LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Country music singer Tyler Childers' new music video is getting a lot of attention. The Kentucky native featured the kind of love story you don't often see in country music, and he had help from a couple of prominent Kentucky authors.
Childers focuses on storytelling in his music but doesn't limit himself to his own experiences.
"One thing that makes Tyler a great artist is that he has great empathy. When you have empathy, you realize that there's power in all stories and not just your own story," said Silas House, Kentucky Poet Laureate and a friend of Childers.
For his newest music video, Childers approached House and his husband, author Jason Kyle Howard, to come up with a storyline to fit the love song, "In Your Love," written by Childers and Geno Seale.
"This is one love story that hasn't been told before, and it's past due being told," House said.
Childers wanted to feature a gay love story in the video, written by gay people.
"It's a working-class story, and when you think about gay love stories, that's not the first image or the first jobs or people that come to mind," Howard said.
Howard came up with the idea of featuring two coal miners, Matthew and Jasper. He and House wrote the story together.
"Jasper and Matthew are both closeted coal miners in the 1950s, living in a place where they can't really be very open about who they are," House said.
Matthew and Jasper become a couple, trying to hide their relationship. Another miner notices them and attacks Matthew.
"They defend themselves, and they decide to leave the mining industry and become full-time farmers, so they go from industry to an agrarian lifestyle, and they live on this farm together," House said.
"The notion of being underground and the metaphor of that, living in secret, living in darkness, and then the light being shown. We thought a lot about the symbolism of that," Howard said.
The story turns tragic, though, as Matthew develops black lung. Jasper cares for him until he dies on their farm.
"The song is really about a love that transcends even death. It's a kind of cosmic love," House said.
"The best part has been hearing from people who've said, 'I've never seen myself in a country music video, and today, I did,'" House said.
For two gay men from Appalachia, it's an opportunity to let people know they're seen and valued.
"For me, it would have meant everything to turn on CMT and to see LGBTQ representation, because when I was a little gay boy growing up in the early to mid-90s, I didn't have that. I wasn't able to see that reflected in my native culture," Howard said.
"I think it was important to him (Childers) to show representation from the region that rarely gets shown. The best thing about this video is a lot of people are seeing themselves for the first time in a country music video. To our knowledge, it's the first ever storyline like this in a country music video released by a major label," House said.
House said the timing of the project was important.
"We're also living in a time of great anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and legislation, and so, I think, we all felt like we were all part of fighting back, and that's a really great feeling," he said.
"We need more love in the world today, and so this was a vehicle for love," Howard said.
"One thing that art can do is make people feel seen and make people feel loved. That's a really important thing," House said.
You can watch the video here.
