Tag: Video premiere

WATCH: Eliza Gilkyson, “Beautiful World of Mine”

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Artist: Eliza Gilkyson
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Beautiful World of Mine”
Album: 2020
Release Date: April 10, 2020
Label: Red House Records

In Their Words: “I wrote this song in Taos, New Mexico just looking out the window of my home there. My son Cisco, who produced the lyric video, wanted to make it seem like a day walking in the mountains, from sunrise to sunset. I think when you feel deeply connected to the natural world then you also become protective of it and willing to fight for it. This song and the video are meant to inspire that commitment to care for and protect our beautiful world.” — Eliza Gilkyson

Photo credit: Rodney Burseil

WATCH: Smooth Hound Smith, “Crazy Over You” (Live at Ten Four)

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Artist: Smooth Hound Smith (feat. Connor Vance from Dustbowl Revival)
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Crazy Over You” (Live at Ten Four)

In Their Words: “‘Crazy Over You’ is pretty guileless in its meaning, and remains one of the only true-blue love songs I’ve ever written (no cheeky humor or heartbreak in this one, folks). Over the years it’s been used many times as a first dance song at weddings, and it even got licensed for an adorable love scene in MTV’s The Real World a while back. These days, when we play it in a live setting, we usually do it stripped down, with just two voices and a guitar, so this session was really fun. We built it up a little with some great players (Danny Pratt on drums, and Rhees Williams on bass), and felt especially lucky that Connor Vance from Dustbowl Revival was around Nashville that day and willing to sit in on fiddle and play with us. We filmed and recorded it live at Ten Four Recording Co. here in East Nashville, and it was engineered by stalwart supporter of sonic excellence, Jesse Thompson.” — Zack Smith, Smooth Hound Smith

Photo credit: Adam Murphy

WATCH: Tim Higgins, “I Blew It”

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Artist: Tim Higgins
Hometown: Greensboro, Alabama
Song: “I Blew It”
Album: BLIGHT
Release Date: February 28, 2020
Label: Folk Victorian Records

In Their Words: “‘I Blew It’ is about a disenchanted person who is trying to do his best, but knows he’s not going to succeed in the end. Whether it’s maintaining a relationship, battling addiction, or leading a cause downtown at some City Hall, for some people, it’s always futile odds. What I wanted to capture was the sense of duty someone could have to do what they believe is right even though the writing is already on the wall. To capture those kind of complex feelings and layers in one song, my producer Parker McAnnally and I let the verses stand alone with just my voice and acoustic guitar while the musical breaks sonically dip underwater, and undulate between Jack Thomason’s electric guitar and Alex Caress’ piano.

“For the music video, I worked again with Reagan Wells, who directed my last video, ‘Blight,’ and we returned to the ‘ruined finery’ theme that traverses this whole contemporary Southern Gothic album — where the line between memory and reality are blurred; I think the narrator in ‘I Blew It’ is always living between those worlds as well.” — Tim Higgins

Photo credit: Aaron Sanders Head

WATCH: Tami Neilson, “Sleep”

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Artist: Tami Neilson
Hometown: Auckland, New Zealand
Song: “Sleep”
Album: CHICKABOOM!
Release Date: February 14, 2020
Label: Outside Music

In Their Words: “This song was written by my dear friend and co-producer Delaney Davidson. He wrote it about keeping the Big Black Dog at bay; my two little boys think it’s a lullaby Mama sings only for them. My brother Jay and I wander into the audience at the end of the night with just a guitar and no amplification to sing this to the hush and send our audience gently home. It becomes what you want it to mean, like every song. But, it’s like a warm blanket, a soft pillow.

“This video was created by my other brother Todd Neilson of Valiant Creative Agency. You would never know the chaos behind the scenes! It is one shot and begins with Jay and I singing at the other end of the studio. As the camera pulls out, it reveals we are on the television set in the darkness of a living room where a family has gathered to watch before bed. However, the camera dolly had to roll straight through the living room and the entire thing had to be assembled within seconds in its wake.

“So, as we were peacefully singing, there was shouting and crashing and banging as the rug, plants and furniture were frantically placed by a team of six, the actors rolled the couch in (it was on skateboards!), sat down and had to look relaxed and calm as my little niece, River Neilson, fell asleep. The result is magical and I can almost feel my Dad’s arms around me, carrying me to bed when I watch it.” — Tami Neilson

Photo credit: Sabin Holloway

WATCH: My Sister, My Brother, “Forever Now”

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Artist: My Sister, My Brother (Garrison Starr, Sean McConnell, and Peter Groenwald)
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee and Los Angeles, California
Song: “Forever Now”
Album: My Sister, My Brother EP
Release Date: March 6, 2020

In Their Words: “When we wrote ‘Forever Now,’ I remember us all being excited about writing something upbeat. There’s nothing wrong with a sweet slow song, but we had already covered that ground. While having a different feel, this song comes from the same place as the others do. We were kind of trying to speak from the perspective of a 90-year-old man or woman, sitting on their front porch, wanting to share the worth of their experiences. There will be great days and terrible ones, you will love and you will lose, but none of it is forever. Don’t take the good for granted, and try not to hold on to the bad.” — Peter Groenwald

