Sounds of the Western from WNYC's Soundcheck by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Carter Burwell’s music for the Coen Brothers’ film True Grit turns its back on the legacy of film composer Ennio Morricone, whose scores for Sergio Leone’s “spaghetti Westerns” set the tone for genre's post-60s films. We’ll talk with Burwell about True Grit’s unlikely inspiration. And we’ll get a look at how the film fits into the canon of Westerns with Kathryn Kalinak, author of the book How the West Was Sung. Listen to the podcast.