Taylor Sheridan's Landman Composer Learned This One Beautiful Lesson For Season 2

Every Taylor Sheridan series has its own fitting and characteristic score, and his latest drama on Paramount+, "Landman," is no exception. However, compared to the threatening, pensive, and often haunting music that "Yellowstone," "1923," or the "Mayor of Kingstown" has, the sound of the oil drama is softer and more laid-back, oftentimes even soothing and inviting. It brings to mind Peter Berg's beloved (and also Texas-set) NBC sports drama, "Friday Night Lights," which leaned heavily into its familial aspects and the power of community, using the score to highlight and heighten those essential qualities in the right moments.

The music in "Landman" works pretty similarly, too, although composer Andrew Lockington had the challenge of navigating quite opposing themes at times — such as danger, tragedy, romance, and a life-affirming feel-good quality that serves as a pressure release for the show when things get extremely fierce and intense. Overall, "Landman's" score is more soulful, sensitive, and gentle, employing mainly guitar, human voice, and other, sometimes out-of-place yet fitting sounds made by unusual instruments, like a Nyckelharpa. But one crucial aspect of nailing the perfect score actually stems from the creative freedom and mutual understanding of music that Sheridan established with his composer early on.

For a writer-creator who operates strictly under his own self-made rules when writing, you wouldn't necessarily think he's also capable of being a supportive team player when it comes to creativity. Yet he trusts the people he hires and works with inherently and understands that sometimes the best thing to do is to give them the time and space to come up with something magical. At least that's what Lockington told Deadline in a recent interview about the working process and rapport he and the creator developed. He said,

"[Taylor] is like a really good coach on a football team. He knows what the player's strengths are and how they work together, and he can kind of help you realize that you're self-editing too much. Perfection can sometimes be the enemy of creativity. You can sometimes edit out your own best moments, and it's really about having a great team where you can find the strengths in each other."

The composer also added that he and Sheridan built a kind of trusting and nurturing work relationship where he can even bring half-baked ideas to the creator because he knows he'll help him fully realize them, turning the tunes into their best and most apt versions for specific scenes. This wonderful dynamic rapport started when Lockington and Sheridan initially sat down to discuss and pinpoint what sort of vibe "Landman's" music should encapsulate. The composer explained,

"It actually stems back to a conversation [Taylor and I] had, just talking about music and life, and the most authentic moments in life that have happened to you. I brought up the idea of being at a bonfire party, being a teenager. The party dies down, 10% of the people are still awake, sitting around the fire, and you start having these conversations, contemplating where you fit in the world... It's very real and very raw, and Taylor and I said, 'That's what the music should sound like.'"

Given the final result that helped the show become the most-watched series in the Sheridanverse (beating "Yellowstone" and all of its prequels), we can confidently say that the collaboration between Lockington and Sheridan has been as fruitful as possible. Hopefully, this will continue to be just as great in season 2 as well.