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Fifteen years after the last episode of “Friday Night Lights,” Jesse Plemons, who played metal-loving football player Landry Clarke, has reunited with his old Christian metal band Crucifictorious (once again). brought out of obscurity for another appearance.
To mark the 20th anniversary of the series’ start, Plemons and his co-star Stephanie Hunt (who played Devin Corrigan) appeared on stage together at the ATX TV Festival in Austin over the weekend. “I think this is a song that Crucifictorious would cover – and one of the best songs ever,” Hunt said.
Instead of digging through raging metal riffs with Cookie Monster growls, the two took on Daniel Johnston’s soulful “Devil Town”. With Plemons on guitar, harmonica and microphone and Hunt on vocals, they got the audience to sing along to the track – a song that played a defining role in the series.
Daniel Johnston’s “Devil Town”
Johnston’s song was famously covered by Bright Eyes, but when he denied the producers permission to use it, Austin singer-songwriter Tony Lucca stepped in, creating one of the show’s most moving musical moments. “The song has so good “It worked – it was so haunting and lyrically absurdly fitting,” Liza Richardson, the show’s music director, told GQ magazine.
The appearance was part of a larger celebration honoring the beloved series, bringing together stars Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Adrianne Palicki, Scott Porter and Gaius Charles to discuss its influence and legacy.
Original showrunner Jason Katims also provided a more or less meaningless update on the announced reboot, about which little concrete has been known since it was announced in 2024. “The idea of doing another incarnation of the show is something that’s evolving very…slowly,” he said (according to Chron). “It’s just a conversation.”