Singer-songwriter Brandon Stansell is kicking off 2017 by dropping a new music video, and The Huffington Post got an exclusive first look.

Music Video "Never Know" debuts on this blog
tomorrow morning, Saturday, January 14th at 1:30 a.m.
during Music Video Saturday

The Los Angeles-based “California country” performer is haunted by an unrequited love in “Never Know,” which is the follow-up to his 2016 single, “Slow Down.” Directed by Trent Atkinson, the video shows Stansell sulking in a bathtub and tossing in bed, tormented by memories of a hunky love interest (played by Frank Sweeney). Things may or may not end up on an upbeat note, however, depending on your interpretation of the video’s ambiguous conclusion. 

Cliick to see full-sized version

Stansell, who originally hails from Tennessee, teamed up with Nashville-based musicians JD Shuff and Erik Halbig for the mid-tempo ballad, which he wrote “from my vantage point of wanting to explore a new relationship.” That romance was short-lived, driving Stansell to write even more. “I didn’t get the guy,” he told The Huffington Post, “but I got a great song out of it.”

“Never Know” is the second track from Stansell’s three-song “Slow Down” EP, which was released in September. Next, he’ll collaborate with Atkinson once more for a video for the EP’s third (and final) song, “Spare Change,” which he described as a “direct response to the fear members of the LGBTQ community and the majority of the country are feeling” in the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory in November. “So many of us were looking around, trying to figure out what we could do in the wake of the election results, and producing this video is going to be one of my very first steps,” he said.

Stansell plans to head back to the studio to record his first full-length album, slated for release in the fall. He’s also written material for another EP, “Hometown,” in which he’ll specifically address his struggles coming out as gay while growing up in Tennessee. Turning those “deeply personal” memories into music, he said, was a bigger challenge than he expected.

“I had a tumultuous coming out, and if sharing my story can save one person from having to go through what I went through, then that is something I am passionate about pursuing,” he told HuffPost. “Now, more than ever, I think younger members of the LGBTQ community ― especially in the South ― need to know there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

See other Brandon Stansell videos by clicking here

Brandon Stansell - "Slow Down"

Brandon Stansell - "Spare Change"

Brandon Stansell - "Dear John"

Featured Artist - Saturday Gay Music Videos
Saturday, October 29 - 1:30 a.m.

(From Huffington Puffington Post) This week I talked with country artist Brandon Stansell about his new EP and music video Slow Down. Stansell brings a fresh face to the country music scene and there’s more that meets the eye with this crooner with Nashville roots breaking into the epicenter of his “California Country” sound. He is also navigating the path of an openly gay country artist. Though Brandon’s not the first to chart these waters, he is one of few people in the industry willing to lay everything out for the listener and the result is an honest, beautiful musical experience. Slow Down co-written with Mylen, was produced by Nashville-based producer, writer and guitarist Erik Halbig. Stansell met Erik a few years ago through mutual friend Ty Herndon who is also featured on the track. Director Trent Atkinson once again joined his team directing the Slow Down music video building on the cinematic scope after their first collaborative work Dear John which was released in early 2016. I talked to Brandon about his inspiration for Slow Down and his spin on our LGBT issues.

When asked what his personal commitment is to LGBT civil rights and what he would like to see happen for LGBT equality in the next few years Stansell stated:

I think that really the first step for anyone is just being honest and being genuine to who you are. For me that is I write and sing country music so I think it is my responsibility to be genuine in the music I put out there and how I portray myself. I think it’s really important that you see me with someone that I would be with and that is a man. If it’s a song about heartbreak or breakup or anything that we country people like to write about the visual is genuine to the artist. I think that is the first step for anyone.

Well I think over the past few years we’ve made great strides thanks to people better than I and I am so thankful and grateful for that and benefit from those things. I think we still have a long way to go and I would love to figure out my part to help in that. One of the things that I think about is the fact that we still have states including my home state where people just like me can be fired from their jobs just for loving the people they love and I think that is grossly unfair and un-American and not right and something I would love to see changed. I came out as a 22 year old man and at the time was working at a job where I didn’t know how my boss felt about me being gay. They didn’t know and I really relied on my paycheck like most people do. I don’t think that anyone should have to go through fear of coming out to their boss for fear that they are going to lose their jobs. It is a horrible feeling and experience and something I personally had to go through and something I just want to shield others from ever having to experience. So I would love to see that pushed forward and make this something that people in the LGBT community don’t have to worry about anymore.

Brandon Stansell grew up in Tennessee about an hour away from Nashville. He spent five years living in Nashville before moving to New York and then eventually landing in Los Angeles California where he is based. Slow Down is available for purchase via iTunes.

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