Tucker Beathard knows that his new video, “Momma and Jesus,” will no doubt inspire many different opinions. He tells Billboard that’s fine with him. “That was kind of the whole plan. It’s one of those things where I know that half the people who see it are gonna have nothing but bad things to say, and call it dumb. The other half will like how unique it is, but the only way to stand out is to be a little weird and different, and to do your own thing. It was fun to make, and I’m glad we did it.”
The video — complete with a paintball fight featuring men in lingerie and a naked stroll on a pedal tavern through downtown Nashville — borrows greatly from Jackass. “I think anybody who knows me knows that everything that is in that video represents another side of me. I always loved making videos like that growing up, so when we thought of doing this for the video, we all fell in love with the idea. I knew that I would do any of the stunts, and I have a lot of friends that would do them too.”
The singer-songwriter, who hit No. 2 last year on the Billboard Country Airplay chart with “Rock On,” says that longtime friends will look at the video and confirm it definitely is a showcase for his sense of humor. “It’s a fun video, but anybody who knew me growing up will look at it and say ‘I don’t guess much has changed. He’s still the little kid.’” Of the lyrics, he also feels it’s dead center. “It’s just a good representation of me, how I am, and I was growing up. It was typical of the stuff that my mom had to deal with when I was eight years old, and I guess still has to – now that I’m 21,” he says with a laugh.
Beathard was very hands-on during the video, participating in all of the stunts — including the afore-mentioned paintball session — which took place in ladies’ lingerie. “It was straight up paintball guns. They hurt really bad,” he confesses. “That clip was actually my idea — to put women’s lingerie on, and get pelted by paint guns. The adrenaline rush of getting shot by those and how bad it hurts is fun, but it was pretty painful.” To help with that portion of the video, he enlisted two from his close circle. “They asked me who I wanted to do this stunt, and I picked my guitarist, because I thought he would be the least fired up to do it. One of my best friends since middle school, who I always did stuff like that with, is also in the video. We al suited up for it. They were definitely pretty scared, thinking ‘Oh, man. This is gonna suck,’ but at the same time, we had a lot of fun doing it.” He did enjoy the privilege of getting “shot” by a couple Nashville models. “We got a couple girls who were there all day at the video shoot do that. It was kind of scary. They didn’t have the best aim, so there was no telling where we were going to get hit.”
One scene that will definitely get some attention for Beathard is the one that features he and a group of friends riding on a trolley in Nashville… completely in the buff. “That was the last scene we filmed. My friends and I were a little drunk and just having a good time. In the middle of that, they told us not to get off the pedal tavern – just to stay put.” In true renegade style, they didn’t listen. “So, about halfway through, me and a couple of my buddies decided just to take off and run. We started running through downtown Nashville. We ended up getting lost, and there was a cop that stopped us and started chasing us. Needless to say, there was no more footage shot after that.” He insists that they didn’t alert anyone in town of their intentions. “Everything in the video is honestly all of us doing those stunts. It’s as real as it gets. Nobody knew. There wasn’t many cameras around, either, so people couldn’t say ‘They’re just shooting some video.’ It was just as if any group of friends just decided to be idiots on that thing. It was pretty much straight up legit as it gets. Nobody had any clue – the bystanders didn’t know what was going on.”
The singer – about to embark on a tour with Brantley Gilbert – says the songs have a deep emotional meaning to him, and serve as a tribute to his maternal influence. “I’m fired up about it. I think it’s especially edgy sonically, down to the guitar riffs. I think it’s a good representation of me both musically and lyrically. It is very truthful about the things I’ve done in my past. I know I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for my mom and Jesus having my back, and never giving up on me.”
So…has mom seen the video yet? “She hasn’t,” he says, nervously. “I know she will pretty soon, and I’m dreading it.”