Photo credit: Joshua Black Wilkins. Director: Josh Kranich

WATCH: Samantha Crain, “Garden Dove”

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Artist: Samantha Crain
Hometown: Shawnee, Oklahoma
Song: “Garden Dove”
Album: A Small Death
Release Date: July 17, 2020
Label: Ramseur Records/Thirty Tigers and Real Kind Records/Communion

In Their Words: “With the idea in mind of being better for yourself and learning to love yourself, I started thinking about how much easier it was to connect with other people when you’re actually reveling in and enjoying your own company as well. It reminded me of a cult of friendship, sort of building this great web and community around myself. So, of course, I felt like I wanted to make a spooky Oklahoma backroads cult video for the song. I was inspired by Robert Weine and Hitchcock and wanted to make it feel real and high quality but also homemade in a way. I directed the video and did the costumes, my friend Blake Studdard did the camerawork and editing, my friends Nia and Izze (who were also in my ‘An Echo’ video) and Adam acted as my growing cult family. We filmed it on an extremely cold winter night on a dead-end street in Norman, Oklahoma.” — Samantha Crain

Photo credit: Dylan Johnson

WATCH: Brew Davis, “Another Scarecrow Learning How to Fly”

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Artist: Brew Davis
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “Another Scarecrow Learning How to Fly”
Album: Another Scarecrow Learning How to Fly
Release Date: February 28, 2020
Label: Hellbender Records

In Their Words: “This song is about transcendence and trying to get beyond the ruts we get stuck in, especially in ‘middle age,’ which is where I find myself these days. The opening line came to me in church, actually, and the verses just flowed out from there. I wrote the chorus later but it was clear to me what I wanted to say about life — how we get tempted by the stuff the world tells us is important when really the most important things are the people and things (i.e., music) that we love and that make us happy. One fun tidbit is that the shirt I’m wearing was my granddad’s. He died several years ago at 93 and is one of the ones I talk about in the chorus who’s ‘calling to me from the other side.'” — Brew Davis

Photo credit: Andrew Kornylak, FourMile Media

WATCH: Wood Belly, “Can’t Get Behind”

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Artist: Wood Belly
Hometown: Denver, Colorado
Song: “Can’t Get Behind”
Album: Man on the Radio
Release Date: January 31, 2020
Label: Belly Up Records

In Their Words: “This is a tune about the basic need for acceptance. We’ve all had a moment questioning ourselves, ‘Is it me? Or is it you?’ I relate with these struggles, which can be taxing on a person’s mind. It’s sometimes challenging to arrive at acceptance before we process with our own coping mechanism. No matter how we get there, we usually come to realize we always had the answer within — but not before a little self-torment.” — Craig Patterson, Wood Belly

“James Armington really made this vision come to life. We all knew and loved James from the bluegrass community and he was a fellow Telluride band competition winner. When it came time to cast our hero, I remembered standing on the main stage at Telluride watching the tarp-run next to James decked out in suit, cape and mustache. We had no idea just how perfect he would be for the role. James had the cast and crew in stitches scene after scene and we can’t thank him enough for the wonderful performance and memories.” — Chris Weist, Wood Belly

Photo credit: Emily Sierra Photography

WATCH: Kristina Murray, “Tell Me”

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Artist: Kristina Murray
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Tell Me”
Album: Southern Ambrosia (2018)
Label: Loud Magnolia Records

In Their Words: “Soon after I moved to Nashville, I met musician and writer Logan Ledger and we became fast friends over of our love of traditional country music; soon we discovered that our voices complemented each other well, too, so we played out a bit as a duo and wrote a few songs together. One afternoon I said straight up, ‘I want to write a classic country duet.’ We then proceeded to get stoned and listen to hours of vinyl records by the Louvin Brothers, The Beach Boys, George Jones & Gene Pitney, and on and on… we almost didn’t even start writing! But Logan pulled out the melody and first line, and the rest of the verses spilled out from there.

“A month or so later, on a sunny May afternoon, I wrote the chorus. Frank Carter Rische’s vocal part next to mine on the recording is what really makes the song for me; he is so emotive and follows my voice effortlessly. Though the inspiration for the song came originally from a traditional era, I’m proud of the timeless and vibe-y feel of ‘Tell Me.’ Truly, the video is up for individual interpretation, but after I watched it a few times, I think it’s about a woman who initially feels defeated by an impending breakup but then turns it on its head, burns it down, and perhaps realizes she’s better off.” — Kristina Murray

Photo credit: James Paul Mitchell

WATCH: Darling West, “Make It Last”

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Artist: Darling West
Hometown: Oslo, Norway
Song: “Make It Last”
Album: We’ll Never Know Unless We Try
Release Date: February 7, 2020
Label: Jansen Records

In Their Words: “Spending time in California seems to have an impact on every songwriter. There’s definitely a West Coast vibe shining through on this song. We all wish for the long summer nights to last forever, although deep inside we know we have things to deal with in the light of day. And some of us are better at putting that off than others.

“This video was taped in the Norwegian woods at a place called Eina, near a friend’s cabin. It’s a beautiful spot! We hoped for a sunny day, but there are no guarantees where we come from, and of course it was raining. No biggie, we’re used to it. We had a great time recording this and hope you enjoy it!” — Darling West

Photo credit: Lars Petter Pettersen