On Tuesday July 21, 2015 I had an opportunity of a lifetime.
I was asked to participate and be an extra in a music video starring The Band Perry for their newest song, "Live Forever," off of their soon-to-be-released album. The whole day was such an incredible experience!
We were told to dress in "music festival grunge," which to me translated to high-waisted shorts, a tank top and a flannel tied around my waist. "Grunge" isn't exactly a style I know much about.
As I was already staying in Nashville, Tennessee, for an internship, La Vergne, Tennessee, the location of the music video taping was only a 15-minute drive from where I lived. So the morning call time of 9 a.m. was not a problem. Especially with all the excitement coursing through my body!
We were told to bring more than one outfit option and a stylist would help us finish off our look, which was such a cool experience. After all the extras, around 35 of us, were all styled, we waited for the crew to need us for our parts.
We were held in an extra holding area (without our phones or anything), but if we needed to leave to use the restroom we had to leave to a different part of the building, so it was no strange occurrence to bump into Kimberly, Reid, or Neil Perry in the hallway running to and from their dressing rooms. I ran into Kimberly straight on a few times!
From where we were, we could hear the band's new single, which at the time hadn't been released yet at all. We all had to sign confidentiality contracts saying that we wouldn't share any lyrics, thoughts, or even the name of the song with anyone when we left.
After a few hours, they finally took us into the sound stage and we saw the big light reflecting walls that were used to set the scene for the video. As the song played, they all changed colors.
We filmed multiple takes of different things, mostly just us dancing to the song and running out of a tunnel.
Then the band came in. Inside the walls was a tiny, circular stage set-up to hold the three siblings. We all stood in a circle around the band and they sang and danced to the song over and over and over. It was such a cool experience. In between takes, the three celebs would turn around and strike up conversation.
It wasn't like we were in the company of famous people, it was like we were in the company of friends.
After a while, the band was finished and they took a break and it was up to us to break it down for the camera and show our moves. Fun fact: When you see people in the crowd dancing, they're actually dancing to "Turn Down 4 What" instead of "Live Forever," because the crew liked the beat better for the hardcore dancing that was about to commence.
After everything was said and done, they wrapped us as extras and we were able to get our phones and purses back and leave without mentioning a word about the day to anyone.
Two weeks ago, the video premiered on CMT for the world to see. It is so exciting to finally be able to talk about it! I will never forget this experience with The Band Perry or the friends I made throughout the day.
I hope everyone loves this video as much as I loved being able to be a part of it.
