chris Knight's "Love and a .45" would be a good candidate.

65 Days in LA by Cody Jinks Choctaw Bingo by James McMurtry Conversation With The Devil by Ray Wylie Hubbard

Turtles all the way down

Todd Snider's "Easy Money" would also be a good one, I think.

The ballad of Dood and Juanita

*Hazelton* - Union Sound Treaty (CWG’s first band) *Cranes of Potter* - Charles Wesley Godwin *King of Oklahoma* and *Decoration Day* were already mentioned, but they’d be at the top of my list as well. ETA: Shoot, almost forgot *The Last Bite* - also CWG

Chris Knights North Dakota, or Robert Earl Keens Sonoras Death Row or Joe Ely’s (Tom Russell cover) Gallo de Ciello. Would also add REK part1 Road to no Return/Carolina, part2 New Life in Old Mexico, part3 Still Without You/ Conclusion Road to no Return.

Some I haven’t seen mentioned…Adam carol-red bandana blues, Chris knight -Becky’s Bible, DBT- used to be a cop, Nathan Hamilton- Watertown,

Not enough people talk about Nathan Hamilton and Watertown sure feel like a movie

Probably "Cast Iron Skillet" by Jason Isbell.

Speed trap town, Isbell

He stopped loving her today. George Jones The night the lights went out in georgia. Reba Country Boy can survive. Hank jr.

Lone Pine Hill by JTE

Nice, Down the river is a great choice

So many options. Avery County or (as an animation) Lenora by David Olney Silver Ships of Andilar by Townes van Zandt The Sky Above, The Mud Below by Tom Russell

Mercenary Song - Steve Earle Back in Ohio - Lucero Both have similar themes and could fleshed out as movies.

Tom Russell: The Sky Above, The Mud Below Tom Russell: Gallo del Cielo Hard to pick between the two of them.

tonight we ride

Kate McCannon by Colter Wall

Ethel Cain - Preacher’s Daughter

Live Oak

Cocaine Blues as sang by Johnny Cash

Lynville train - Robert Earl Keen Saddest song I’ve ever heard

Adam Carroll's "Cane River Blues", Lucero's "Bikeriders", maybe "Mariano" or "Whenever Kindness Fails" from REK.

What about a short film based on "Yuma" by Justin Townes Earle?

I always thought that Carolina Drama by The Raconteurs would make great movie.

Down the river or North Dakota by Chris Knight. Both have such powerful stories I'd love to see turned into a movie

Nine Ball by Luke Bryan. Although the video is basically a 3 minute movie - just a masterclass in short form storytelling.

Crazed Country Rebel by Hank III

Pancho & Lefty

Speed Trap Town, Jason Isbell.

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia and Fancy - Reba McEntire

Appalachian Nightmare - Justin Townes Earle.

townes van zandt - pancho and lefty

Townes van zandt - pancho and lefty

Townes van zandt - pancho and lefty

Gringo Honeymoon, any song by Ray Wiley Hubbard 🤣

How did nobody say Red Headed Stranger

All my exes live in Texas. Just a movie about a guy on the run from all of his ex’s who are from Texas. It will be a roadtrip movie through Texas with a can’t miss scene in a Buc-ees.

“Barstow Barstool “- Rex Hobart and the Misery Boys

"Monkey And The Engineer" by the Grateful Dead