Underground country queen Rachel Brooke laments her loneliness and reassures listeners going through the same thing that they aren't in fact alone, all in the music video for her latest single, "The Only One," which premieres today (March 5) at Wide Open Country.
The ballad — filmed around the Saint Charles, Mich., home of the 2023 Ameripolitan Award-winner for Outlaw Woman of the Year — features several places near and dear to Brooke. They include a tree in the woods behind her house dubbed "the love tree," which is littered with etched initials of couples from long ago including her mother and late father. They also include a bar and bowling alley owned by her aunt that's been the family's gathering place for a quarter century, and a bridge along the Saginaw Valley Rail Trail that she frequented in her formative years.
"I am a very nostalgic person," Brooke admits to Wide Open Country. "I always miss things and how they used to be. A lot of these places represent time gone by that will never be the same again, time that I will never have again, and that makes me feel very sad."
Through each of these backdrops, Brooke can be seen wandering aimlessly as she waxes philosophical about her constant feeling of isolation even when others are present, as illustrated by the cameos from her cousin (who serves her a 7 and 7 with Crown Royal at the bar) and an uncle bowling a strike in the background. Despite the isolation at the heart of the song, it's actually quite a universal feeling Brooke is tapping into, something she gives a nod to at the jukebox by firing up Willie Nelson's "Always On My Mind," a song of similar sentiment.
"Loneliness is something that I feel no matter where I am, whether it be with people who I love, alone in the woods, or even in a barroom full of people," discloses Brooke. "I know I'm not the only one who feels that way, and that's exactly what this song is about."
The song is the first single from an upcoming 7-inch vinyl release to come later this year. It'll be Brooke's first new music since the five stripped-down singles released in 2022 that showcased her signature vibrato, acoustic guitar and impeccable storytelling. Another full-length studio record and a batch of digital singles are expected from the Michigander as well.
"I have a ton of new songs, and I keep writing more," Brooke says, "so my plan is to just keep releasing new music and hope people hear them, resonate with them, and keep coming back."
