The country-bluegrass group debuts the music video for their latest track, “Every Dog Has Its Day.”
Country-bluegrass gospel trio Flat River Band has psyched up crowds for artists like Ricky Skaggs, Rhonda Vincent, and TG Sheppard. Now the group — consisting of brothers Andy, Dennijo, and Chad Sitze — have released their fifth album, Every Dog Has Its Day.
Album highlights include the title track. Written by Chad, the song shines a light on ambition and getting through the tough days.
Recently we caught up with the Sitze brothers to talk about their new album and the music video for “Every Dog Has Its Day.”
Cowboys & Indians: You’ve just released Every Dog Has Its Day. What do you hope fans will get out of it?
Chad Sitze: We’re always excited about releasing new material. I feel this collection is our best yet! Our vocals were recorded all at the same time, so we rehearsed pretty extensively on this collection of songs. In the past, we always built around the lead vocalist. On the Every Dog Has Its Day project, we all three sang at the same time, so if someone made a mistake, we’d just start over. By doing this, we captured a vibe that we have never captured before.
C&I: You explore many different stories on the album, from the darker side of American history and the beauty and grandeur of the world around us to laid-back days and life as a dog. What inspired these stories and how would you say they relate to one another?
Chad: On the first track, “In Another World,” we teamed up with John Scott Sherrill and wrote this song around our vocals for an old-school R&B vibe.
The words displayed in “Every Dog Has Its Day” actually came from both of our grandpas. Our dad’s dad was a barber and our mom’s dad was a vacuum salesman. The work ethic they lived, providing for their families, was simply unparalleled. Of course, I didn’t really notice those things growing up. I really didn’t recognize it until I started my own family, and honestly, I feel it’s missing in this country today. As a songwriter, I couldn’t pass up the wise words of a barber and a vacuum salesman all rolled into one.
“Beauty Amongst the Trees” is sort of a soapbox and a wakeup call to the cell phone generation that can’t seem to lift their head to take in the majestic beauty that surrounds us all.
The darker side of American history is rolled out with “Devil on the Side” and “John R. Brinkley.” The term compromise has been so abused within the political realm of this country, which is told in “Devil on the Side.” With “John R. Brinkley,” he was a self-proclaimed doctor that provided surgical procedures on men who experienced impotence, which was simply a goat transplant. He also was a radio pioneer who sold autographed pictures of Jesus, and that in itself is worthy of telling in a song.
“No Hill for a Climber” — I heard that saying in my dad’s barbershop years ago. I held onto it for a long time and teamed up with my brothers to tell a story about what a lot of people face in life, conquering the adversities we all face on this journey of life.
C&I: The music video for the title track follows the day-to-day life of a man’s best friend. How did you all come up with the idea?
Dennijo Sitze: This concept originated from a friend of ours, Eric Dahl. We discussed the idea but kind of tossed it to the side because the idea of strapping a GoPro onto a dog’s back and trying to get usable footage seemed to be a big hurdle. We ended up sitting back down the morning of the shoot and reverting back to that initial idea, though. This couldn’t have been accomplished without a flexible film crew. David McGowan put this together and hit a home run.
C&I: What was the filming process like?
Dennijo: We shot most of the footage in Hickman County, Tennessee, at Phil’s Cycle Shop. He has an amazing Americana-feel front porch on his cycle shop. I drove past this location several times thinking to myself, What an awesome front porch. The sawmill scene was shot in Centerville, Tennessee, at Freeman Sawmill. We spent two days shooting and had a blast watching David work his magic.
C&I: Can you tell us a little about the star of the video? How did you cast him?
Dennijo: The video was shot from a dog’s perspective and Lady seemed to be very photogenic. She was a gift to my wife, Rebekah, who named her Lady Mary after her favorite TV show character, Lady Mary Crawley from Downton Abbey, played by Michelle Dockery. Lady is a 1½-year-old registered bloodhound, and she is spoiled rotten.
C&I: What’s the story of how that song came about?
Chad: Watching the lives of our grandpas was the true inspiration behind the track.
Get an exclusive first look at the music video for “Every Dog Has Its Day,” below.
For more information on Flat River Band, visit their website.
Photography: Thom King