Before I go into the next batch of videos, I just wanted to post the links to the previous blogs in the countdown. You can of course find them all just by scrolling down, but I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to put them in here too.
First of all, I have to start by saying how much I love this song. There's something about it that feels very fresh to me. Love the lyrics and the music and really like the way she delivers it. This was the lead off single from her new album 100 Proof that just came out on Tuesday and if it's any indication of how the rest of the album is and how she's going to progress as an artist, I can't wait to see what happens next. I'm planning on doing a review of the album at some point, probably after I get this countdown all wrapped up. But that's later. Now let's talk about the video.
It's a story of a girl and her father who gets arrested early on in the video while the girl is still pretty young. Then you get a scene of said girl visiting her dad in jail years later, ending up with the same girl (Kellie) embracing him as he gets released from prison a few years later. Add in shots of Kellie walking, well, all over the place and there you have it. The idea is that this girl's life has not been an easy one; she wanted easy, she wanted pearls and all that, but it didn't work out that way so she had to be tough. This was an interesting and every so slightly unexpected way to showcase that. There's a certain grit to it that suits the song perfectly. As it is with her singing, this performance is spot on. Solid video.
Next up is Lady Antebellum at #34 with their video for "Just A Kiss. This was directed by Shaun Silva and found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_yTphvyiPU&ob=av2e:
This video is kind of like its own movie the way it works out. We have a girl on a train in Europe toward hint a video of a guy who we assume to be her boyfriend. We then see a bunch of shots of our lead couple traveling through Europe combined with shots of Lady A as fellow travelers or just hanging out in a train station. It all leads up to her leaving him at the station and then her sitting in a train car all by her lonesome when who should show up? Her boyfriend of course. They embrace and then...she wakes up and the guy, now a stranger, is asking if he can sit next to her. Yup, it was all a dream. A cool, beautifully done video by a group who is doing extremely well at the moment. To say the least.
Now here comes one of my personal favorites, Mr. Jake Owen. I've liked him since I saw his first video and have never understood why he wasn't more popular than he was. Now things seem to be changing for Jake - he has a fantastic new album with the same name as the next video on my countdown. I'm talking about "Barefoot Blue Jean Night", which is the first song of his to go all the way to the top of the charts. Here's my pick for #33 directed by Mason Dixon and found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRh-vBOS-dU&ob=av2e:
If I had to come up with a list of songs to define the summer of 2011, this one would definitely make the list. It's one of those class summer time songs that makes you want to roll the windows down and turn the volume up. Basic feel good song and what does a song like that need? A feel good video, of course. I really like the way this video was shot, particularly the shots of everyone by the bonfire. And that closing shot of the river or whatever is just beautiful.
Moving right along to #32, I have Hootie himself, you know who I'm talking about: Darius Rucker. There's been a lot of artists from other genres try to make it in country music and Darius Rucker has to be one of the most successful and, in my opinion, one of the most genuine. Here's Darius with his Trey Fanjoy directed video for "This": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjKFb-4t_vg
Videos #45 - #41: http://countrymusicatk.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-top-50-videos-45-41.html
Starting off at #35, I have Kellie Pickler with her video for "Tough". This was directed by Roman White and found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLOEqQW-Bmo&ob=av2e
First of all, I have to start by saying how much I love this song. There's something about it that feels very fresh to me. Love the lyrics and the music and really like the way she delivers it. This was the lead off single from her new album 100 Proof that just came out on Tuesday and if it's any indication of how the rest of the album is and how she's going to progress as an artist, I can't wait to see what happens next. I'm planning on doing a review of the album at some point, probably after I get this countdown all wrapped up. But that's later. Now let's talk about the video.
It's a story of a girl and her father who gets arrested early on in the video while the girl is still pretty young. Then you get a scene of said girl visiting her dad in jail years later, ending up with the same girl (Kellie) embracing him as he gets released from prison a few years later. Add in shots of Kellie walking, well, all over the place and there you have it. The idea is that this girl's life has not been an easy one; she wanted easy, she wanted pearls and all that, but it didn't work out that way so she had to be tough. This was an interesting and every so slightly unexpected way to showcase that. There's a certain grit to it that suits the song perfectly. As it is with her singing, this performance is spot on. Solid video.
