‘Yellowstone’ Season 1 Features Four Puscifer Songs, and Another From A Perfect Circle

Yellowstone is well known for its use of country songs throughout its run on Paramount Network. What fans might have missed, however, is that Season 1 of the Western drama featured four songs by experimental rock band Puscifer and another from rock/metal act A Perfect Circle, according to NME. This is notable as Maynard James Keenan, the vocalist for alt-metal icons Tool, is also the frontman for both aforementioned bands.

Right out of the gate, the very first episode of Yellowstone delivers viewers A Perfect Circle’s song “Judith,” from the band’s critically acclaimed 2000 debut album, Mer de Noms. It later features Puscifer’s “Tumbleweed,” a banjo-heavy tune from the 2011 album Conditions of My Parole.

Puscifier turns up again in Episode 3, with “The Humbling River,” and slow rhythmic song that builds to a booming climax with a haunting string arrangement. Finally, Yellowstone Season 1, Episode 8: “Green Valley” from Conditions of My Parole and “Grand Canyon” from 2015’s Money Shot.

In addition to featuring lots of country and Western music in its episode, Yellowstone has also brought in a lot of country musicians to star in the show, such as Ryan Bingham and Lainey Wilson. Interestingly, during a 2023 Instagram Live Q&A, GMA Dove Award-winning musician Cory Asbury told Dutton Rules podcast host Adison Haager that he had been approached for a role that never came to fruition.

“I was supposed to be Kayce’s long-lost brother,” he said. “We were gonna move to Montana for a full year. We were ready … Anna (his wife) gave me the OK and our kids were like, ‘OK, cool, we’ll live in Montana.’” 

Asbury went on to say that a meeting had been scheduled for him to meet with actor Kayce Dutton actor Luke Grimes — who recently forayed into a country music career — and Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, but the meeting never happened. Asbury added that he was asked not to share this information publicly but felt that it would be OK now that the show is ending and the plotline is essentially a non-issue.

It was previously announced that Yellowstone Season 5 would be the show’s final outing, following the news that series star Kevin Costner had quit. However, it was also reported that Costner “begged” to return to the show. According to Puck News, after Costner walked away, his reps reached out to the network and Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan to find out if there was any way he could return. The outlet reported that Costner’s reps were “basically begging” for the actor to be allowed to be allowed to come back to Yellowstone, but it ultimately did not work out.