Zach Bryan Tells a Story of Small-Town Jealousy in ‘Oklahoma Smokeshow’ Video
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Zach Bryan has released a new music video for the song “Oklahoma Smokeshow,” a standout track from the singer-songwriter’s 2022 Summertime Blues EP.
Directed by Matthew Dillon Cohen, the cinematic treatment brings Bryan’s vivid lyrics to life with a tale of crime, jealousy, and unrequited love. The story focuses on a small-town woman who’s desired by all the guys, but finds herself most drawn to a man who drinks too much, steals out of cash registers, and is headed nowhere good.
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In the midst of this relationship, she’s being wooed by another man who treats her well and doesn’t have the same self-destructive impulses, playing the part of Bryan’s narrator who’s “thinkin’ about a life with you and I.” He dances with her and helps with household chores, but his clear feelings spark a jealous fist fight with her bad boy suitor. In the end, the characters make some predictable choices that seem to fit Bryan’s summation, “She’ll never make it out alive.”
Bryan has enjoyed a massive couple of years that turned him into a star and a huge live draw. His 2022 album American Heartbreak was one of Rolling Stone’s favorites of last year, and this year he’s been taking on ticketing giant Ticketmaster with a tour that eschewed their system entirely. The Burn Burn Burn American Tour gets into full swing May 10 and uses AXS venues as well as a few venue-specific systems, attempting to keep prices low and prohibit the resale of tickets to turn a profit.
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