Today's Best Country Music Videos: Josh Thompson's New Video Paints a Portrait of the Weary But Proud 'Way Out Here'

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Josh Thompson's New Video Paints a Portrait of the Weary But Proud 'Way Out Here'

Josh Thompson gives a heartfelt and beautiful acoustic performance of his new single in the video "Way Out Here." The stripped version of the song meshes perfectly with the video's haunting images of a small American town that's been bent but not quite broken by the ravages of time and natural disaster.

Thompson wrote the song with Casey Beathard ("Find out Who Your Friends Are") and David Lee Murphy ("Big Green Tractor"), and the melancholy music and vocals give us insight into a weary but proud hometown.

Veteran director Wes Edwards (Jason Aldean song "Amarillo Sky" and "She's Country"; Danny Gokey's "My Best Days") uses scenes shot in stark black and white or almost colorless color, hues of gray and brown, bits of hazy blue sky and a glimpse of the red, white and blue to paint a portrait of what could almost be a contemporary ghost town. It's lovely in its simplicity.

But what's most appealing about the video is Josh's performance. He's not lip-synching the CD-version of song, but instead the music is as stripped and raw as what we see as we follow him through the deserted town. Just him and his guitar, the performance provides a strong sense of realism to the video and is quite affecting. It's also an outstanding vocal performance in its own right.

"I think I would describe my sound as my life put to music… It’s simple and it’s honest," Josh tells Walmart Soundcheck Risers. (He's a featured artist this month on the site at http://soundcheck.walmart.com/risers/josh-thompson) Simple and honest also describes the "Way Out Here" video. It's a very nice change of pace from big production numbers featured in many of country music videos in heavy rotation right now.

See more of Wes Edwards' videos at www.wesedwards.com

Purchase Josh Thompson's new CD Way Out Here from Amazon.com.

Vicky Dobbin is senior music reviewer for Today’s Best Country Music Videos. Follow her at http://Twitter.com/vdobbin and read her country music blog at www.LoveMyCountryMusic.com.