Last Thursday was a HUGE milestone for me. I released my FIRST music video!

Last week, I was so excited to share my first music video and to share some photos from the video shoot that I didn’t have the opportunity to tell you the story behind my first music video.

So, here it goes:

Yasir Alhumaidan, who filmed my entry for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Contest, told me that he would be interested in filming a music video for me. A music video? I was speechless.

Allison Merten and Yasir Alhumaidan
Tiny Desk Concert Contest Submission

My lifelong dream was to make an album, and (still a surprise to me to this day!) I made my first CD. I didn’t really have another goal beyond releasing a CD because I never thought it would be possible for me to achieve my dream. But, I did release a CD, so I guess the most logical next step would be a music video. 😛

After I took a few minutes to process that I could have a music video, I got really excited! (As I am known to do 😉 ). So, I asked Yasir how we could move forward with the video, and he first asked me what song I wanted. That was a tough question. I love all my songs. It was so hard to choose one song. But then he and Caleb Behnke suggested “Temptation,” and I said. “Okay!” Then he asked me what I wanted the video to be about. Well, that was something I couldn’t answer at that time (remember, speechless about being able to make a video!).

So, I decided to reach out to writer and director C.L. Manion. I got to be in C.L. Manion’s first short film, “Horoscope,” (which, if you haven’t seen, you should absolutely check out here.)

After We Shot “Horoscope”
Allison Merten, C.L. Manion

C.L. Manion is absolutely brilliant. And, she did such a fantastic job directing her first short film, that I was crossing my fingers that she would be interested in directing my first music video.

After C.L. Manion expressed interest in directing the film (I’m so lucky!), she asked what I wanted this music video to be about.

Well, that was a great question. I didn’t know how to answer the question, so she started asking me some questions to figure out what I wanted. And this is how the conversation went:

   –Where do you want it to be?
  –In the woods.
–Who do you want in it?
 –Me.
–What do you want to be happening in the video?
 -Singing and playing my guitar.
–So…you want you, in the woods, singing and playing your guitar?
 –Yes. Anything more than that is a bonus.

Because C.L. Manion is a genius, I got an AWESOME bonus. C.L. Manion decided that this music video should have 3 personalities:

• Normal Allison (green/black dress)
• Angry Allison (red dress)
• Sad Allison (blue dress)

I LOVED her idea! So, Yasir Alhumadain, Caleb Behnke, C.L. Manion, and I agreed that this would be the story line for the video.

I was getting nervous for the video shoot as it got closer. (My first music video!?!?!) But, a week before the video shoot, I ended up being too busy to be nervous for the shoot.

The week before the video shoot, I found out that I had the opportunity to perform at Evolution Arts Collective with Jimmy Murn. So, I spent my free-time before and after work learning songs on my acoustic and bass guitars and practicing until my fingers went raw.

The day before the video shoot was the day of the show. I was so focused on the show that it hadn’t really hit me that the next day I would be shooting my first music video.

I didn’t hit me that my video shoot was the next day until after midnight, when I returned from my show.

Allison Merten and Jimmy Murn Evolution Arts Collective
Photo by Caleb Behnke

I felt like Great. Now I’m all excited about tomorrow’s video shoot, it’s already after midnight, and we’re shooting tomorrow morning. Quiet down brain, and go to sleep! 😉

And as you would probably expect, I didn’t sleep for crap that night. The next morning, I was so excited that whatever tiredness I felt didn’t matter.

I was so excited that I wanted to puke-literally. On the trip over to the woods, I felt so car sick. Every turn made me want to puke. Yep. It was pretty ridiculous…

But, once I got to the site of the shoot, I felt much better, thanks to a bunch of fresh air ;-), and I was ready to film!

The rest is history.

I’m really excited that “Me. In the woods.” turned into something REALLY awesome!

Thanks again to my wonderful team: C.L. Manion, Yasir Alhumaidan, and Caleb Behnke. You guys rock!

With Production Assistant Caleb Behnke

With Yasir Alhumaidan(cameraman, editor) & C.L. Manion (director)