Shooter Jennings needed no cartoon donkey to get his point across in the new music video for "Fast Horses & Good Hideouts." Dumb humor and cornball outfits blatantly pay tribute to Hee Haw, a show that gave Shooter's parents, Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, a national platform for their music. Shooter plays himself as the musical guest, with the cast members portrayed by Elle King, Alice in Chains' Jerry Cantrell and others.
When the jokes stop and the music begins, Shooter's band unveils a new song, inspired by a letter received from the actor Randy Quaid. The lyrics match the outlaw storytelling of Waylon, while that chilling, multi-instrumental intro sounds more like the Electric Light Orchestra than a product of Tompall Glaser's Hillbilly Central. On both counts, it's a breath of fresh air for anyone who laments the state of mainstream country or the lack of mainstream rock.
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Watch until the end to see a hilarious "as seen on TV" album send-up, with a couple of hippies shilling for pretend K-Tel. It's a clever way for Shooter to tease brief clips of other songs this early in the album promotion cycle for Shooter, out Aug. 10 via Elektra Records.
Notice also the video title: "Hey Shooter! Variety Show- Ep. 1." Does that mean that additional album cuts will bring this same cast of characters back to the same bootleg corn field? Surely there's enough good songs and bad jokes in Jennings' arsenal to justify a two or three-parter.
