{"id":480613,"date":"2019-01-08T16:10:37","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T23:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=776514"},"modified":"2019-01-08T16:10:37","modified_gmt":"2019-01-08T23:10:37","slug":"how-john-prines-summers-end-video-addresses-the-opioid-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/music-news\/how-john-prines-summers-end-video-addresses-the-opioid-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"How John Prine\u2019s \u2018Summer\u2019s End\u2019 Video Addresses the Opioid Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last year, John Prine<\/a> released\u00a0The Tree of Forgiveness,\u00a0<\/em>his first original album in 13 years. It\u2019s standout track, \u201cSummer\u2019s End,\u201d a heartbreaking plea to a loved one to come home, made the album a clear choice for Rolling Stone<\/em>\u2018s\u00a050 Best Albums of 2018<\/a>.\u00a0The video<\/a>, released this fall, went even deeper by depicting a\u00a0heart-wrenching story of a family wrecked by the country\u2019s opioid crisis, which Prine noted at the time \u201cis tearing American families apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a newly released video about the making of the music video, directors Kerrin Sheldon and Elaine McMillion Sheldon (who made the Academy Award-nominated documentary Heroin(e)<\/em> about the crisis) reveal that it was Prine\u2019s idea to tell the story of addiction through a child\u2019s eyes. \u201cI think by centering on those family dynamics, we were able to think about the generational impacts that this crisis \u2013 that we see so often represented in just statistics \u2013 might have in this country,\u201d Elaine says.<\/p>\n

They filmed the video in West Virginia, which in 2016 reportedly had the highest-rate of opioid related overdose deaths in the country. And it was a family affair; Elaine got her grandfather to play the one in the video; her mother found the young actress in a Sunday school class. They also filmed in Nashville with Prine, who can be seen in behind-the-scenes footage strumming with his son Jack, goofing off between takes. \u201cThat\u2019s alright \u2013 we\u2019ll play something for later,\u201d John tells a barking dog in an alley.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used what we know making documentaries, which is real people, real scenes, real places, even though technically it was scripted,\u201d said Kerrin.<\/p>\n

Adds Elaine, \u201cI think for many John Prine fans, us included, the opioid crisis is in our backyard. John\u2019s recognition of this issue means something to his fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prine is nominated for three Grammys this year; \u201cSummer\u2019s End\u201d is nominated for Best American Roots song.<\/p>\n