New Showtime Series ‘Roadies’ From Cameron Crowe

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Roadies’ Luke Wilson and Carla Gugino

Tom Petty once said, “I think the general public has no idea what roadies do. Bless ’em all. I just play the songs.” A new Showtime series, Roadies – created by Oscar-winner Cameron Crowe, the former music journalist who wrote and directed such rock music movies as Almost Famous and Singles – that premieres on June 26th promises a behind-the-scenes look at life on the rock road with the crews that keep the music rolling.

Showtime touts the series as “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 plays the tour manager and Carla Gugino is the production manager for the tour by the fictional Staton-House Band. One bit of casting we’re looking forward to is Rainn Wilson playing “an extremely self-important music journalist.” Other actors cast as members of the road crew include Imogen Poots, Luis Guzman, Keisha Castle-Hughes and rapper Machine Gun Kelly.

The debut episode, “Life is a Carnival,” directed by Crowe, looks at “how their lives are about to change with the sudden arrival of Reg Whitehead, a slick British financial advisor hired to overhaul the tour’s finances,” says Showtime’s website for the series.

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Roadies follows the first season of another series set in the music business, HBO’s Vinyl, which earned weak ratings and got very mixed reviews with its portrayal of a New York City record company in the early 1970s. Despite that, the show was picked up for a second season.