Nashville visits Rose Township: C &W singer shoots video on local farm

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Tommy Steele signs autograph

ROSE TOWNSHIP, Michigan – A little piece of Nashville showed up in Rose Township on Wednesday as one of country music’s up and coming sensations, Tommy Steele traveled to Hoffman Farms on Rose Center Road to film his next music video.

A Michigan native, Steele, 39 was born and raised in Rochester Hills where he says he fell in love with music at the age of 11. After buying a garage sale drum kit with his own money, Steele was hooked and after teaching how to play other instruments including the guitar, the bass and mandolin, began writing and performing his own songs. Steele now splits his time between Holly and Nashville.

Country music fans first glommed onto Steele in 2007 after the release of his first album, “Love Country Music,” downloading a million and a half on-line plays from the his web site. The album’s overnight success earned him a nationwide tour performing and showcasing his musical skills, and opening for acts like Leann Rimes and Big and Rich.

This year, Steele has finished recording his second album in Nashville, “The Long Haul,” set for release in November.

Wednesday, Steele, along with his fiancé Kelly Bonds and his production crew, visited Rose Township resident, Bob Hoffman’s 299-acre farm to film the first video off his new album, “Watching Love Grow.”

Steele said he and video director Noel Thompson visited several Michigan farms before choosing Hoffman’s.

“Noel and I scouted a lot of farms, and when this one was brought to our attention, we just said, ‘Wow – what a beautiful place,’” Steele said. “We wanted to shoot the video in Michigan – we’ve been doing a lot of things in Michigan, trying to bring everything back to our home state,” he added. “Everybody says in order to do what we’re doing, we have to be in Nashville, but I don’t believe that.”

Thompson said the single, “Watching Love Grow” will go on a radio tour in October, and hopefully get needed airtime on Country Music Television and Great American Country.

The video tells two intertwined stories:  the first, a story of a typical American family with a hard working husband and father who works every day for the good of his brood. Every evening as he returns home to his family, he is reminded of what really matters – family. The second story is that of Steele as he leaves on tour.

“Tom’s part of the video is the secondary story,” Thompson said. With Bonds portraying Steele’s wife in the video, Thompson said the idea was to make it as real as possible. “The scene we’re filming today is at Tom’s house and he’s packing up getting ready to leave on tour,” he said. “But we’re also filming the parts where Tom and Kelly are missing each other because when he’s on tour, he doesn’t get to come home at the end of every day.”

Thompson said the real “clincher” comes at the end of the video. “In the end, we show them coming home and reuniting, and at the very end, we reveal that Kelly is pregnant.” Bonds is expecting the couple’s first child later this month.

“The video about family – it’s about getting back to your grass roots and family values,” Steele said before beginning Wednesday’s filming. 

“It’s just a great song - it talks about growing up, your family – where you want to spend your time,” he said. “I spend most of my time working, but when I’m home and with my family, that’s my time and I’m very protective of that.”

Steele said “Watching Love Grow” was written by Rodney Clawson, a number one Nashville song writer, responsible for writing songs for singers like Faith Hill, Phil Vassar, Neal McCoy, Jason Aldean and George Straight.

Hoffman, who is an acquaintance of Thompson’s aunt, heard Steele was looking for a farm to shoot his video and wasted no time in offering to help.

“I think the farm is pretty conducive to the story,” Hoffman said. “It’s a horse farm and is really ideal for a country and western video – and it’s a perfect day,” Hoffman added, gesturing to the clear blue sky and stunning surroundings. “It’s incredible.”

For more information on Tommy Steele and the Steele Canyon Band, visit his web site at www.tommysteele.com.