music video – “hollywood hillbilly” by dale watson
While getting drunk on moonshine with Dale Watson one night in Los Angeles, he told me he was getting ready to record his next album. I told him he should record it in the cabin I bought from Johnny Cash in Nashville. “There’s a .12 gauge, a pool table, and all the moonshine you can drink.” You know, to be honest, I don’t remember if I offered or he asked, but he recorded his album From The Cradle To The Grave there and drank six months of moonshine in one goddamn week. He also wrote a song about me called “Hollywood Hillbilly,” and then was ignorant enough to let me direct the video.
Having never directed a video before, I hired my cousin Knate to produce it because he had never produced a video before. That way we were both on even ground. We shot it in a day a half at my house in Hollywood, and I leaned heavily on my friends to fill out the crew. The attitude was “I have no idea what I am doing, but let’s have some fun anyway.” We did, too. Had a goddamn ball. I even invited my old friend Luke Wilson over to do a guest spot in the video, but that’s not the version you’re seeing here. It’s the same video, but we subbed out Luke for a very special guest star. Sorry Luke, but this guy’s performance was just a little more believable. Heh heh… Okay, here it is: Dale Watson’s “Hollywood Hillbilly.”
Dale will be performing live tonight, Thursday, April 25, 2008, at Safari Sam’s in Hollywood, CA, at 11pm!
—Johnny Knoxville
