Have you ever wondered what you have to do to appear in a music video? Simple -- answer the ad.
The announcer on the radio said sign-ups were being held for a Hank Jr. video. I showed up in my finest country threads only to find out they wanted everyday folks in uniforms or costumes, depicting people from all walks of life, to follow the Pied Piper, Hank Jr., to the better life of listening to country music.
I was instructed to show up in a uniform, so I dug out my Zee Medical representative blazer, which I had just retired when I moved to Nashville two weeks ago, and added a briefcase and my official country makever, the ever-present cowboy hat. This was the symbol used to transform the 200 or so everyday people into country bumpkins.
When I arrived at "the pond" in Franklin, Tenn., I realized very soon that the chances of seeing my smiling face in the video would be slim to none.
Getting out of the car next to me was a girl clad in a G-string and feathers. There were punk-rockers, cheerleaders, joggers, Indians, nuns, various athletes, nurses and doctors. There was quite a large variety of people from every walk of life ready to make that big transformation.
Naturally, there were also the beautiful people who represented the good life of being a country music star. Three boatloads of lovely, bikini-clad girls danced around Hank Jr. It was quite a show.
The filming took about five hours, or at least that's how much time I put in before I left. They still had a few scenes left to shoot but the rain clouds were fast approaching and I didn't want to get stuck in the already muddy field that was our parking lot.
It was a long day of running up and down a hill, waving my cowboy hat to Hank and helicopters, but it was fun and I did meet some very interesting people.
Will I do it again? You bet, only next time I think I'll wear my feathers.