Having started out as a Rolling Stone and Cream journalist at the precious age of 15-years-old, and directing iconic music films like “Almost Famous,” it’s safe to say that filmmaker Cameron Crowe knows about a little bit about rock n’ roll. While Crowe took some lumps last year for his poorly-received rom-com “Aloha,” the director is bouncing back with his new Showtime series, “Roadies,” which centers on the behind-the-scenes worker bees who keep rock shows on time, on schedule, and operational.
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“It happened about eight years ago,” Crowe told EW of the show’s inception. “J.J. [Abrams, an exec producer alongside ‘My So-Called’ Life creator Winnie Holtzman and Crowe] and I both came up at the same time working with Jim Brooks, so we became friends. And then one time we just started pitching. He said, ‘I went to this show, and I looked up, and I saw this girl on a rigging tower, and I just wondered, ‘What is her world like?’ And I was like, ‘Well, I’ll tell you what her world is like,’ and he’s like, ‘You know, this is your show.’ I said, ‘Wow, okay.’ We never see the band, we never hear the band. It’s about the people. It’s about that girl and those people that disappear when the lights go down.”
Is that a sexy, viable series? Well, Showtime did retool the show at one point, going so far as to recast some of the players, but all seems full steam ahead as the cable network announced today that the 10-episode first season of “Roadies” kicks off on June 26th. The premise is simple: a road crew helps with a rock band’s major, multi-city tour and the show focuses on the unconventional family that forms. Here’s the official synopsis:
Roadies gives an insider’s look at the reckless, romantic, funny and often poignant lives of a committed group of “roadies” who live for music and the de facto family they’ve formed along the way. The music-infused ensemble comedy series chronicles the rock world through the eyes of music’s unsung heroes and puts the spotlight on the backstage workers who put the show on the road while touring the United States for a successful arena-level band.
Luke Wilson and Carla Gugino star in “Roadies” along with Imogen Poots, Rafe Spall, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Peter Cambor, Colson Baker, and Ron White. Guest stars include Luis Guzman, Jacqueline Byers, Finesse Mitchell, Branscombe Richmond, and Tanc Sade. Watch the first trailer below. It feature the Eddie Vedder‘s “Hard Sun," an Indio cover he recorded for the "Into The Wild" soundtrack.
