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| Charlie Louvin and Blake Judd |
Sometimes you never know of the talent that sits right in your very back yard. Greensburg, Ky., native and Lexington resident, Blake Judd, is making a name for himself thanks to a few country music hit makers. Currently, several of his music videos are playing in rotation on CMT and GAC.
One of the videos currently being played is Shooter Jennings' song, "The Real Me." The video is set in a rural church in Jessamine County and features several Kentucky natives as audience members. Another video, "Deed and the Dollar" was filmed in Greensburg, Ky. in a creek last fall. Shooter Jennings added pieces of family video featuring his fiancée, actress Drea De Matto. Blake Judd also directed one of Shooter's most talked about song pointing out the faux outlaws in country music today with his song "Outlaw You."
The connection to Shooter Jennings, son of Waylon Jennings, goes back a few years. Scott Biram had Judd to produce his video "Still Drunk Still Crazy Still Blue." According to Judd, "Shooter saw the video and liked it. At first, he wanted to use it for a web show like Headbanger’s Ball but something else ended up ruling the idea out. We ended up doing an EPK after his new album, "Family Man", then the 'Outlaw You' video. Fast forward, Shooter asked me to shoot his videos for 'Deed and the Dollar' and 'The Real Me' too."
Judd was also invited by Jennings to see the Sirius XM Radio show honoring Waylon Jennings featuring Josh Turner, Jamey Johnson, Shooter, Hank Jr. and Shooter's mother Jessi Colter. Afterwards, Judd attended Jr.'s Country Music Hall of Fame benefit show with Jennings and on to Third and Lindsay to see Billy Jo Shaver. “Being a part of that experience was amazing," Judd said.
Judd was also allowed in the studio as Shooter Jennings produced Hellbound Glory's newest album, "MericA." “A lot of folks came out to record on that project. They had Amanda Shires, Leroy Powell, Andy Gibson from Hank III's band, Richie Albright from Waylon's band, J.D. Wilkes from The Dirt Daubers, and many more. It was neat to be a part of the recording process," Judd recalled.
Blake Judd continues to make connections with music videos, along with wedding and sports. His recent projects include a Blues Traveler video for "You Don’t Have To Love Me," as well as central Kentucky's Fifth on The Floor video for "Distant Memory Lane." He recently wrapped up filming on Bucky Covington's new video for "Drinking Side of Country" that features cameo appearances by Shooter Jennings, Kellie Pickler, Mickie James, and Cowboy Kenny Bartram.
Judd also shot a short documentary for his alma mater, Transylvania University called "The Battle on Broadway" that depicts the preseason basketball game between Transylvania and the University of Kentucky.
One of the biggest projects that Blake Judd has been a part of is a special documentary on country music performer Charlie Louvin called, "Charlie Louvin: Still Rattlin’ The Devil’s Cage."
"This documentary came to light a few years ago. Keith Neltner and I met Charlie Louvin in 2008 and kept in touch. Soon he was battling pancreatic cancer and we reached out to interview him. We used the Kickstarter website to get funds for the project," Judd noted.
The amazing part is that they were able to film Charlie Louvin's last live performance at Nashville's FooBar music venue. Charlie was also very open of giving Blake and Keith contacts in the music business, Alison Krauss, George Jones, and Emmylou Harris, to name a few, to include them in the film. Blake remembered, "I was nervous yet excited to get to explain the project to those that knew Charlie best."
Fortunately they were able to capture stories by Charlie, as well as from his colleagues. "Sadly he passed away in January. All proceeds from the 1000 limited edition DVDs goes directly to Charlie's wife, Betty, to help pay for medical bills from when he was sick," according to Judd.
The film was featured at this year's Nashville Film Festival. Rodney Crowell, Jim Lauderdale, and many others took part in a discussion panel on the film.
