Jason Boland’s new video is truly a one-of-a-kind artistic endeavor, and he’s letting Taste of Country and the Boot readers see it first in an exclusive premiere that launches on Friday morning (Nov. 12).
Along with his band, the Stragglers, Boland explores some unusual subject matter in the video for “Restless Spirits,” and he does it in a very unique way, using animations to tell the story of an unexplained encounter that leaves the narrator changed.
“She was standing in the kitchen / Her face turned towards the ceiling / Her eyes were closed, but still they held the light / And from a battered guitar / Came a sound like angels weeping / For all those restless spirits in the night,” he sings in the chorus.
“Restless Spirits” was originally written and performed by the late Bob Childers, a fellow Oklahoman who served as a mentor to Boland. It appears on an upcoming concept record titled The Light Saw Me, which tells the story of a Texas cowboy from the 1890s who is abducted by aliens. He travels forward an entire century in time and lands in the 1990s, where he is fated to wander in search of his long-dead wife with no awareness that any time has passed.
The sci-fi concept serves as an allegory for people’s existential angst.
“Many suffer silently with the terrifying nature of it all while believing themselves to be the only ones forgotten,” Boland observes.
Shooter Jennings produced the album, which is slated to drop on Dec. 3 via Thirty Tigers.
“This album isn’t just another album from Jason & the Stragglers,” Jennings states. “It’s a magnum opus of the highest creative order, which in turn I take as a very serious honor to be able to be a part of its inception.”
Boland made his name in the Red Dirt Country scene, and he’s been an independent artist throughout his career. He’s seeking a wider audience with The Light Saw Me, which is his tenth album, and he’s also just announced a string of tour dates that will include shows at Tulsa’s Cain’s Ballroom, New Braunfels’ Gruene Hall, the Basement East in Nashville and Pioneertown’s historic Pappy & Harriett’s Pioneertown Palace. Boland will make his official debut at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on Dec. 7.
The Light Saw Me is currently available for pre-order across a wide variety of digital music providers.
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