I'm absolutely loving the video for Lee Ann Womack's “Last Call”, which CMT recently premiered on its site. It follows the song's plot closely, but the surprise for me was how the director Trey Fanjoy shot New York so beautifully. I know very little about film technique, so I guess I'm limited to saying, “Hey, that looks really cool!”
But as a New Yorker myself, I love it when I can see my city through fresh eyes. It's easy to take the city's beauty for granted, having been born and raised here. I'm a little spoiled, as I can see the skyline from my front porch. It really wasn't until college, when my friends from other parts of the country came to visit, that I was able t
o see the city in a different light.
I love it when country videos are filmed here. Sure, it's fun when they play up the juxtaposition of country and city, like in the classic Ricky Skaggs clip “Country Boy”, but I like it even better when things are played naturally. It makes total sense to see Ryan Adams rocking out in Brooklyn with lower Manhattan in the background in “New York, New York.” Rodney Crowell & Rosanne Cash look right at home as old lovers running into each other in SoHo during their clip for “It's Such a Small World.” An upscale hotel and a stroll through brownstones seemed perfectly fitting for the Dixie Chicks in “You Were Mine.”
But there's something really special about the way they filmed NYC for the Womack video. I hope it gets the heavy rotation it deserves.
Wow. First time I’d heard the song. Incredible. Beautiful song, love the piano work. Beautiful video.
… and how does she get hotter with every video?
Here’s another creative video (using The Sims 2 video game) of the song:
I heard this song the other morning and really liked it.
Songs like this really put her ahead of the pack cuz she can do old school like it’s nobody’s business.
In a recent interview, she said she wasn’t sure what to do with this new album since “…. Dance” was such a big cross-over hit yet she is also so heralded in country music.
I’m so glad she chose country.
Re: New York… I agree and love the video for Sugarland’s “Want To” when Kristian is walking around the city.
But I’m a die-hard, long-time Red Sox fan so I can’t say much more about New York. ;-)
She’s without a doubt still one of the most underrated artists in country music.
I am very excited about her new album, and I love the song “Last Call”.
I actually hadn’t bought either of her last two albums, and I really want There’s More Where…
So I went to Bestbuy today, and I was either getting the aforementioned album or The Diary of Alicia Keys. Unfortunately my Bestbuy was out of Lee Ann’s album, so I was forced to get Alicia’s. But they are both great albums, but I really want to get more of Lee Ann’s albums… Hopefully my Bestbuy will restock soon.
I also cannot wait for this album to drop …
Kevin, I would never have thought you were from NYC from reading this blog.
J.R.,
I guess I don’t write about it much, though I think I mentioned it in my review of Steve Earle’s “City of Immigrants.” I’m a proud NYer though. Love this city.
i finally got around to listen to “last call” without being interrupted all the time. what a beautiful song, what a delivery and production. lee ann womack makes it look (video) and sound as if it’s the easiest thing in the world to come up with such an extremly pleasant musical experience. if this is an indication of the quality of her next album, then i can only say: “hurry up, ms. womack!” – there’ re some people out there, who can hardly wait to hear more from where that came, once again.
it would be great, if nashville and country radio took appropriate notice of such little “reality checks”. there’s nothing wrong with more than three chords but it doesn’t increase a country song’s quality if the “truth” can not be acustically understood anymore, for being killed by the production’s wall of noise.