Tim McGraw Wrote A Lullaby For “1883”
on Feb 04, 2022 • Updated Mar 07, 2023
Real-life country music power couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill star in the new Yellowstone prequel series 1883. They play James and Margaret Dutton, the patriarch and matriarch of Yellowstone‘s Dutton family.
Even though they are most well-known for their music careers, McGraw and Hill won’t be singing in 1883. McGraw told Taste of Country the idea of singing in the show was “not even on [their] radar.”
McGraw said 1883 is more “about an epic score, not so much songs or anything like that.” He also thinks it wouldn’t make sense for James to break out in song, since he’s “not an artistic guy.”
“My character, James, I can’t imagine him ever singing a note,” McGraw said.
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But even though McGraw won’t be singing as James on 1883, the show has still given him some musical inspiration. He told Taste of Country he wrote some new songs while filming the series.
“..it’s inspired me to write songs that have a theme that sometimes revolve around some of the things that happen on the show…” he said.
As McGraw shared in a more recent interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show, one of those songs was a lullaby. That lullaby actually made it into the show:
“There’s a scene where Wade [played by James Landry Hébert]…he has to sing to the cattle,” McGraw explained. “And he was searching for a song to sing to the cattle. And I was walking into the gym one day and had this idea, and so I did a voice memo to him of this little lullaby for him to sing to the cattle…he liked it, and [show creator] Taylor [Sheridan] liked it, so that’s what he ended up singing.”
Isabel May, who plays McGraw’s daughter, Elsa, in 1883, also chimed in on the conversation. They spoke about their first meeting, “cowboy camp,” and what it was like filming the show in some pretty intense weather conditions.
You can watch a clip of McGraw and May’s interview on The Kelly Clarkson show below.
