Butler School of Music

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Joel Guzman, specialist in Conhunto here at the Butler School of Music, just made his big-screen debut in December Scott Cooper’s critical darling “Crazy Heart.”  Go see the movie and you’ll find him in the bar scenes, playing a little squeezebox in the band.  So his on-screen work may not exactly be center-stage, but Guzman’s involvement in the project really centers around his contribution to the soundtrack.

“I received a call from Stephen Bruton,” Guzman said. ”He explained he was in Los Angeles working on an amazing recording project and needed me to lay down some squeeze box tracks…. Before you know it I was sitting at Village Recorders in L.A. surrounded by the music industry’s most in-demand session players; Buddy Miller, Dennis Crouch, Jay Bellarose, to name a few. They were coming fresh off of the Allision Krause / Robert Plant tour.”

Guzman spent five days in Los Angeles in late summer 2008 working with Bruton, who was a stalwart of the Austin music scene, and L.A. music producer T-Bone Burnett who wrote the songs for the movie’s soundtrack. The session was an intense experience, often going from early morning until late in the night, as the musicians worked collaboratively to bring Burnett’s songs to life. “Both [Bruton] and Burnett would take turns singing verses while the band wrote chord charts” said Guzman.

During the L.A. sessions, director Scott Cooper approached Guzman to consider coming out on location in Santa Fe, New Mexico to play in some of the movie’s scenes with upright bassist Luis Guerra. “I tried my best to remain cool, even though I was screaming with joy inside” said Guzman. While on set, he and Guerra got to see Hollywood film making up close and personal, working with the movie’s stars Robert Duval and Jeff Bridges. Bridges is nominated for an Academy award for his portrayal washed-up country singer Bad Blake. For the role, Bridges did his own singing and guitar work.

“Luis and I would always arrive early to the set and play music,” notes Guzman. “During one of these jam sessions the film crew started getting in on the fun. In between takes Jeff would encourage the band to play the tunes live so he could join in. This helped him work out his guitar moves.”

Despite his humble account of his involvement in the project, Guzman is no stranger to recognition himself. Through the years he and his wife singer/songwriter Sarah Fox have received constant acclaim for their work together in Latin music. The group has 2 American Grammies and a Latin Grammy on their discography, and recently received a second Latin Grammy nomination for their album “Conjuntazzo.” As an accordionist and arranger, Guzman works with a myriad of musicians internationally. He recently appeared on an airing of NPR’s Prairie Home Companion that aired in January 2010. You can hear the show on their website. 

In the meantime, “Crazy Heart” was released in December 2009 and has been getting tons of attention since. Loosely based on real-life country stars Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristopherson, and Merle Haggard, the movie tells the story of Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges), a 57 year-old alcoholic singer/songwriter. A one-time country star, he earns a modest living playing guitar in small town bars, until a newfound relationship with a young journalist inspires him to put his life back together. The film has garnered multiple awards internationally. Most recently it was nominated for three Academy awards, including one for best original song. The film was dedicated to Stephen Bruton who died of throat cancer in 2009 before the film’s completion.

Guzman finally got to see the film with his family in January. “To see the film in its entirety was satisfying. I have found a newfound appreciation for movie making.” Noted Guzman, who then added “We made sure to stick around for the credits.”