Next Up Now brings together a variety of country music videos each week. Check out these artists and find out who their influences are — directly from the musicians themselves. Then come back each week to discover who you should be listening to next.
Mallory Johnson, “Hungover”
Writers: Mallory Johnson, Krystan Bellows, Christie Huff; Director: Cecil Johnson
Influences: Kacey Musgraves, Dolly Parton, Jason Isbell, Brandy Clark
From the Artist: “Never schedule a writing session the morning after too many 2-for-1 margaritas… or maybe you should, because you might end up with a new single! A night out dancing and too much tequila inspired this girl power song to spill onto paper. We wanted the video to portray familiar events that take place during a typical girls night out and the resulting morning after. I think Cecil Johnson did an amazing job bringing that story to life.”
Josh Jones, “Honky Tonk Night
Writer: Josh Jones
Influences: For this track, I would say Eagles, Waylon Jennings, Midland, Merle Haggard, Roy Orbison, The Grateful Dead
From the Artist: “I woke up from a dream a couple years ago and this tune was in my head… I picked up my iPhone and groggily started humming the melody into my voice memos still laying in my bed. The only words I had from the dream were ‘honky-tonk night.’ I knew that was the theme… I got up and shuffled into my living room and sat at my keyboard bench and picked up a guitar still half asleep and shirtless.
“I found the four simple chords that matched the melody in my dream. The equally simple lyrics just started coming to me and I quickly began typing them into my notepad on my iPhone. I knew the more awake I would become the more the magic of the dream and song would begin to slip away from me, like when you wake up from a dream that makes perfect sense but as you gain consciousness it starts making zero sense. I finished it in probably 10-15 minutes.”
Austin Merrill, “You’ll Come Knocking”
Writer: Austin Merrill; Director: The Edde Brothers
Influences: Alan Jackson, Vince Gill, Keith Urban, Shenandoah, Brooks & Dunn
From the Artist: “I had a blast working with the Edde Brothers on the ‘You’ll Come Knocking’ music video. They scoped out an awesome location on the Tennessee countryside, and we had a great day filming with a great crew. I couldn’t be more proud of what we created.”
Jenny Tolman, “So Pretty”
Writers: Jenny Tolman, Mark D Sanders, Sophie Sanders; Directors: Dave Brainard, Jeremy Burchard
Influences: Roger Miller, Lee Ann Womack, Dolly Parton, Brandy Clark, Shel Silverstein, Miranda Lambert, Emmylou Harris
From the Artist: “Being born and raised in Nashville, this video is so special to me because we got to shoot it inside of Collins Auditorium at Lipscomb University, where I had done some piano recitals growing up. Also, all of the other music videos I’d done up until this point were humorous, sassy characters, so this was a fun challenge for me to be more vulnerable. I think the simple storyline of the video, with the single rose and the empty auditorium, really pays respect to the song’s message, and complements the beauty and pain in this reality that we can all relate to.”
