Bluegrass is apparently huge in Panem right now, as the soundtrack for the new Hunger Games prequel reveals. Among the 17-song tracklist for the upcoming The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes are rising bluegrass stars Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, and Sierra Ferrell, emerging country singer-songwriter Charles Wesley Godwin, and more.
The heavy folk/Americana influence on the new Hunger Games film, out November 17th, is balanced out by a headline-grabbing new song from pop hitmaker Olivia Rodrigo, “Can’t Catch Me Now”. The soundtrack also features several songs sung by the film’s star Rachel Zegler, who delivered a breakout performance as Marla in Steven Spielberg‘s 2021 West Side Story adaptation.
Set 64 years before the original Hunger Games trilogy, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes centers around a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Hardy). Before he became the tyrannical ruler of Panem, he was tasked with mentoring District 12’s tribute Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler). Though apprehensive about her chances at first, Snow’s opinion changes after Baird gets the entire country’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony. Per the film’s description, “Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy Gray’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake.”
Given that music plays a prominent role in the film, it makes sense that producers would enlist some of today’s top young roots songwriters. The soundtrack includes Billy Strings’ original “Cabin Song”, which he’s played 14 times total since its debut back in March but had yet to find its way to an official release. Sierra Ferrell also contributes the unreleased original “The Garden” which has popped up in her live sets since 2022. Tuttle, on the other hand, delivers her version of the traditional folk song “Bury Me Beneath the Willow”, popularized by The Carter Family.
Check out the full tracklist for the soundtrack to The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, available November 17th in tandem with the film’s release. Strings and Tuttle recently collaborated onstage at Billy’s wrestling-themed Van Andel Scramble Halloween show. Read Live For Live Music‘s full coverage here.