Steven Tyler has shed his rock god persona for a more humble one: In his new video for "Love Is Your Name," the Aerosmith rocker goes country and taps into his rustic roots, reported Rolling Stone.
The video itself is symbolic of Tyler's departure from arena rock. The opening shot is of Tyler's microphone stand, adorned with his iconic flowy scarves blowing in a mysterious breeze, set on the front of a stage in an empty venue. The scarves get dragged out of the stadium's backstage door. The video then cuts to a shot of Tyler standing on a tiny wooden front porch somewhere in the grassy countryside. He is dressed in a white fitted men's peasant shirt, brown jeans and worn-out cowboy boots. His distinctive voice stands out against the song's harmonies, swaying lap steel guitar and banjo-plucked notes.
"Country is changing," Tyler told Rolling Stone, explaining his foray into the genre. "I think country is the new rock 'n' roll—everyone is trying to stretch out."
The video was shot outside of Nashville, reported People, and was directed by Trey Fanjoy. Tyler's backing band, Loving Mary, perform alongside him in a rustic, "gypsy chic" setting. Fanjoy incorporated images from Tyler's small-town upbringing to give the video a more personal touch.
"Growing up, I lived in a cabin by the lake and I had a pet raccoon," Tyler told People. "I told that to Trey Fanjoy, so she put it in the video."
The girl dragging Tyler's scarves from the stage to the countryside is Tyler's muse and she's symbolically dragging his stage prop "through my life, over the river and through the woods," he told People, "to another life, which is my country [music] now."
Check out Tyler's new music video below.
