Chase Rice Takes PEOPLE Behind-the-Scenes of His Western 'Way Down Yonder' Music Video: Go Inside

"When we wrote this song, I had the mountains of North Carolina where I grew up in mind; all the moonshining history there in the Appalachians," writes the country star. "Then all of a sudden during the recording process, Rob McNelley started playing this crazy carnival sound on the acoustic… and it got Western quick. That turned it from a song I didn't think was even going to make the cut for this next album into one of my favorite songs on the project."

Dylan Wallis/Twelve Midnight

The music video for my new song, "Way Down Yonder," was shot as a single-take video in an
old-time Western saloon. We had cowboys, saloon girls, poker games, brawls… it might just be
a four-minute film, but there's a whole lotta action going on. I'm a big fan of the movie Lawless
and I grew up watching John Wayne; this was my chance to live out that fantasy for a little
while.

Dylan Wallis/Twelve Midnight

When I wrote this song, I had the Appalachian moonshiners back in my home state of North
Carolina in mind. Once we started recording, Rob McNelley played that crazy carnival sound on
the acoustic guitar and things got Western quick… we knew we had to bring that Wild West
element to the music video, so I worked with director Kaiser Cunningham and the production
crew at Twelve Midnight to bring that vision to life.

Dylan Wallis/Twelve Midnight

We filmed in the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District at a really cool place called the Brand Room, which gets its name from the hundreds of cattle brands hanging from the ceiling — they told us it's actually the largest brand collection in the world. It's got an old-school cowboy vibe already, but the crew went around and covered any trace of modern branding or technology that the camera might catch.

Dylan Wallis/Twelve Midnight

We even swapped out my usual boots that have a rubber sole for these leather ones to keep
everything as authentic to the time period as possible.

Dylan Wallis/Twelve Midnight

A lot of iconic films and TV shows have been filmed in Fort Worth, including 1883. A lot of our
actors were also extras in that show recently, so it was cool to continue carrying forward that
on-screen cowboy tradition.

Dylan Wallis/Twelve Midnight

Every corner you looked at had its own story going on for the camera to catch as it moved around the room throughout the song. The cast and crew rehearsed for hours to have every motion right for the single-take camera shot.

Dylan Wallis/Twelve Midnight

All of these actors were incredible. We couldn't have brought this Wild West vision to life
without them.

Dylan Wallis/Twelve Midnight

That's a wrap!