Watch Hannah Blaylock’s ‘True Blood’ Inspired ‘Bandit Queen’ Video
Don't feel bad if you couldn't put a finger on what singer Hannah Blaylock's new "Bandit Queen" video reminds you of. It's not a well many country singers draw from.
Blaylock's music video and The Bandit Queen album draw inspiration from anti-heroes found in television shows like True Blood and Sons of Anarchy. She says in making the music, she started to think about what it'd be like to be Gemma, the queen of the motorcycle gang.
"I'm not perfect and I've made certain decisions that aren't perfect in people's eyes and I just liked the relief of being able to be somebody that I definitely wasn't cool enough to be but also wasn't perfect, just like I'm not," she tells Taste of Country.
A trailer for True Blood is more responsible for inspiring the music video, but there's an independent movie quality to it. Frame rate is adjusted. Filters are added. Dead animals come in flashes. Fun fact, that's Blaylock's husband Justin in the cow mask.
"You know that's true love when a man will put on a cow head for you," she says, laughing.
Toby Gilbert and Chris Burke filmed the "Bandit Queen" music video with Blaylock and in many ways, it was an anti-shoot. There was no plan. In fact, the group figured they'd be filming scenes for a lyric video, but ideas kept piling up and at the end, they realized they had enough footage for something real and something artistic. Most scenes were shot in East Nashville, including the bar scene, which was filmed at the Crying Wolf during regular business hours.
If Blaylock looks familiar, it's from her days as one-third of Eden's Edge, a country trio signed to Big Machine Label Group until she left in 2013. Creating a solo voice and vision took effort, as she'd been in bands for most of her life. Now heavily inspired by independent music and alt-country, Blaylock is trying to navigate life as an indy artist, meaning finding people she can trust to support her vision.
"But I love it a lot more, because I feel like I can truly be whoever I am right now," she says.
Keep an eye on her official website and Twitter page for more from The Bandit Queen album, and news about future projects and tour dates.
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