Next up is Lady Antebellum at #34 with their video for "Just A Kiss. This was directed by Shaun Silva and found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_yTphvyiPU&ob=av2e:
This video is kind of like its own movie the way it works out. We have a girl on a train in Europe toward hint a video of a guy who we assume to be her boyfriend. We then see a bunch of shots of our lead couple traveling through Europe combined with shots of Lady A as fellow travelers or just hanging out in a train station. It all leads up to her leaving him at the station and then her sitting in a train car all by her lonesome when who should show up? Her boyfriend of course. They embrace and then...she wakes up and the guy, now a stranger, is asking if he can sit next to her. Yup, it was all a dream. A cool, beautifully done video by a group who is doing extremely well at the moment. To say the least.
Now here comes one of my personal favorites, Mr. Jake Owen. I've liked him since I saw his first video and have never understood why he wasn't more popular than he was. Now things seem to be changing for Jake - he has a fantastic new album with the same name as the next video on my countdown. I'm talking about "Barefoot Blue Jean Night", which is the first song of his to go all the way to the top of the charts. Here's my pick for #33 directed by Mason Dixon and found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRh-vBOS-dU&ob=av2e:
If I had to come up with a list of songs to define the summer of 2011, this one would definitely make the list. It's one of those class summer time songs that makes you want to roll the windows down and turn the volume up. Basic feel good song and what does a song like that need? A feel good video, of course. I really like the way this video was shot, particularly the shots of everyone by the bonfire. And that closing shot of the river or whatever is just beautiful.
Moving right along to #32, I have Hootie himself, you know who I'm talking about: Darius Rucker. There's been a lot of artists from other genres try to make it in country music and Darius Rucker has to be one of the most successful and, in my opinion, one of the most genuine. Here's Darius with his Trey Fanjoy directed video for "This": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjKFb-4t_vg
The video gets off to a bit of a sad note, with a guy showing up at his at the moment girlfriend's to give her some flowers and promptly getting dumped. And to add insult to injury, the girl takes the flowers anyway. Ouch. I'm sorry; if you break up with a guy like that, no flowers for you. Just my opinion. Anyway the video follows this guy threw various milestones of his life like his first job, first time getting fired, his first real (i.e serious) job, meeting the girl who becomes his wife and so on. From the wedding, we're treated to a montage of various bits of earlier parts of the video before we find ourselves going back in reverse to the door of the girl who dumped him. Fast forward to the present with his wife and kids and we see that things have turned out quite well for our male lead. First of all, I really like this song. I love the concept. Second of all, I find this video to be very interesting. I like the whole going in reverse thing, especially the way they did it. A very effective way to showcase this song which, if you read my post about getting down to 50 videos, you know is important to me. So a job well done to everyone involved.
To conclude this portion of a countdown at #31, I bring to you The Band Perry who have sort of exploded onto the country music scene. They have managed to create a sound that is pretty unique to them and that has come across in all of their videos to date. Each one has a look about them that just feels like The Band Perry and I love it. This particular song is one of my favorites off of their album. Here's their David McClister directed video for "You Lie". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCwLsXZnFl4
One of the things I like about The Band Perry and this video is that they never seem to go for the obvious plot in their videos. The videos fit their songs, but not in a way you may expect. We have what was supposed to be an engagement party, but well, it doesn't go well. Because dude's a liar and she's kicking his sorry behind to the curb. I love the added touch of having her burn the card with the words engagement party and the black confetti that falls near the end of the video. The acting is pretty spot on and one of my favorite little bits is when you see the guy mouthing the words "I'm sorry" with what I'll refer to as the wounded puppy dog look on his face which is immediately follow by a close up of his mouth as he smirks. Well done by the actor and a great shot by the director. One of many. This may well be one of the most artistic videos on the countdown.
And there we go. Another five videos done and 30 more to go. What do y'all think of the countdown so far? Any guesses on who might be coming, whether in the next batch or later on? Who do you want to see? I'm a girl of many questions and I'd love to get some answers. I want to remind you that if you like what you're reading, go ahead and become a follower. You can also sign up to receive email updates if you so prefer. Thanks for reading if you made it to here and I hope you'll stay with me as I count all the way to my #1 video from 2011.
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