Rayland Baxter is sharing a brand new video for his song “Casanova”, the lead single from his latest LP Wide Awake. The video was directed and produced by Roxanna Dunlop and Arden Grier (Light Layer Productions). Rayland said of its creation, “I met Arden and Roxy earlier this year while they were producing a friend’s music video in Texas. We got along great and I loved their optimism and excitement. When it came to make a video for “Casanova”, they were my first call. I flew to LA, they put me in a suave purple suit and told me to start running, and I ran – through alleyways and over bushes, and even cannonballed into a pool. I couldn’t walk for a week after but now I have quite a fine memory from it all.”

Wide Awake was produced by Butch Walker (Weezer, Pink, Pete Yorn) and features Walker himself on bass, Cage the Elephant’s Nick Bockrath on guitar, Dr. Dog’s Eric Slick on drums, and piano wizard Aaron Embry (Elliott Smith, Brian Eno) on keys. Rayland’s father Bucky Baxter contributes pedal steel, as does original Nashville cat Lloyd Green

AMG on Ryland Baxter

Ryland Baxter grew up in a house full of music; his father is Bucky Baxter (aka William Baxter), a noted pedal steel guitarist who has worked with Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, R.E.M., and Ryan Adams. Rayland was about nine years old when his father gave him an electric guitar, but even though he enjoyed music and learned to play his new instrument, his first love was sports, and the young man was more interested in spending time outside than picking. Baxter would go on to play lacrosse at Loyola University, but injuries to his knees put an end to his career as a competitor, and with sports no longer a priority, his interest in music deepened. He eventually quit school and moved to Creede, Colorado, where he wrote songs, played open-mike nights, and busked for change. Baxter next landed a job as a roadie with the band Moonshine Sessions, and a tour of Europe prompted an extended stay in Paris, but when a brief romance left him with a broken heart, he took a friend up on an offer to spend some time in Israel, where he immersed himself in classic singer/songwriter albums (including artists such as Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Townes Van Zandt), and committed himself to the art of songwriting.