PREMIERE: G. Love Joins Of Good Nature in ‘Hold Me’ Video
Good deeds brought to you by muddy water
Of Good Nature frontman Cam Brown kicks off the Charlotte-based band’s new single “Hold Me” by tapping out the tune’s title on an old-school typewriter while bandmate David Hamilton Jr., aka Smoov Alien, provides the rat-a-tat percussion of the machine’s clacking keys off camera.
Brown then steps out onto the streets of Charlotte, accompanied by a jaunty New Orleans beat, upcut funk guitar, sassy saxophone fills and guest G. Love’s honeyed harmonica. With behind-the-beat jazz phrasing, Brown’s voice is another instrument in the pop R&B mix:
“Hold me good/ I’ve been gone away/ Like you would/ That time of day/ Because what I want to say/ Is that — my mind floats away…”
Taking a cue from the lyric, the video — which premieres below — similarly floats away in a swaying, good time, good vibes way. At first, the video shows Brown committing kindly deeds as he ambles through town — catching falling delivery packages and presenting a couple with flowers and a hot dog from a food truck.
(These moments of good Samaritanism could be seen as symbolic microcosms of OGN’s real-life community work, as in 2020, when the band partnered with Roof Above to raise funds to help Charlotte’s homeless community.)
Both tune and video slide into mildly trippy territory from there. Brown and later Hamilton’s faces are viewed through a revolving kaleidoscope and the band stops in at Charlotte’s Museum of Illusions. Here Brown is dwarfed as he sits in a Beuchet Chair — an optical illusion that makes people seem tiny next to others.
Later, Brown and Hamilton dangle from a rooftop while unconcerned sidemen jam nearby.
The song and its video save their greatest sleight of hand for the moment when G. Love pops up outside the Visulite Theatre, which plugs a gig from the featured performers on its marquee.
G. Love launches into an amiable loose-jointed rap before Brown joins, and like old friends they sing and play together as the good-natured tune swings, sways and vamps to a close.
Brown said he was inspired to write the feel-good, beachy, roots-rock track while sitting on the banks of Lake Wylie after a storm, watching mud continue to swirl in calmed waters.
For Brown, the image became a metaphor for a love that stays grounded when life gets messy.
“‘Hold me through the muddy water’ describes someone being supportive through tough times,” he told Queen City Nerve. “We wanted to show that in a more metaphorical way.”
The original idea for a lakeside campfire video felt “played out,” Brown explained, so they pursued something more metaphorical, depicting Brown’s many good deeds throughout the day.
The crew shot around town in a way that “just came together naturally in the moment,” according to Brown. They started with G. Love’s feature at Visulite Theatre, where he was booked to play later that night. (He returned to the Queen City to play Skyla Amphitheatre with Dispatch and John Butler earlier this month.)
Then they went south, filming in The Fran, a venue inside local advertising agency Arthur Elliot’s space on Foster Avenue. While they were in the area, they noticed that the front porch at South End Exchange had a cool aesthetic so they asked if they could shoot a scene there.
The Museum of Illusions added a dreamlike edge to the video, with its tilting walls, mirrored rooms and impossible angles.
“I think we ended up creating something original and expressive,” he said.
Now that the video is out, Brown said he’s still coming down off of the high that came from working with one of his idols whom he’s been a fan of for nearly 20 years.
“I remember ‘Milk and Cereal’ and ‘Baby’s Got Sauce’ playing on the morning announcements at Providence High School during my freshman year, and I’ve been a fan ever since,” Brown explained. “It’s been kinda surreal to have met and performed with him a few times now. He’s such a good down-to-earth dude. Working on this project with him has truly been a highlight of my life.”
Of Good Nature has a few shows booked for July, including in Wilmington, Charleston and Georgia. Follow the band on Instagram for updates.
