Jake Owen debuts an extended video for his single “Homemade" and shares how his grandparent’s emotional love story impacts his own.
Grab your tissues!
Country singer Jake Owen is continuing his emotional recreation of his grandparent’s real-life love story with a new, extended edition video for his current single “Homemade” -- premiering exclusively with ET.
Narrated by Owen’s actual grandparents, Bryan Yancey Owen and Jean Martin, the almost 14-minute Notebook-esque video, is a tribute to his grandparents' story from how they met, were separated, and reunited in the 1940s.
“We just need to keep telling the stories of real life everyday love,” Owen shares exclusively with ET. “Which sometimes is less sensational than hearing about the bad stuff.”
The 38-year-old singer, who stars as his grandfather in the video, first revealed his grandparent’s story on his Good Company With Jake podcast back in December 2017 and later brought it to life for the track "Homemade," off his most recent album, Greetings From… Jake.
“My grandfather saw my grandmother in Mumfordville, KY walking down the street,” Owen captioned a photo from set in August. “He took a picture of the house she went into on his old camera and decided to write her letters in the 1940s….They became pen pals, and next thing you know, their grandson is remaking a video of their beautiful love story 70 years later.”
In September, Owen released the standard music video for “Homemade,” which dramatized the beginning of his grandparent’s love story, but ended on a cliffhanger. Now, for the first time, Owen’s grandparents, who haven’t seen the video yet, will be able to see what their grandson has created for them.
“They know we were basing the video off them because I told them after we did our interview on my podcast,” Owen shares. “But I think they are excited to see, in a way, their official music video debut on ET!”
When it comes to his own love story with girlfriend Erica Hartlein, the “Down to the Honkytonk” singer says his grandparents’ story “set an amazing example of the importance of love and kindness on a day to day basis.”
“I was so glad we could tell this story of my grandparents not just for me, and my girls, but for others too,” the father of two shares. "A little more positivity in the world, even for those that didn’t have the easiest of circumstances, but made it work for love.”
Owen, who is no stranger to acting in his own music videos, will soon make his film debut in the upcoming movie The Friend. For the country star, acting alongside Jason Segel, Dakota Johnson and Casey Affleck was an experience that helped inspire the extended edition video for “Homemade.”
“It opened me up to the idea of sharing more about the narrative and extended storyline for these characters for the audience, especially since these weren’t just characters but actual people- my grandparents,” Owen explains.
The singer-songwriter also picked up a few skills while on the set of The Friend that he utilized during the filming of “Homemade" -- including the “ability to make it your own.”
“I wanted to honor the backstory of my grandparents,” Owen says, “but also be able to show off a different side than some of my fans have gotten to see yet. I think it will surprise people.”
Watch the exclusive premiere of Owen’s extended edition video of “Homemade” below:
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