'Justified's' music shows its roots

'Justified' employed music by a host of Americana artists to reflect the show's rural Kentucky setting. "Justified," the Peabody Award-winning FX drama, sports an earthy musical style as distinctive as its hard-edged plots, thanks to music supervisor Greg Sill.Over the course of two seasons, the show -- which stars Timothy Olyphant as a U.S. Marshal grappling with murderous clans in the backwoods of his hometown of Harlan, Ky., -- has developed a unique, and uniquely integrated, sound of its own."It's Americana, without a doubt," Sill says.Sill -- whose music supervision credits include work on such series as "Cane," "American Dreams," "Friends" and "ER" -- says the show's musical style evolved year to year."The first season, the editors had a tendency to use country and western music," Sill says. "People started to fall in love with that style of music. I said, 'Look, guys, we're not in Tennessee. We're in Kentucky, and once you cross the border the music changes.' We had knock-down, drag-out arguments, seriously."Season one's approach resulted in some strikingly deployed cues -- most prominently, a cover of Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man" by L.A.-based vocalist Quincy Coleman, recorded by "Justified" composer Steve Porcaro. But Sill thought a shift was in order."I went and talked to the writers," Sill says. "I had looked around to see who had the biggest amount and the biggest variety of bluegrass music and rock 'n' roll and rootsy stuff -- ballsy music, stuff that made sense for the show I said, 'Let's try to use as much roots stuff as we can.' "An early-season, on-camera appearance in a barroom scene by veteran L.A. roots rocker Dave Alvin established the season's musical style."Dave fell in love with the show, and he actually wrote a song, 'Harlan County Line,' " Sill says. "That was the song we wound up using. We actually integrated the song into the story. It worked really well."Alvin's stint set the tone for the rest of the year. The soundtrack for "Justified" employed music by a host of Americana artists, including Gillian Welch, the Drive-By Truckers, Amelia White, Justin Townes Earle, Cliff Wagner, Lynda Kay and Jesse Dayton & Brennen Leigh.Sill says the highest compliment paid to his work on the show came from writer Elmore Leonard, whose short story "Fire in the Hole" inspired "Justified.""He said, 'I never actually knew what music supervisors did.' He thanked me. Very cool." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com