blog

the video ::

100% real free-stylings. live recorded. true joy. authentic street hip-hop.

the story ::

a few months ago i was in downtown nashville shooting some b-roll for a project when i heard a faint beat coming from a few blocks away. drawn to the beat like moth to a flame i came across a crowd of tourist, clubers, honky tonkers and homeless all gathering around Kyhil and his band “2nd & Commerce”. with a key board, amp and a mic these guys had every passerby in the palm of their hand. With a lightning quick tongue and whit, freestyle lyrics filled the street corner with joy and excitement. rapping about the audience including anything from outfits to attitudes, lifestyles to love life. all while keeping it PG 13 to boot!  their tip bucket was filling for a reason, these guys were different, you could feel the passion in the air and see the joy in their eyes.

i was blown away. in fact, i couldn’t stop thinking about how cool it would be to shoot these guys a free music video. one they could use to sell on the street along side their cd, use for online marketing and, most importantly, i wanted to do something for them that could enrich their lives. upon that dream i recalled hearing about a local nashville group putting together something called the “help-portrait“. “HP” is a community of fotogs, coming together across the world, to use their skills to give back to their local community. their dream to “give photos” inspired me to make this music video a reality for the band.

so, the next night i drove downtown with 2 hopes

1. that they would be on that some corner

2. that they would love the idea

to make a long story a little shorter i told them, they loved it, got their contact info, met a few days later, made a treatment (aka concept), gathered a volunteer crew (see below), rented gear, scheduled, called off due to rain, rescheduled, shot, edited, colored, finalized and now delivering. with joy!

just want to say a huge thanks again to all the people that donated their time, money, and talents to make this thing happen.

Steadicam Op. – John Perry

Camera Trux – Brian Murie

CGI – Tim Oliphant

AD – Chris Adams

Gaff – Logan Burkhart

Audio Engineer – Chad Ray

PA – Drew Workman

PA – Adam Drake

PA – Jamie Clayton

Restaurant Manager – Toni

Girl #1 – Beth Hughes (London based makeup artist that needs to move to nashville)

Director – TK McKamy

shot on panasonic HDX900, black pro mist, boom/lapel 2 channel digital recorder… yodda yodda yodda. blah blah blah