Amanda Shires, ‘Swimmer’ – Video Premiere

Amanda Shires is a uniquely gifted singer, songwriter and fiddler blessed with a literate songwriting style and a crystalline, distinct voice. Since music has entered her life, Shires has gone from playing fiddle in the Texas Playboys at the age of 15 to playing with Gwyneth Paltrow in the movie 'Country Strong' just this year. Shires has graced many prestigious stages during her musical journey, and has gained praise from fellow artists like Justin Townes Earle, DeVotchKa and Jason Isbell.

Shires' new album on Silver Knife Records, 'Carrying Lightning,' was released last month, and now she has filmed a new video for the album track 'Swimmer,' which is premiering exclusively on Taste of Country. The video for 'Swimmer' was primarily filmed in New Jersey at Ocean Grove and Sea Girt, capturing the feel of the song.

"I did the video with a girl named Erica Shires, who happens to share the same last name as me," Amanda Shires tells Taste of Country. "We found out that we're related back in our distant family tree. It's wild because there's not that many people with our last name. One of her emails came to me, and I replied back with, 'This is going to sound crazy and stalker-y, but I really want to meet you because we have the same last name.' So we met, and we hit it off. She's a beautiful photographer, so we decided we wanted to collaborate and do a video together."

"Being on the road, we thought about locations [for the video] ... where I was going to be and when we were going to have time," Shires continues. "Since the song is so water influenced, about different lakes, rivers, oceans, I wanted the video to be sort of sad, so we picked the east coast because it's more cold and gray. A lot of people, when you say New Jersey or New York, they don't instantly think of beaches and landscape, but they've got some really beautiful things out there."

The video is the fifth one made from Shires' 'Carrying Lightning' album that became available in May. For more information on Shires or to purchase her album, visit her website here.

Watch the Amanda Shires 'Swimmer' Video