This year, the best country music videos made us laugh, think and feel inspired. From Jimmie Allen's road trip anthem to Kelsea Ballerini's journey back home, here are our five favorite country music videos of 2021.
"Freedom Was a Highway," Jimmie Allen Feat. Brad Paisley
Superstar collaboration "Freedom Was a Highway" was already one of the best songs on country radio, an ideal jam for road trips and a comforting reminder of simpler times for those of us who are no longer summer young.
It got even better with the addition of a music video co-directed by Jimmie Allen. An ideal mile marker for where country music's at in 2021 resonates even more with visuals ranging from the sentimental (that classic, red Ford Mustang) to the surreal (Allen's superhero landing).
It's all in line with Allen and co-writers Ash Bowers and Matt Rogers' appeal to the hometown dreamer in all of us.
"When I was writing this song with my co-writers, I imagined myself driving down my favorite roads in Delaware," Allen said in a press release. "This song takes me back to simpler moments such as an innocent, childhood crush on the next-door neighbor or feeling freedom in the wind as you drive with the windows down. I've loved this song from the creation. I'm a huge admirer of Brad Paisley. I love what he brings to music and I had to have him bring that same magic to this song. I'm humbled to have him join me on this song - he brought the freedom to the highway."
— Bobby Moore
"Bill Dance," Luke Bryan
Back in the spring, Luke Bryan added a song about legendary fisherman Bill Dance to the deluxe edition of his Born Here Live Here Die Here album. It's an ode to healthy obsessions with bass fishing, on the same expanded album as two other love letters to weekends spent on the water: "Floatin' This Creek" and new single "Up."
Bryan wrote about the influence of Bill Dance Outdoors with songwriters Ben Hayslip, Dallas Davidson and Rhett Akins. As the song tells it, Dance's television presence, as still seen on the Outdoor Channel, keeps young fans in bass boats and out of trouble.
Bryan shared the song's music video on Dance's 81st birthday (Oct. 7). The country star spends quality time with a regional icon in footage that puts over how fishing brings generations of outdoorsy types together.
— BM
"Girl Who Didn't Care," Tenille Townes
The video for Canadian country troubadour Tenille Townes' "Girl Who Didn't Care" tells four stories about dreamers' journeys from wide-eyed children to notable contributors in their chosen fields.
Beyond telling her own story, Townes shines a spotlight on Alyssa Carson, an astronaut with a shot at becoming one of the first humans to land on Mars; Sarah Fuller, the Vanderbilt University kicker who became the first woman to ever play and score points in a Power Five conference college football game; and Shannon Wells, a firefighter in Nashville and the type of hero that doesn't always make headlines.
"For the music video, I knew I wanted to capture the wonder of a few different little dreamers in that sweet age spot of believing anything is possible in this music video," Townes said in a press release. "And then it became such an important part of my vision for the video to highlight real stories of real women who have made the seemingly impossible happen."
— BM
Read More: The 20 Best Country and Americana Songs of 2021
"Half of My Hometown," Kelsea Ballerini Feat. Kenny Chesney
If Kelsea Ballerini's "Half of My Hometown" doesn't make you nostalgic for the high school days of your past, I don't know what will. The visual storytelling of the music video makes the song that much more moving and reminds you of when you were just a teenager with your whole life ahead of you. I'm immediately transported back to my own high school football stadium and remember the many faces of my former classmates, all of us anxious to graduate and get out into the world. I think we can all relate to Ballerini's sentiments that even if you are one of the ones who got out of your hometown, part of that place will always live inside you.
Ballerini made the video personal; she filmed it in her hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee and even filmed scenes at her old high school. She approached the video with a "what might have been" angle by telling a story of who she could have been if she never moved to Nashville to pursue her music dreams. As the video comes to a close, she shows real videos of her rise to Nashville fame, showing that she did leave, hopefully making her old peers proud. The end result is an incredibly moving story about dreams coming true. It makes it even more powerful that she's singing her song with another former Knoxville resident who also made it big in country music — Kenny Chesney.
— Courtney Fox
"Remember Her Name," Mickey Guyton
Mickey Guyton released one of the best country albums of the year with Remember Her Name. The song's title track, an empowering anthem about overcoming obstacles, is perfectly showcased in its music video, directed by Stephen and Alexa Kinigopoulos. The video centers on a young girl who loses her father, a firefighter, on 9/11. As an adult, she trains to become a firefighter herself, overcoming adversity along the way. The crew even worked with a local Tennessee fire department throughout the filming of the video.
"Shooting my music video for 'Remember Her Name' was truly one of the most amazing, emotional, empowering moments in my career," Guyton said. "There's the ups and the downs and the twists and the turns and so often you want to quit. I've wanted to quit so many times in my career. There are certain points when I forgot who I was and who I am, and the message is saying: no matter how hard it gets, remember that girl. Remember her. Remember that girl who was so strong...Remember that person before all the hardships in your life. Because that person is so important and will get you through."
— Bobbie Jean Sawyer
