Tyler Childers made a mark on music fans on July 27 with the release of the music video for his new song "In Your Love." The song — which will be featured on his upcoming album, Rustin' in the Rain — finds Childers singing from the perspective of someone willing to do anything for the person they love. For the video, the singer took inspiration from his home state of Kentucky to tell a love story between two coal miners in 1950s Appalachia.
The cinematic video tells the couple's story from beginning to end, starring Colton Haynes and James Scully in the leading roles. At the top of the video, an older man is tilling the fields of his farm when he finds a four leaf clover (a scene that makes more sense once viewers get to the end). The clip then flashes to another scene - deep in the coal mines of Kentucky where a group of grime-covered miners do their work. It's there that the future couple first catch a glimpse of one another.
One of the men (Scully) begins a conversation with the other man (Haynes) after their work is done, and their whirlwind romance commences. Their relationship is soon discovered by the other miners, and it is met with discrimination, as the other men jump Scully's character in the mine. However, the two push through adversity and eventually settle down in a house together, despite the continued disapproval from their local community. While the couple seem to find contentment in the video, the end of clip features a twist and highlights a problem faced by many coal miners throughout generations.
Many fans have shared their reaction to the video, which some are hailing as a "piece of art." One fan wrote a comment that was echoed by many others, which reads, "I did not expect to be sobbing at a Tyler Childers music video, but you know what I'm not surprised either. This was absolutely beautiful."
Others shared their appreciation that Childers chose to represent the LGBTQ community with an inclusive love story.
"I love this so much. As a gay man from small country towns, this is something I've longed for," one person wrote.
The music video also garnered applause from Childers' fellow artists, with Jason Isbell tweeting, "Go @TTChilders go- much respect." Margo Price also wrote, "New Tyler Childers music & video is out today. I hope people share it and lift up good songwriting, deep music and positive messages because we could use more of this right now."
In a conversation with NPR's Ann Powers, Childers says the inspiration for the music video came from a personal place.
"[One] reason that I wanted to do this music video was my cousin growing up, who's like my big brother, is gay," Childers says. "And he graduated from Northern Kentucky, went to Chicago and never came back. He taught me so much about singing; he was my first tough critic. And just thinking about him not having a music video on CMT that spoke to him."
The video's story was conceived by Silas House and Jason Kyle Howard, a married couple who are both authors and hail from Kentucky. House said in a press release that he hopes the video reaches an audience that feels underrepresented in country music videos.
"As a gay teenager who loved country music, I could have never imagined seeing myself in a video. That visibility matters," he says, according to USA Today. "There have always been LGBTQ people in rural places and finally, we're seeing that portrayed in a country music video."
The video has been the subject of some disdain from viewers who take issue with the love story, but Childers expects that and hopes the controversy leads to "real conversations."
"For all the ugliness that it's going to bring out that just can't be helped, this video is going to make real conversations possible," he tells NPR. "This is a story of two people sharing their love and living a life together and experiencing loss. That's pretty powerful."
Rustin' in the Rain will be released Sept. 8.
