Michael Andrews: The man behind Walk Hard's soundtrack :: Music News :: Articles

When you're trying to put together a film soundtrack that parodies varying styles from the earliest rock 'n' roll to disco to contemporary sounds, you need something more substantial than Weird Al Yankovic. So when Judd Apatow started working on Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, he probably had his old collaborator Michael Andrews on speed dial. Although he hasn't yet attained the profile of fellow composer Jon Brion, Andrews has put together quite an oeuvre. He began inauspiciously enough, working on the score for a little show called Freaks and Geeks. Later came his work on films like Donnie Darko and You and Me and Everyone We Know.

Now he's ghostwriting for Dewey Cox. His participation in the film had been somewhat under wraps (no IMDb credit), but the recently released Walk Hard poster officially blew his cover. He's been dropping hints about his work on the score, however, in venues like Rant! Magazine and the website for his band, the Greyboy Allstars. According to the Allstars website and Rant, Andrews got to work on a song with legendary songwriter Van Dyke Parks.

"We’ve been writing a song together for the movie. Let’s just say it spans the Brian Wilson catalogue..." wrote Andrews.

Starring John C. Reilly and a stupendous amount of guest stars (Jack White as Elvis, for starters), Walk Hard hits theaters Dec. 21. EW.com reports that Reilly has recorded over 30 songs in character, which filmmakers hope to parlay into an album tentatively titled Box of Cox. We can only hope.

Thanks to The Daily Swarm for hipping us to this item.

Got news tips for Paste? Email news@pastemagazine.com.