William Clark Green is back, as expected, releasing the third music video off of his March 2022 record Baker Hotel.
The Flint, Texas native has been a mainstay on the Texas and independent country music scenes for over a decade now, proving to be one of the best artists in the genre, both solo and as ¼ of Texas country supergroup, The Panhandlers.
Back in March, Green released his sixth solo album and first since 2018 with Baker Hotel, a 13 track record that showcases his songwriting prowess and eclectic sound. As if the album wasn’t enough, Green has created a cast of characters based in Mineral Wells, TX and a storyline that has played out through music videos for the album.
The third video in the series, for the song “Best Friends,” was released today. But before getting to that one, it is important to start from the beginning of the trilogy to provide the necessary context.
The first music video was released back in March for the Album’s title track “Baker Hotel,” and was quite the cinematic endeavor.
“Baker Hotel”
As you can see in the video, the story begins with three young friends in Mineral Wells, TX – Brandon, Cody, and Tyler – getting into a little bit of mischief one Halloween trick-or-treating and pulling a prank on a girl named Ann Marie.
The ante is upped a bit when Tyler is dared to make it to the top of the abandoned and haunted Baker Hotel, a real hotel that has quite a bit of history to it. Tyler proves successful in his endeavors, reaching the top of the hotel and returning a crowd of locals celebrating his feat. Most importantly, he was able to catch the attention of Ann Marie.
At the end of the video, insights are provided as to what happens with each of these characters over the next several years.
Brandon graduates top of his class with plans to become an engineer and Cody paves his own path to success as an accomplished athlete and artist. Tyler further solidified his place in Mineral Wells’ local lore after leading the high school football team to a state championship, but following graduation he remains in Mineral Wells living with his mother. Ann Marie and Tyler had become high school sweethearts, and she dreamed of studying Art Design at NYU.
Which takes us to the next installment of the series, the music video for “All You Got” which came out back in June, three months after “Baker Hotel.”
“All You Got”
My favorite song off the album, the video for “All You Got” picks up a little while after the previous one gets off, and things aren’t going quite as well for Tyler.
The former hometown hero is out drinking in his letterman jacket with friends when Ann Marie receives her acceptance to NYU while working at a restaurant. She goes to tell Tyler, and without much of an exciting future ahead of him, he doesn’t take the news too gracefully.
Ann Marie leaves and Tyler doesn’t go with Cody and Brandon to say goodbye, but as he sticks around town and his hometown hero status wanes, he becomes increasingly restless and angry, and misses Ann Marie. After a breakdown at a party, he goes off and gets a job and the video ends with him swallowing his pride and knocking on Ann Marie’s door at college.
What happens in the third video of the series?
Watch the music video for “Best Friends” below. And there’s quite the plot twist in the middle of this one.
“Best Friends”
I’m not sure whether this is the final video in the series or not, but either way it’s pretty awesome what Green has done here.
An already spectacular album, Green’s music videos have added an extra layer to Baker Hotel and provided plenty of entertainment for his fans. He’s even received some recognition for his work, recently receiving the Lake Travis Film Festival award for the best music video of 2022 with “Baker Hotel.”
Like what you heard here? Go check out the rest of Baker Hotel, and dive deeper into his older stuff, too.
You can’t go wrong with his most popular tunes like “Ringling Road” and “She Likes the Beatles,” but here are a few more of my favorites to get you started.
“Gun To Your Head” – Baker Hotel
“Rose Queen” – Rose Queen
“Creek Don’t Rise” – Ringling Road
