You can jump into an old pickup truck with Blake Shelton and ride shotgun with the popular country star around the streets of his hometown of Ada, Okla., in the video for his new single "Bringing Back the Sunshine." How cool is that?
The video takes Shelton's fans on a visual journey through Ada and it's picturesque outskirts, where the singer and co-star of "The Voice," spent his growing up years. There are a couple of scenes that spotlight the town's water tower - the tower that appears on the front cover of his new "Bringing Back the Sunshine" album.
Shelton never actually makes an appearance in the video. Almost all of the footage is shot through the windshield of an old, rusty Chevy pickup truck, as if the viewer is sitting in the passenger seat. You can see Shelton's hand and arm from time to time, as he waves to some of Ada's residents as they walk in front of some of the city's downtown businesses.
At one point, the vintage pickup heads out onto an open road. The driver - the unseen Shelton - is barreling down a tree-lined highway watching sun-drenched clouds crowd the blue Oklahoma sky.
View the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUb9Q1vgM5A
"Bringing Back the Sunshine" was written by Anthony Smith and Jess Leary, two of country music's top songwriters.
"Before 'Bringing Back the Sunshine,'" Smith tells HNGN, "I had written one other song with Jess. We had a good time, both times. But the second time we had a better feel for each other, and things worked out great."
Smith is a multi-award winning singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who has had over 200 of his songs recorded by some of the biggest names in music today, including George Strait, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Trace Adkins, Faith Hill, Montgomery Gentry, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney & Coley McCabe, Trisha Yearwood, Kenny Rogers, Lonestar, Confederate Railroad, Blackberry Smoke, Sammy Kershaw, Don Williams, Ronnie Milsap, Lorrie Morgan, David Allan Coe, Tommy Shane Steiner, Kevin Denney, Lucy Angel and many more.
Smith has written songs movie soundtracks and for television. He also tours nationally and internationally as a singer-songwriter-guitarist.
Leary, a Massachusetts native, was the regional winner of the "Wrangler Country Star Search," and was flown to Nashville to perform on the Grand Ole Opry. It was there she discovered a new chapter in her life. She relocated to Nashville to further her musical career. Soon after, she was signed as a songwriter by Reba McEntire's music publishing company. McEntire later hired her as back-up vocalist/guitarist for her 1992 tour. Leary also toured as back-up vocalist/guitarist for Garth Brooks and Faith Hill.
Leary's songwriting credits include two No. 1 songs, Pam Tillis' smash hit "Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life)," co-written with Tillis, and Tim McGraw's multi-platinum-selling "Where The Green Grass Grows." She also scored a Top 10 with Lari White's cover of "Ready, Willing and Able" and has had her songs recorded by many other artists.
So, how did "Bringing Back the Sunshine" come about?
"I was tinkering around with my guitar and I came up with this melody, it was a guitar riff, that turned into something like a classic '70s rock song," Smith tells HNGN. "It was a little bit of Thin Lizzy on harmony guitars and a little Allman Brothers. I loved the sound, and I thought, man, if I could put a really cool country lyric to it, that would be great.
"Right after that, I had a writing session with Jess [Leary]. She's a great talent and she has a wonderful spirit. It took us a couple of writing sessions to finish the song. We first wrote at my publishing company and wrapped it up at Jess' house.
"We had to chip away at it, to get the lyric exactly how we wanted it, because we wanted it to be fresh. We didn't want the lyric to sound like anything else out on radio. We wanted the lyric to suit the melody. So, we really didn't talk about trucks and things like that."
What? No trucks?
"No trucks," chuckles Smith.
"When we recorded the song as a demo, I knew it was a hit," recalls Smith. "Luckily Blake got a hold of it."
How did that happen?
"I got a call from a dear friend, Laura Stroud, who told me 'Blake is cutting your song tomorrow,'" explains Smith. "It seems that Blake's manager, Narvel Blackstock, had emailed an MP3 of 'Bringing Back the Sunshine' to Blake. He heard it, freaked out and immediately responded-all in one night.
"From then, things started moving fast. In about four days Blake and Narvel Blackstock, Reba McEntire's husband, had decided that they wanted the song to be the title track of the new album. Within another seven days or so, they already had the album cover designed. So, it was moving really, really fast."
Now that "Bringing Back the Sunshine" is out on the radio and on Blake's new album, how does Smith feel?
"It came as a shock to me. A really awesome surprise," confesses the songwriter. "Blake is the biggest male act in the country right now and the album is already taking off to be the biggest album of his career. I couldn't ask for a better record for one of my songs to be on-except," he laughs, "maybe a Beatles reunion album."
Smith adds, "Blake is one of the best storytellers out there right now. One of my favorite things that he has done in terms of his performance and being authentic is when he recorded 'Old Red.' I loved it, and he killed it."
So, now that Smith and Leary have a big ol' hit with their co-written song "Bringing Back the Sunshine," what's next?
"We're planning to write some more songs together," reveals Smith.
No kidding!
