The One About Hillbilly Bone

Sometimes I get lucky. I don't ever expect anything. That way I'm not disappointed. But when I was called in to audition for a country music video specifically casting people who looked rich and snooty, well, even my mom thought I had it in the bag. Let me just say I am far, far from rich. Although I do have rich tastes. As a matter of fact, I have a special talent of being able to pick out the most expensive item in a store without even seeing the price. It's a gift.

It has been said that I look a bit stand-offish. It is purely unintentional. It's simply my generic facial expression. And it is often translated as, well, snooty. Trust me, I put in a lot of effort to really work the warm. I'm fighting the DNA that arranged my face in such a way that says keep your distance, bow to me, whatever signal it's sending. I'm really a very pleasant person. That being said, I had a feeling that I could pull off this audition.

The video treatment asked for us to look rich. Last Christmas, my sister Patty had graciously gifted me with a glorious faux fur coat. What says rich more than a fur? I've got killer high quality costume jewelry. Honestly, nothing is real about except my teeth. And I dolled up in velvet, wool, and fur, my longest fake eyelashes, drove to Nashville to audition.

I was just coming off of an audition where my looks had not worked for me. Everyone in the room had long, straight hair and tattoos. Except me. Needless to say, I did not get the job. This time, as I said, I got lucky. Real lucky. And that's how I came to be cast in Hillbilly Bone. It's the new song by Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins. You can hear it now at http://www.blakeshelton.com/. They will be posting photos from the set. We shot it at the Stockyard Restaurant in Nashville.

The video is directed by the prolific and hilarious Roman White who has done many a great video such as Jesus Take the Wheel, Small Town Southern Man, The More I Drink, and Fifteen, and I could fill this entire blog just naming his work.

So, what's it like to shoot a video? Much as you hear actors speak of it on talk shows, it's a lot of sitting around. For real. You do a lot of the same scenes from different angles. By the way, camera guy. Hot. Luckily, I spent the majority of my time with some great people, Vicky, Nicole, Joe, Hailey, Cassie, and Nathan. Nathan Stoops has become a regular on my podcast. He is the fiddle player for Chris Cagle and is as funny and talented as he is attractive. He was the first person I met at 6am and it was love at first sight for the both of us. Twisted minds can sense each other from across a crowded room. Nathan was cast as the snooty violin player.

Cassie Piersol-Chapman is too cute for her own good and is one of the diners. Thank God she wasn't put at my table because that would make me look bad. I can say that Cassie, Nathan, and I are all part of the DAN Agency talent pool and would love to make someone else's video, ad, or commercial look fantastic. Yes, that is a hint. Take it and run with it.

So, as to what we did for the video. We are told where to sit and how to act and react. Then we do it a few times. More of this, less of that. I smack Blake Shelton on the butt. I take a guy's clothes off. Just his jacket and vest. Calm down. Who knows what will or will not make it to the final edit. But we will all know November 3. That's when it will premiere. No doubt it will be on CMT and GAC and on Blake's website, and mine if I have any say about it. Like I said. Sometimes, I get lucky.