VIDEO PREMIERE: “Montana” by Hustle Souls

Winter is coming, but thanks to Hustle Souls it still feels like summer.

The Asheville-based soul rockers’ video for “Montana,” the upbeat lead single off their forthcoming EP, Daydream Motel (slated for a February 2021 release), was filmed in the warmth of early September, just north of Beaver Lake at the home of Henry Blackford, who graciously allowed his friends to essentially throw a two-day pool party.

Under the direction of Donnie Rex, frontman Billy Litz’s partner Tori plays the eponymous, gum-chewing femme fatale, who’s comically unimpressed with her fellow pool-goers and takes delight in pushing them around — and into the water, where Litz, Chris Everett (guitar), Kevin Scott (drums/vocals) and Jonathan Taylor (bass/vocals) continue playing the song.

“Surprisingly, not all of the instruments were completely destroyed. The electric stuff — guitar, bass, keyboard — for sure is done for good, but the brass still functions and we still use the drum kit at our practice space to this day,” Litz says.

“Funny enough, not long after our shoot, The Get Right Band had a post up looking for beater instruments that could be destroyed in one of their music videos, and I believe Chris actually linked up with them and gave them the guitar from this shoot. So, it will be a relatively famous Squire Strat by the end of the day, being beaten up in two different music videos.”