Singer/songwriters Gillian Welch and David Rawlings have already been announced as set to perform their Oscar-nominated song from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” on the Academy Awards telecast Feb. 24. But no one will have to wait till then to hear the writers’ take on the tune. They’ve released their own recording of “When a Cowboy Trades HIs Spurs for Wings” (see video, below).
The song is performed in the Coen brothers’ omnibus movie by actor Tim Blake Nelson and singer-turned-actor Willie Watson, who play gunslingers in the Old West who don’t let a duel that turns deadly for one of them stand in the way of an old-fashioned cowboy duet.
Welch and Rawlings are Americana favorites and theater headliners in their own right, so the recent decision to have the writers instead of actors sing the song on the Oscars was, while a rarity, not unanticipated in this instance. The duo did “When a Cowboy…” a number of times on the road last year as part of their set before “Buster Scruggs” was ever released. They’ll be doing it again live this Saturday when they appear on the Grand Ole Opry in their native Nashville, to be broadcast live from the Ryman Auditorium.
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Unlike the writers of some of the other best original song nominees, Welch and Rawlings are not actively engaged in an Oscar campaign, preferring to stick closer to home. It may not be coincidence, though, that their version of the tune drops today, the first day of the week-long window for Oscar voting.
There was a point at which no performance of the number on the show — by actors, writers or anyone else — was foreseen, since, as reported by Variety, word got out in early January that Oscar producers were planning on nixing this and two other best original song nominees from the show. That early call was reconsidered under pressure and the three songs that were to be MIA were the first three announced for the telecast. The other two already officially slated are from “Mary Poppins Returns” and “RBG.” No word from the Academy so far on plans for the hit “A Star Is Born” and “Black Panther” songs, although it’s assumed that those go without saying.