NASHVILLE - Shawn Lacy, a Swissdale area native, is excited about his band's new music video.
"Far From Home (Heartbeat)" by the Shawn and Hobby Band was shot in Nashville and Los Angeles and is now posted on YouTube and on the band's website: shbmusic.com. The direct link is www.icanfeelyourheartbeat.com.
The video starts out as a straight-shooting romance that ends with a heartfelt dedication to American troops.
Lacy and band mates Hobby Weiss, Matt Lee, Ron Lavella and Elio Giordano ask fans to view it and to tell their friends. They have the goal of 10,000 views by the end of the week and at last report were closing in on 5,000, a major feat for an indie band with no major public relations push behind it.
"We're doing it the old school way, with fans and friends," Lacy said.
The music video milestone will no doubt pale in a few weeks when Shawn, son of Brad and Cathy Lacy, becomes a father himself for the first time.
Although the Shawn and Hobby Band has had several successful tours, it is a staple of Nashville club life, and that suits Lacy right now. He wants to stay close to home with fiancee Melissa Beaird, whom he met in The Music City, as her due date of Feb. 14 approaches.
The couple chose not to find out ahead of time whether they will have a boy or girl.
"The grandparents want to know," Lacy said, "but it's more fun this way. It's going to be a good surprise, no matter what."
The singer-songwriter is confident he can be a dedicated father and continue his career, especially in Nashville, a city where he has many friends who find it is possible to "have families and perform, make music and keep on working on what we like to do."
The Shawn and Hobby Band is one of Music City's most popular country-rock bands. Recently "SHB" stirred-up the Philadelphia area with a performance on NBC's "The 10Show!" (and was recently included in "the best of 'The 10Show!'").
During that visit, the band performed numerous times, giving a free show for the troops at Dover Air Force Base, a sold-out show at Matthew's Tavern in Norwood and opening for rising country star Lee Brice at Harrah's Casino in Chester. SHB has since returned to Harrah's as a headliner.
Over Memorial Day weekend 2011, the band was invited to entertain in Kosovo by the U.S. Army. They performed at a U.S. base there and at a NATO base where their audience was international.
"We got to meet troops from a different countries when we did that show," Lacy said.
A graduate of the first class at Central Mountain High School, Lacy was a member of popular local bands including Midnight Special.
He, Hobby and their bandmates performed on Lock Haven's floating stage in 2010. The documentary "Radio On," about how the band evolved into a musical mainstay on Nashville's historic honky-tonk stages, was shown at the same time at The Roxy.
Made by Philadelphia area native Steve Condon, the documentary takes it title from a song on the band's first album, also titled "Radio On." It had its world premiere at The Nashville Film Festival to overwhelming applause.
Condon is now the band's creative manager as well as a director/writer of music videos and TV and film concepts. He has produced, directed and edited all three of the band's music videos.
The concept of the latest video was inspired by military spouses, and it is dedicated to those who serve our country in the armed forces, as well as their spouses and families.
"We shot half the video in Nashville, half in L.A. It was fun," Lacy said.
The Nashville portion was filmed in the summer in a warehouse space with no air conditioning, he recalls, on the second floor of a downtown club.
"It was probably about 110 degrees up there. We were all trying not to sweat that much when the camera was doing close-up shots," he said. "We did it all in one long day so we didn't have to break it down and then set up again.
"L.A. was never really too hot or too cold, so that was great," he added. "And we got to play some shows while we were out there for the shoot."
Shot on a shoestring, the video "goes to show what you can do with time, sweat equity, people pooling favors and fans who wanted to be a part of the video," Lacy said.
Condon and the band are now in discussion with the USO about a possible partnership. The band is considering selling the "Far From Home (Heartbeat)" single and video as a fundraiser for disabled vets and/or army families in need. "We'd like to give back," Lacy said.
The band also donated portions of its proceeds at one time to Nashville flood relief.
"Far From Home (Heartbeat)" has just been released as a single and will be on the band's next album, scheduled for summer release this year.
The Shawn and Hobby Band has shared stages with legendary performers Merle Haggard, David Allen Coe, Phil Vassar, Pat Green, and The Guess Who, among others, and has toured in the Northeast, California, Kentucky, Tennessee and other regions.
Lacy said the bandmates hope to get back to Pennsylvania soon.
The band's "Radio On" CD of hard-hitting, songwriter-influenced Americana rock is available online at Amazon.com, ITunes.com and cdbaby.com. Visit shbmusic.com to see its music videos.
