Jordan Rowe + Ashland Craft Let Lyrics Shine in ‘Who Needs You’ Music Video [Exclusive Premiere]
When Jordan Rowe cut “Who Needs You," he knew it would be even better as a duet. That’s when he called his friend Ashland Craft to join him, marrying their vocal strengths together in the relatable song and video.
“We’d been friends kinda before all of this,” Craft shares with Taste of Country. “We’ve gotten to write before all of this…I love what he’s doing.”
Craft was here for Rowe’s stylistic nod to the feel of 90’s country music and the relatability she found in “Who Needs You."
A last-minute cut, "Who Needs You" turned into one of Rowe’s favorite songs on his debut album, Bad Case of the Good Ole Boy.
“We kinda already had the songs picked out, but I was like, 'Let’s see if we can take one last stab at it,'” Rowe shares.
That “let’s try one last time” turned into lyrical gold.
“You almost think it’s a breakup song the whole way through until the hook,” he shares. “Then you’re like, 'Oh wait, this is actually a love song.' It’s kinda both. That’s what I thought was really cool.”
“Who Needs You” is a song that walks through all the emotions of a breakup and the ups and downs that accompany it. The song is relatable on both sides of the coin, so when it came time to shoot the music video, Rowe wanted the lyrics to carry, with the ambience of the video only serving as the added garnish.
“We wanted to go with something that had a vibey feel, yet was also simple and intimate,” Rowe says when talking about the idea behind the video. “My favorite performance videos are not jumping all over the place, they’re just kinda in one setting…feeling the rawness of the song.”
The video for "Who Needs You" premieres exclusively via Taste of Country on Thursday (April 21), featuring Rowe and Craft sitting on stools, four whiskey barrels behind them, with just a little bit of light illuminating them in the background.
“You can just feel the raw emotion of the performance, and the focus is more on the song than the different shots,” Rowe shares.
Rowe says “Who Needs You” differs from other songs he’s cut.
“It’s the one on the project, along with 'I Didn’t Sleep Last Night,' were the two that were pushing the boundaries of the sound of that album,” he shares, adding that while it does mirror his other cuts on the album in terms of subject matter and melodies, production-wise, he and his team reached for something new.
“It’s got the 808 kick beats with the fiddle, which is super cool to me,” he expresses. “I hadn’t heard that before.”
Listen to “Who Needs You” and the rest of Rowe’s sevens songs from Bad Case of the Good Ole Boy via any music streaming service, or at the singer’s official website.