Don’t Die Truck!!!
Well, it’s time to see if hard work pays off, or if I’m just out here spinning my wheels! It’s a long hard climb as an independent artist, and this Friday 2/28/25, my new single ‘Don’t Die Truck’ finally comes out! I’ve worked so hard getting this song ready for you to enjoy!
RECORDING ‘DON’T DIE TRUCK’
I recorded ‘Don’t Die Truck’ back in October 2024 at Hilltop Recording Studio in Nashville, TN. It wasn’t originally slated, but after I wrote it a couple weeks before my session, I knew that it was a priority to record! It’s definitely one of my favorite songs that I’ve written to date, so I hope you enjoy it as much as me!
MAKING AN ALBUM COVER!
‘Don’t Die Truck’ Album Cover
After picking my release date of 2/28/25, it was a matter of working backwards to get ready for a successful release! First thing first, I knew I needed a good album cover, but the season’s heavy snow was getting to be a pain in the butt. “Screw it!”, I said. I’ll just have to take a picture in the snow. I contacted my friends Stacey and Phil from the Woods Tree Farm in Amelia. They had an old red Custom F150 that I was considering for the music video. It was going to need a lot of work to get running, but it was ideal for an album cover!
CASTING MY LEAD - LOGAN
Logan Behind the Wheel (photo by J. McMinn 2025)
Next, I needed to plan a music video! In the song, I’m a country boy trying to get to the city to see my girl. But as the primary videographer for my music video, it’s hard to feature myself as a lead role in a video. So, I had the idea of gender swapping the characters. I had been wanting to feature my friend Logan Brocklehurst in a music video, and thought that she would be perfect for ‘Don’t Die Truck'. Thankfully, she was so excited to play the part. She’s an incredibly talented and beautiful actor and friend.
I NEED A DAMN GOOD TRUCK
Logan and Blue (photo by J. McMinn 2025)
Now that I had my lead actor secure, I needed to find her co-star; a vintage F150! I put out a casting call on Facebook and quickly had several truck owners contact me, but one truck stood out above the rest! Chase Whitehurst from New Kent reached out to me with his baby blue patina 1979 Custom F150, which I named “Blue” in my music video treatment. I drove out to New Kent to meet Chase and “Blue.” Blue was everything I dreamed of and more. I asked Chase if there were any old roads with little-to-no traffic around the area we could shoot at. We drove around to scout the area and found a perfect location. After scouting the area, I was thinking that I needed to purchase a drone to capture overhead shots of the truck. To my surprise, Chase already had one that he used for his business, and he was quite a skilled pilot! The stars were aligning!
DAY 1 OF THE MUSIC VIDEO SHOOT
We shot the music video over two days, and thankfully, the weather was perfect; no snow in sight. On day 1, early in the morning, Logan and I shot a few establishing scenes at my buddy Daniel Hambright’s house in Mechanicsville. Then we drove out to New Kent to shoot video with “Blue” at the garage and at the road location. To avoid the mid-day sun, we grabbed a bite to eat, and then we wrapped up our shoot at the road location, taking advantage of the golden hour sunset. I snapped some great pictures of Logan with “Blue” that came out wonderfully.
DAY 2
Because “Blue” was an antique, driving her on the highway downtown to the Richmond Marriott was not an option, so we had the idea of shooting the valet scene at the Rosie’s in New Kent. We just pulled the truck up to the front of the casino and pretended like it was the Marriott. Sometimes you just have to be creative! The final shots of Day 1 that evening were at the Marriott, where we met Kai, the valet attendant. He was kind enough to let us film him taking the keys from Logan as she walked into the hotel. Finally, I filmed Logan arriving at the hotel room, where yours truly finally made his appearance in the video.
On Day 2, Logan and I met at CMart in Amelia, along with my best bud, Danny Kensy. I casted him to play “Al”, the convenience store attendant! After we finished shooting in Amelia, I wished Logan and Danny farewell, and I headed back to Daniel Hambright’s in Mechanicsville! We had the idea of shooting my performance shots in his garage. I was going to pretend to work on Daniel’s 1990 F250, “Old Faithful” as I sang my song! His girlfriend, Amber, was so generous and made great snacks that we munched on during the shoot. I couldn’t ask for better friends! I wrapped up Day 2 that night and rushed home, spending the next two days editing the music video! It came out great and I can’t wait til you see it!
MUSIC VIDEO PREMIER THIS THURSDAY
‘Don’t Die Truck’ comes out this Friday 2/28/25. However, this Thursday, I will be teaming up with Kickin’ Country Line Dancin’ at Great American Ranch in Midlothian to debut my music video for all my friends! Logan will be there too! Thank you all so much for supporting my music journey! I will need your help to push this song to the masses, so please share it with your friends, comment, like, and stream the heck out of this one! Love ya’ll!
-Barefoot Joe