We released our brand new official music video for "The Galway Girl" on October 14th! Not only did we have a blast filming the video, but it's also chock-full of fun little details that you may not have caught on the first viewing. Come along with us as we give you a tour behind the scenes!
1. Our outfits match the album artwork for "The Knotted Circle"
Did you notice? The outfits we wore in the video are the same ones that appear on the cover of "The Knotted Circle"! So much of this video is a celebration of our second album...which is why we released it on October 14th, The Knotted Circle's one-year anniversary.
Fun fact: this is the first official Kinnfolk video in which Josh is NOT wearing a kilt. Also notice his hat...that's the same family heirloom that inspired another track on the album, "The Hat Song"!
2. We revisited locations from "The Knotted Circle" photo shoot
Well...kind of. We'd originally hoped to recreate the album cover by returning to the same downtown parking deck where we'd posed in front of the Wells Fargo building, St. Andrew's Church, and other iconic pieces of the Roanoke skyline. But when we tried to access that location, we found that it had been sealed off from the public! What's an indie Celtic band to do???
Not to be deterred, we found another parking deck nearby and still managed to film those locations—albeit from a different angle. While initially disappointing, this setback actually became a valuable constraint that forced us to get creative with our storytelling. We ended up focusing less on location for the video and more on capturing the vibe of us traveling around the city while on a date. That shift in focus ended up making a better video at the end of the day, which is a great reminder that limits fuel creativity!
3. All filming and editing was done with three people and minimal equipment.
We're not kidding when we say our music is homemade! This video was filmed in two sessions over two days in the middle of winter (brrrr!). Let's give credit where credit is due: Julie came up with the video concept (a date-like romp through Roanoke), while Josh spent over 30 hours compiling, editing, and color-grading the final product.
But the hero of this music video is our friend Jeremiah Mundy, who followed us around with a gimble 'n' GoPro and captured shots that we could never have filmed on our own. Some of the shots (such as the moment at 1:28 where we hold hands and skip over the camera) were Jeremiah's idea. You can hear his laugh if you watch all the way to the bloopers at the end of the video!
4. Spontaneity abounds!
Julie is very good at coming up with fun ideas on the spot. She suggested we do some dancing at a couple of our locations, and they became some of our favorite shots in the video. During editing, she suggested looking at the blooper reels for content, and several of those shots ended up in the final cut. We also got some unexpected footage of a train going under a bridge, which added some nice movement to what would have otherwise been a fairly static opening shot.
5. Why "The Galway Girl"?
It's nothing complicated..."Galway Girl" is just a fun, feel-good song. It was the perfect track to accompany a light-hearted "date" exploring the nooks and crannies of downtown Roanoke. This is our 3rd official music video from the new album (joining "Byker Hill" and "Now Westlin Winds"...which you should totally check out if you haven't already!)
"The Galway Girl" was also a perfect way for us to tie our American and Celtic heritage together since the song was written by American singer/songwriter Steve Earle and went on to become a much-beloved song in the Celtic world. One day, we hope to create and share some songs of our own that have such an impact!
Bonus Fun-Fact: We accidentally predicted the future!
It takes a while to film and edit a music video. We actually recorded the footage for "The Galway Girl" back in January 2023. That's ten months before the video released, and 6 months before another ENORMOUSLY significant moment in our year...
Take a look at the end of the video, where Josh twirls Julie around on a sidewalk. What do you see in the background? That's The Spot on Kirk! We didn't know it at the time, but this venue would become the location for our sold-out concert "Kinnfolk Presents: Star Above the Mountain" on June 30, 2023. That project, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Roanoke, resulted in a collection of brand-new Celtic folk music celebrating our hometown.
We're recording that new original music for our next album, "Star Above the Mountain." Subscribe to our newsletter (bottom of the page) to stay up-to-date!
Inspired to watch the video again? Please be our guest! And thank you for coming behind the scenes with us and listening to our stories. :)