An all-star cast has recreated the defining scene of Sinners on stage at the Oscars as Ryan Coogler's film went on to win four awards from a record-breaking 16 nominations.
The Mississippi Blues-meets-vampire-horror film scooped up awards, including best actor, screenplay, and score, which Ludwig Göransson spearheaded with some 1930s Dobros and a tender care for the genre's history and legacy.
The film was intended to shine a light on the blues and its influence on myriad musical styles that have followed in its wake – from rock ’n’ roll to hip-hop. Blues icon Buddy Guy features on the soundtrack and in the film itself, and was present at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood for a performance of I Lied to You.
Actor and musician Miles Caton, who made his acting debut in the film and has more recently given a taste of Sinners during Buddy Guy’s Tiny Desk spot, led the way with some slide guitar playing on a Dobro – quite possibly the Dobro.
The stage was set to resemble the film’s juke joint, and it was littered with VIPs, from Guy and his polka dot Stratocaster to Brittany Howard, who wielded her Gibson SG, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram with his signature Telecaster, and newly anointed Kiesel signature artist Eric Gales.
It was teased ahead of time as a homage to the blockbuster's “singular visual style,” (via Variety), but it also stands as a celebration of acoustic and electric blues, with intergenerational stars locking fretboards in style.
Ballet star Misty Copeland and Grammy-winning Americana/hip-hop artist Shaboozey also starred, as the performance cast its celebratory net wider still, and it rightfully brought the house down.
Speaking after claiming his third Oscar win for best score, after Black Panther and Oppenheimer, Ludwig Göransson said: “My dad bought his first blues album in Sweden [where he's from] in 1964.
“It was a John Lee Hooker album, and even though it was from the other side of the world, in a place where my dad had never been, and could not relate to, the music was so powerful that it changed his life. He dedicated himself to music.
“When I was seven years old, he put a guitar in my arms, and it became everything to me,” he adds. “The guitar opened up a lot of doors to me; it brought me to the States and eventually led me to one of the greatest storytellers of our time, Ryan Coogler.”
Indeed, Kingfish hopes his role playing on the film's soundtrack, alongside the likes of Jerry Cantrell, Cedric Burnside, and James Blake, will introduce the blues to a new generation of players and listeners.
Guy, meanwhile, has been left to muse on how far the blues have come since the 1930s, when the film is set, and what he wants to achieve before retiring from performing.
