One of my biggest childhood dreams just came true this month. I had actually forgotten that I even wanted it as a little girl until I was in the middle of it. If 8-year-old me could have known that I would be in a country music video, I would have freaked out! The video for “Lay it All on Me” by Big & Rich is currently playing on Country Music Television, and I played the angst-filled femme alongside my friend Chris Crutchfield.
Today, the music video itself isn’t such a big deal to me. Instead, I was thrilled to be able to work on a project with my friends Jordan Chesney, Chris, and Kip Kubin. My wardrobe in the video was also made up of a couple items from the shop, which also made me really happy.
I’m not a huge country music fan today, but my formative years were spent in Texas and North Carolina—which means as a child, I didn’t have a choice. There were a few years when I didn’t even know there was any other genre of music than country music. CMT was on almost every day in my house, and I could sing every song that Randy Travis, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Reba McEntire, George Straight, Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Faith Hill, and Shania Twain had out. I also wanted to BE Shania Twain. Unfortunately I’m not much of a singer, so…I wasn’t off to a good start.
When Jordan asked me if I wanted to be in a music video for Big & Rich, I admit that I didn’t even know who Big & Rich are. I guess they’re kind of a big name today. I agreed to do it based on wanting to work with my friends, because they are awesome.
It was a funny and interesting project. Warner Bros. asked a few different filmmakers to create a video for “Lay it All on Me”, but the filmmakers wouldn’t be able to hear the song until they accepted. And if they DID accept, the filmmaker would only have a week to produce, shoot, edit, and turn it.
It ended up being Kip’s project, but he happened to be in Los Angeles when he accepted it, and wanted to make it with Jordan. They came up with idea in a day, and we shot the whole thing in an afternoon. They had originally intended to shoot inside the Paramount Ranch, but with our limited time, we weren’t able to get a permit. That meant we couldn’t technically set foot IN the park with cameras. But a nice ranger let us know that it was okay to be just outside of the park, pointing our cameras in. So that’s what we did. We shot this on the side of the road NEXT to Paramount Ranch. It was really funny to me, because I also happened to be born on the side of a road. So now I like to think that my debut in life and TV both happened on the side of the road.
This was my first time acting, and I was completely dependent on Jordan, Chris, and Kip to tell me what to do. Fortunately, there wasn’t a wide range of emotion to cover: sadness, frustration, hurt, and love. The guys did a great job, and I think it turned out beautifully. Seeing myself on screen really makes me laugh, because I look so different than the way I imagine myself in my head. I guess that’s the case for most people.
The other cool part about this video is that we actually shot it twice: once digitally, which is the video that’s out now; and once on real film. The film hasn’t been developed yet, but I’m looking forward to seeing how that footage will turn out, and what it will be turned into.
Here’s the video and a few of my favorite stills.
This is our 1960s Shortcake Dress. It’s absolutely adorable, and it’s on the shop now if you want it!
Here’s Chris, being handsome.
This is our 1960s By My Side Top. It’s also for sale now. This was my go-to top this summer. I love, love, love this shirt!
These were our 1980s Raggedy Ann Shorts. Yes, were. They sold just after the video was shot. I also adored these shorts, and am afraid I’ll never find another pair like them. They were absolutely perfect.
That’s my face, squinting hard in the sun. It worked out really well to create a slightly ashamed, hopeful-for-mercy but expecting-a-scolding expression. Thanks, sunshine!
Beautiful Paramount Ranch. NEXT to it, not IN it, don’t worry…
This post was written by Amber.
You must log in to post a comment.