Synopsis

Lindi Ortega's "Tin Star" video presents Nashville as a city of ambition, hard work and uncertain rewards. Ortega performs amid images of working musicians and the places where they try to build an audience, creating a portrait of life beyond Music Row's polished image. The clip emphasizes the contrast between dreams of recognition and the daily grind of playing for small crowds, unpaid dues and uncertain breaks. Its moody, cinematic style reinforces the song's view of the independent musician as a battered but persistent survivor.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Tin Star" was released as the title track's official video in November 2013, shortly after Ortega's album of the same name arrived on October 8, 2013.

• Ortega described the song as reflecting the gap between Nashville's high-profile Music Row industry and the local bar circuit where musicians often play for tips.

• Rock musician Matt Mays makes a cameo in the video.

• The production was made by Blake McWilliam and Back Road Productions. Brett Van Dyke handled the cinematography, with Kurt Richie credited for the edit.

• Van Dyke's work on "Tin Star" was nominated for Music Video Cinematography at the 2014 Canadian Society of Cinematographers awards.

• Saving Country Music included the clip among its best music videos of 2013, praising the way it captured the song's emotional account of independent musicians trying to survive and gain recognition.

• The song came from an album produced by Dave Cobb. Ortega said most of the record was recorded live in the studio, with many songs completed in only one or two takes to preserve the energy of a performance.