July Video Challenge: All of My Best Friends (Are Behind Bars), Justin Haigh

This month I’ve set myself a challenge: post a video every day. I’ve mentioned before that I have A Lot Of Feelings About Video, which is true, but more than that, I have A Lot Of Feelings About Music Television, or rather, what used to be music television, and, at least in some locations – CMT doesn’t seem to have been affected as thoroughly as MTV – is now All Reality TV, All The Time.

Mostly I’m interested in the intersection of music and image, and how artists, directors and choreographers work together to bring a song to visual life. I’m starting today with All of My Best Friends (Are Behind Bars), sung by Justin Haigh (Apache Ranch Records) and directed by Jim Shea.

I like the song, but the video itself is also a delight, because it is beautifully shot and lit and, most importantly, playfully highlights the wordplay in the title without overworking the punchline:

Originally from South Dakota, Justin Haigh now lives in Texas, and before he was a country singer, he was a lot of other things, including: cattle rancher, meat packer, trucker and U. S. Air Force service man. As you might expect, he has stories to tell, and you can hear them on his new record People Like Me.

Here’s what I can tell you about the record: It was circulating through my “To Listen To” playlist during exams, and the title track never failed to make me grin and tap my pen to the beat. I also enjoyed the slower, more reflective songs, like his cover of  Kevin Higgins’ Monahans, as well as The Leaving in Your Eyes and Is It Still Cheating.

There are no melancholy love songs like country melancholy love songs, and those hit the same sweet spot as Ghost in this House, by Shenandoah, and Vern Gosdin’s Set ‘Em Up Joe. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the good stuff, and you should check it out.