film's producers and co-writers Duke Erikson and Allison McGourty, and executive producers T Bone Burnett and Jack White. The performers were chosen for their musical and ethnic diversity and their ability to record in a rigorous and demanding manner. MacMahon insisted on having three previously unrecorded acts at the sessions; The Americans, Christine Pizutti and Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton. Song selection The musicians were encouraged to record both a vintage song and a song they had written. MacMahon and Erikson compiled a list of old songs that they wanted to feature in the film and in some cases specifically chose songs for particular performers; “Mal Hombre” for Ana Gabriel, “On the Road Again” for Nas, “Tomi Tomi” for the Hawaiians and “Nobody's Dirty Business” for Bettye LaVette. Other performers researched the period and selected their own vintage songs; Jack White unearthed “Matrimonial Intentions”, the Avett Brothers chose “Jordan Am a Hard Road” and Rhiannon Giddens chose “One Hour Mama”. Most of the performers recorded two songs although the duration of the film precluded all these performances appearing in the finished film. Some performers wrote songs specifically for the film like Merle Haggard who composed “The Only Man Wilder Than Me” as a duet for him and Willie Nelson to perform. Elton John arrived at the studio with a lyric entitled “Two Fingers of Whiskey” that Bernie Taupin had written specifically for the film. Elton John then proceeded to write the melody live on camera and arrange the song with Jack White and recorded the song live direct to disc without leaving the room during the whole process. All the performances in the film and many additional songs not featured in the film were released by Columbia Records/Lo-Max on Music from The American Epic Sessions: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Score A non-diegetic score was occasionally used in the film. There were four main instances, a section revealing how the Western Electric Amplifier Rack and Microphone work, a section discussing the social impact the Western Electric Recording System had on the world and its eventual demise, the arrival of the final two musicians in the film, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, and finally, the closing credits. The score was written by Duke Erikson and Bernard MacMahon and performed by Duke Erikson and Chris Wagoner. Cinematography The film was storyboarded extensively by MacMahon in advance of the shoot along with detailed diagrams of