Photo: Macie Coleman
The Red Clay Strays released their newest single and cinematic music video on Thursday (February 12), telling a love story in time for Valentine’s Day.
The reigning Country Music Association Vocal Group of the Year delivered “If I Didn’t Know You.” The band’s Drew Nix wrote the “tender ballad,” brought to life in “a heartwarmingly romantic” music video directed by Matthew Coleman.
“One day, I was thinking about how thankful I am to have someone who made me want to, as Johnny Cash put it, ‘Walk the Line,’” guitarist-songwriter Nix said in a statement. “I was quite the heathen before my calling, and some of those qualities stayed with me until my wife, Laurie Anne Nix – who was my fiancée at the time – made me want to become a better man. She had high expectations of what her husband should be, and I finally decided to grow up. I don't know what my life would look like if I'd never known her, and honestly, I never want to find out.”
Comedian Matt Rife and fitness influencer Mariah Morse star in the storytelling visual. The pair strike up a conversation in a “meet cute” moment on a bus, and after they part ways, Rife hopes to cross paths with Morse again. They find one another again at the end of the love story. Rife and Morse had a real-life romance; however, they reportedly broke up, per TMZ and other outlets earlier this week.”
“When I first discovered The Red Clay Strays, I was like, ‘What is this? Who is this angel?’” Rife said in a statement. “I was just playing music over the house speakers, and ‘I'm Still Fine’ came on, and I absolutely fell in love. I went through a total rabbit hole, playing every song off every album on repeat for months and months. We finally had the opportunity to meet last year at Gulf Coast Jam in Panama City, Florida, and they’re even better guys than they are musicians.
“The music video for ‘If I Didn’t Know You’ is pretty much about a guy who feels kind of lost and alone, not really sure what he's supposed to do with his life or who he's going to spend it with,” he continued. “One lonely day, he’s on the bus and this woman – played by Mariah Morse – walks on and just seems to be the answer to everything he's been missing. They have an immediate spark on this very short bus ride and then get off without really finalizing their interaction. So then my character kind of goes on this quest to find this woman who made him feel the way that she did, and hopes that she feels the same way. We've been working on this project for months, and I'm super excited for people to see the video. It’s a beautiful song, and I think everyone is really going to enjoy it.”
Watch the music video here: