Many musicians have dreamed of an opportunity to feature an original piece of music in a major motion picture. Though he realized it was an outside chance, that didn’t stop moe. guitarist Al Schnier from writing and producing his own original song to be used for the Quentin Tarantino movie, Django Unchained. With the band gearing up for a Tarantino-themed Halloween show in Philadelphia, PA (find tickets here), Schnier was eager to introduce the song not only to his fellow bandmates, but to his band’s legion of devoted followers.

We’ll let him tell the story…

“In the Spring of 2012, I had the unique opportunity of submitting a song for consideration for the new, unreleased Quentin Tarantino Western that would be released in several months. I realized that my chances were slim, but the prospect of it even being considered was too good to pass up.

The initial version came from something I had been playing on acoustic guitar recently. I submitted a short, uptempo version that was a cross between a surf song & something like a Booker T instrumental.

I was shocked when they came back and told me they liked it, and wanted me to make some changes. They wanted to hear a slower, twangier version, with a bigger build up. This is version 2, which has more of a Spaghetti Western / Soundtrack feel.

Unfortunately, they ‘went in a different direction,’ and my song never got used. I never won the Academy Award for Most Unlikely Musician To Win An Academy Award For A Demo He Made In His Home Studio. But the cool thing is, we get to use it now. Now that moe. is exploring the weird world of Tarantino for our Halloween show at The Fillmore, in Philadelphia, this seemed like the perfect time to bust this out.

We wanted you to hear this song in its infancy before moe. got its hands on it. Who knows how it’ll wind up? A 5 minute rocker? 15 minute powerhouse? 30 minute epic meltdown? We’ll see…

Hope to see you all in Philly at The Fillmore.”

Without further ado, listen to both versions of the song that Schnier wrote for Django Unchained, exclusively via L4LM!

moe. is gearing up for their exciting Tarantinoe. Halloweenoe. run at the Fillmore Philadelphia, running from October 28th and 29th. The possibilities are endless! Tickets are still available for this exciting two-night excursion, and can be found via the band’s website.