THE JOE KRAEMER COLLECTION: VOLUME 1

Dragon’s Domain Records presents THE JOE KRAEMER COLLECTION: VOLUME 1, featuring music composed by Joe Kraemer (THE WAY OF THE GUN, JACK REACHER, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION) for two films from his extensive filmography, THE HITCHER II: I’VE BEEN WAITING and JOY RIDE 2: DEAD AHEAD.

Released in 2003, THE HITCHER II: I’VE BEEN WAITING was directed by Louis Morneau (BATS), written by Eric Red, Molly Meeker and Charles R. Meeker, starring C.Thomas Howell, Kari Wuhrer and Jake Busey. The film catches up with Jim Halsey (Howell) fifteen years after his horror filled trip through Texas at the hands of a psychotic drifter as chronicled in the events of the first film. After being discharged from the police force after using excessive force on a suspect, Jim decides to take a trip back to Texas with his girlfriend, Maggie (Wuhrer) to face the demons of his past and visit his old friend, Captain Estridge. On the way, the couple make the mistake of picking up another hitchhiker, Jim (Busey), who remarkably also happens to have most of his screws loose and Jim and Maggie find themselves taking part in a new cat-and-mouse tour of Texas with Jim in relentless pursuit.

Heavily affected by Kraemer’s score for THE WAY OF THE GUN, director Louis Morneau knew exactly what he wanted musically for THE HITCHER II and sought out Joe to score the film.

Released in 2008 after the surprise success of the first film, JOY RIDE 2: DEAD AHEAD was also directed by Louis Morneau, written by James Robert Johnston, Bennett Yellin and Clay Tarver, starring Nicki Aycox, Nick Zano, Laura Jordan, Kyle Schmid and Mark Gibbon as Rusty Nail. While driving to Las Vegas for the bachelor party of her sister Melissa (Aycox) and her fiance Bobby (Zano), Kayla (Jordan) stops the car at a gas station to meet her date, Nik (Schmid). Nik convinces her to take the car down a back road and the car breaks down. They find a house in the middle of nowhere and decide to take the car parked in the garage to the nearest city and return the car later. Melissa leaves her cell phone number. Along the way, the car is damaged because of Nik’s stupidity and they plan to rent a car and return to the house to pay for the damages to the car. Unknown to them, the owner of the house is the psychotic Rusty Nail and the friends realize they are going to have to pay a much higher price than expected for what they did...

Joe Kraemer has been scoring films since the age of 15, when he composed the soundtrack for his high school classmate’s feature-length indie shot on Super 8 in 1986. Joe attended the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston to study film composition. In the following years, Kraemer carved out an eclectic career scoring various genres. He has written music for over 100 films, with about 40 of those just for the Hallmark Channel/Larry Levinson Productions. Furthermore, he has scored for episodic television, television movies, documentaries, and short films, including his scores for John Putch's THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE and A TIME TO REMEMBER, as well as the MYSTERY WOMAN series, and westerns such as HARD GROUND, LONE RIDER and THE TRAIL TO HOPE ROSE. His filmography includes THE WAY OF THE GUN, JACK REACHER, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION, THE MAN WHO KILLED HITLER AND THEN THE BIGFOOT, the documentary KING COHEN and television series COMRADE DETECTIVE, CREEPED OUT and PANDORA. Joe frequently does Masterclasses in composition for media for various colleges and organizations, including Columbia College Chicago, Media Sound Hamburg, and the Hollywood Music Workshop.

Dragon’s Domain Records presents THE JOE KRAEMER COLLECTION - VOLUME 1, featuring the premiere releases of music composed by Joe Kraemer for THE HITCHER II: I’VE BEEN WAITING and JOY RIDE 2: DEAD AHEAD The liner notes are written by the composer himself, along with director Louis Morneau. The music has been mastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland.

THE JOE KRAEMER COLLECTION ? VOLUME 1 is a disc-on-demand release.
Release date: the week of February 5th, 2024.

THE HITCHER II: I’VE BEEN WAITING
1. A Dark And Stormy Night (4:38)
2. Flight To Texas / Meeting The Hitcher (6:10)
3. The First Attack / Maggie Must Go On (9:10)
4. The Empty Water Tower* / French Fries / Gas Station Shoot-Out (8:32)
5. At The Roadside / Stealing A Plane / Freeway Face-Off (6:56)
6. Did He Survive / The Final Fight / Finale (3:31)
JOY RIDE 2: DEAD AHEAD
7. The Open Road (3:42)
8. One Car For Another (3:19)
9. Mortuary (3:10)
10. Flipping The Chevelle (3:46)
11. Repercussions (4:05)
12. Kidnapped (5:04)
13. Torture Chamber (5:23)
14. It’s Not Over Yet (3:07)
15. The Final Drive (4:26)
Total Time: 75:38
*Vocals: Lisa Donahey