Few art forms have the power to evoke pure emotion as the music video. Purists may scoff, rolling their eyes behind their opera glasses at the notion that any story can be artfully told in under four minutes. But those of us who grew up in the MTV era, when the titans of music had to be as comfortable in front of the camera as in front of an audience, we understand the power that those four minutes can have.
In Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” we watched as famed director Jon Landis brought the same chilling eye for the macabre that made “An American Werewolf in London” a classic to the small screen, petrifying us as zombie hordes bore down on the King of Pop. In “November Rain,” the same director who helmed the English National Opera’s production of Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” took us on a journey through love, loss, and cinematically epic guitar solos. And in Johnny Cash’s “Hurt,” director Mark Romanek painted a haunting portrait of a musical icon taking one last look back as he neared the end.
Jevon Daly shoots a scene in the music video “Hilton Head Looks Good on You” near South Beach Marina.
Jevon Daly’s newest music video, a tour of our community set to the strains of his tune “Hilton Head Looks Good On You,” does not attempt to achieve such artistic heights. Indeed, it would be a pretty abrupt about-face for the artist who rocked a shark costume in “Sharks Are Our Homies” to come at us with something too heartfelt. That said, this video presents us with one simple truth that most of us already knew – this is a very special place to call home.
“I guess that’s what I was going for when I wrote this. Everybody always says, ‘Jevon, you need to write something serious.’ Even though on the surface this is a fun song, I feel like it’s kind of nostalgic sounding,” said Daly. “I made a kid cry with this song one time at the Dunes House. Her mother came up to me after the show and said, ‘Your song really resonated with my daughter.’ I thought she was joking.”
Trevor Harden, Jevon Daly and Maggie Washo shoot a scene in the Sea Pines Forest Preserve.
Woo Hoo Wee Hee Hilton Head Looks Good on Me
The first step in the process was to lock down the stars of the video – the people who make the island a home. The call went out, as most things do, on social media, where Maggie and Jevon took a break from “doin’ Lowcountry stuff” to solicit help from the community.
“We’re looking for extras to be in the next Jevon Daly music video,” said Maggie Washo (publisher of this fine publication) in the video, filmed from the passenger seat of Daly’s car as the pair of them jumped between photo shoots.
“We need extra extras,” Daly quipped.
Piggly Wiggly’s Dave Martin shoots a scene with Lane Bradberry, Daly, Palmer Pritchard and Kim Crouch.
The call went out, and a crew of extra extras was happy to oblige. First stop on the marathon shooting schedule was a sunrise shoot at Coligny Beach. Decked out in an array of colors that would make The Polyphonic Spree look beige by comparison, they greeted the sunrise while Daly led them in some dance moves.
“Maggie and Jevon are great to work with. We have a blast even when the day starts at 4:30 a.m.,” said videographer Trevor Harden of Harden Creative. “Hilton Head Looks Good on You” is just the latest video that Harden has shot with the C2 crew, going back to “Sharks Are Our Homies” five years ago. “It’s a nice change of pace, and I think it’s a cool idea to show off all the landmarks that make Hilton Head Island. I think a lot of people are going to relate to seeing their favorite spots and people.”
The 6 a.m. Crew!(from left to right:) Jacqueline Hayworth, Amos Hummell, Lynne Hummell, Daniel Roth, Charlie Schroeder, Stacy Stiffler Williams, David Adams, Jevon Daly, Anthony Mervin, Bridget Coan, Bill Althoff, Jim Brown, Marika Althoff, Dave Peck and Catherine Davies.
The first landmark in front of the cameras was Frosty Frog Café, where a quintet of local ladies represented one of the island’s greatest joys: drinking in the sunlight.
Two ladies in the group, Caitlin Lee and Heather Rath, are local institutions and co-hosts of the “Hilton Head Island is (Still) Fun” podcast.
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Jeffrey Reeves, Barry Kaufman, Andrea Gannon, Autumn Frasher, Jevon Daly and Trevor Harden shoot a scene at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina.
“Is this going to be on the podcast? Of course. We’re here day drinking on the Monday after Heritage,” said Lee with a laugh.
“All Maggie had to say was, ‘Come to the Frosty Frog at 11 a.m. and wear a sundress,’ and I said OK,” Rath said.
Joining them in front of CH2’s cameras were Lola Campbell and Denice Brown, who were equally overjoyed to be a part of the shoot at Frosty Frog. “Rather than the 6:15 sunrise shot? Yeah,” Brown said. But the star of that scene is easily Egan McGlynn, whose unrivaled face acting beautifully conveyed the pain of grandma getting brain freeze.
“I was born to do this,” she said between takes.
Daly dances while he fiddles in the Sea Pines Forest Preserve.
Wee Hee Woo Hoo Hilton Head Looks Good on You
Next up on the first day’s shooting schedule was another landmark, the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, where Daly, decked out in a bewilderingly purple suit, frolicked on the stage of “Waitress: The Musical.” While she had initially signed on just to let the C2 crew into the building, vice president of marketing Andrea Gannon found herself pulled into the shoot, playing a background extra.
