Jon Patrick Walker is one of those super talented people who can lay their hand at anything and make it a success. Singer-songwriter, and actor, he’s currently on tour across the US with the musical, ‘Hamilton’, in the role of King George III, which he’s been performing for the past two years, his latest single ‘Luv U Girl’ is out today, and comes with a music video which he shot on his phone, in his hotel in San Antonio.
Life on the road is hard, especially when you’ve left your family behind you. While he’s been on tour, Jon Patrick Walker has spent his down time writing songs – in hotel rooms, Air BnBs, backstage in the dressing room. His family, actress Hope Davis (currently seen in ABCs ‘For The People’) and their two teenage daughters, are constantly on his mind. This becomes very clear in his music. Latest release, ‘Luv You Girl’, is the first single from his forthcoming album, ‘Welcome To The Edge Times’. It’s a simple tune, hauntingly beautiful, Jon singing while playing keyboards, as well as providing backing vocals. All minor keys, and sounding somewhat funereal, ‘Luv U Girl’ very cleverly conveys in its sound as much as the lyrics Walker’s feelings at being away from home for so long. The video is also deceptive in its simplicity. Shot by Walker himself on a mobile phone, it makes good use of the limited space of his hotel room, with cut shots illustrating the passage of time, and centred around a painting, created by Candy Carver, of “Girl” – in this clip played by Erin Clemons (who plays Eliza Hamilton on the National Tour). It’s a very eye-catching painting, and makes you wonder what sort of person “Girl” is…and why does she have The Sydney Opera House on her head? You get the feeling that maybe she likes adventure, and that in this case, perhaps Walker is her current adventure, as he wakes up and finds she’s left a goodbye note for him in their bed. From there he fills up his time reading in the bath, doing yoga, staring out the window, checking stuff on his phone, eating, playing guitar…and sitting, holding his head in his hands, wondering where it all went wrong. The painting in front of him the entire time, taunts him. Walker’s pain is too evident.
All is not lost however, when at the end of the clip, she returns. Goodbye, it seems, was a temporary thing.
The special effects of the clip, provided by Kirby Sybert, who also edited, are very effective in conveying the loneliness and despair of the lead character. Blurred footage, kaleidoscopic imagery, repeated scenes, and masking (check out from about 1.30 onwards, where four representations of Walker are gradually added, each doing something completely different), depict perfectly his boredom, sense of loss, and despair.
Walker’s run in Hamilton comes to an end this summer, so the heartache of separation won’t last much longer. The plus side is that it’s provided him with content for his album; we’re looking forward to ‘Welcome To The Edge Times’ immensely.
You can find Jon Patrick Walker online on his official website, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Stream ‘Luv U Girl’ on Spotify.
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