Singer Kanude On Joining the True Blood Soundtrack
True Blood has a reputation for killer song choices in every episode. In True Blood episode 4.02, “You Smell Like Dinner”, singer/songwriter Chris “Kanude” Knudson joins the likes of Bob Dylan, Shelby Lynne, Billie Holiday and Massive Attack on the eclectic True Blood soundtrack with his song “Wheels”.
“Wheels” is a rollicking road trip song that Kanude wrote in collaboration with Tomas Glass, a painter-turned-musician, who grew up in a dry county in Texas. (A “dry county” is a county where alcohol sales are illegal.) “A lot of people in these dry counties, when you’re in your 20s, you drive across the county line to go to a bar and have a good time. That’s what this song celebrates,” Kanude tells us.
The road to True Blood was a long one for “Wheels”. A Texas native, Kanude was living in Los Angeles when he wrote and performed the song. He partnered with Hook, Line, and Sync, putting the song up for consideration for movies and TV, then basically forgot about it. Fast forward two years, a cross-country move, and a new son and Kanude got a call from the company saying that True Blood was interested in using the song in an episode. Talking to the artist, it’s obvious that he’s thrilled to be featured on the show.
“I’m still catching up on last season, but these are definitely the kind of people who would listen to my music,” he chuckles. Music director Gary Calamar had listened to the song and thought it was a good fit for a scene in Merlotte’s in the second episode of the season, airing July 3 on HBO and available now on HBO GO. “Wheels” is available on iTunes.
Head’s up Austin Truebies: Kanude will be playing a special live show at Jo’s Coffee in Austin, TX, on July 3 at 7PM, followed by a True Blood viewing party.