“If you’re going to iconic places on Hilton Head, we feel like we’re the cultural hub of Hilton Head, so it’s only natural you should come through,” she said while waiting for filming to start.
You can’t make a video about Hilton Head Island without an appearance from Hudson’s Andrew Carmines. On this particular morning, Daly and Carmines got eaten alive by one million no-see-ums.
It Takes a Village
Even before video production ever started, however, Daly sent the song to a few of his well-respected musical peers for some massaging.
“I often send my new songs to Mike Kavanaugh for some no-holds barred constructive criticism,” said Daly. Mike Kavanaugh is a fellow band mate of Daly’s in Jojo Squirrell and the Home Pickles and has learned to play over 800 songs in his over 40 years as a local entertainer.
Amie Baima and Evan Berkner add their talents and beautiful breakfast props to the video at Skillets Cafe & Grill.
“The first big thing Mike did, was make the song about me and you – the original version was really just my experience- my Hilton Head Island story. He really showed me that it could be everyone’s – that it sort of is everyone’s. Switching half of the chorus lines to “Hilton Head looks good on you too” made the song more inclusive,” said Daly.
“Jevon and I both work alot in the Coligny area, so we’ve observed alot of vacation traditions over the years; we had those in mind while writing the song,” said Mike Kavanaugh. “I think Jevon is the most prolific songwriter on Hilton Head – and I enjoy having a front seat when it comes to his seemingly endless creativity.”
Judy Bastian and Trudy Chaille shoot a scene with Daly on the pickleball court.
Daly then reached out to Kyle Wareham, a well-known musician in popular bands like Pretty Darn and Algorhythm to remix the track specifically for the video. Wareham has worked with Daly on multiple songs including, “Sharks are our Homies”, “Mama Loggerhead” and Daly’s children’s album, What’s Your Superpower?. Wareham’s contribution to “Hilton Head Looks Good on You” resulted in an upbeat song you want to dance and whistle to, accented with fiddle, which wasn’t in the initial recording.
Daly and Harden review a shot by the Neptune statue at Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina.
“It was a fun and challenging project and when Maggie Washo asks you to do something, you do it,” joked Wareham. “But in all seriousness – Jevon is an excellent songwriter – and I always love collaborating with him. When he called I was in an airport, headed to go on tour in Texas with Algorythym, but I started working on it immediately.”
The Palmetto Dunes Crew: Daly and Washo pose for a photo with Brittany Melissakis, Abbey Caporuscio, Samm Wolfe and Karen Kozemchak after completing a shot with Wolfe at the Toptracer Range at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course. .
“Hilton Head Looks Good on Me” will premiere on CH2’s Facebook and Instagram pages at 8 p.m. on June 11. We hope you enjoy and share with everyone who loves Hilton Head Island!
Weaving together home videos, footage from iconic festivals like the Lantern Parade and location shoots (including a jaw-dropping drone shot from the top of the Harbour Town Lighthouse), the video pairs Daly’s song with a visual love letter to the island. With the skillful eye of Harden Creative and the unbridled creativity that have made Maggie and Jevon TikTok darlings, it manages to accomplish something that November Rain never could. It connects with us, speaking a language known only to lovers of this island. To the tune of another Jevon Daly banger, it shows how Hilton Head Island looks good on all of us.
A Native Son Adventure: A line in the song talks about seeing dolphins, so the CH2 crew teamed up with Byron Sewell to get this shot with some well-known locals and their kiddos. Pictured from left to right: Baby D, Lacey, Brienne and David Thornton, Daly, Roby Breger, Cameron, Charlie and Hank Shroeder hang out on Sewell’s tiki boat in Shelter Cove Marina.
“Isn’t everybody always trying to make that video about Hilton Head Island? Where’s our ‘Country Roads?’ We don’t have it,” Daly said.
We do now.
The Moskowitz family poses for “family photos on the beach,” a line in the song.
Tai Scott, Chef Lynn Michelle and the Indugent Islander, Nick DeSimone, pose for a quick photo at Beautiful Island Square.
Kathy and Alan Perry pose for a quick shot with Roy and Becky Prescott at the Salty Dog Cafe.
Daly runs through the song several times at the Tiki Hut while Harden gets the shot.
CH2 writer and Bikram Yoga Instructor, Cheryl Ricer, crosses off her bucket list item of being in a Jevon Daly music video.
Caitlin Lee, Denise Brown, Heather Rath, Jevon Daly, Lola Campbell and Egan McGlynn film a scene about drinking frozen daiquiris at the Frosty Frog in Coligny Plaza. Shout-out to this crew for looking so pretty and festive the Monday morning after Heritage Sunday!
Daly films a secene on the beach with fellow musician and friend Martin Lesch on piano. Longtime local and Tiki Hut bartender Mike Hays stands in as a saxophone player.
Daly poses for a shot with his brother, Gavan Daly, and his mother-in-law, Sheila, all wearing purple to match the energy!
