“The girl in the country song”
Bayli Miles and Tony Evans Jr. on set of the music video for Evans's song, "Somebody's Gotta Do It"
Courtesy of Bayli Miles
Bayli Miles and Tony Evans Jr. on set of the music video for Evans’s song, “Somebody’s Gotta Do It”
Courtesy of Bayli Miles
Bayli Miles and Tony Evans Jr. on set of the music video for Evans’s song, “Somebody’s Gotta Do It”
Tony Evans Jr. in the music video for his song, "Somebody's Gotta Do It"
Courtesy of Tony Evans Jr.
Tony Evans Jr. in the music video for his song, “Somebody’s Gotta Do It”
Courtesy of Tony Evans Jr.
Tony Evans Jr. in the music video for his song, “Somebody’s Gotta Do It”
Courtesy of Tony Evans Jr.
Tony Evans Jr. performs in the music video for his song, “Somebody’s Gotta Do It.”
A still of Bayli Miles in the music video for “Somebody’s Gotta Do It”
A still of Bayli Miles in the music video for “Somebody’s Gotta Do It”
A still of Bayli Miles in the music video for “Somebody’s Gotta Do It”
By Jill Thurston
Who wouldn’t want to be serenaded by a handsome country singer outside her bedroom window after being cheated on by a self-centered boyfriend?
Bayli Miles got the chance to be the “girl in the country song,” Tony Evans Jr. sings about in the video for his new song, “Somebody’s Gotta Do It.” The video features Evans, a country artist from Georgia, and Miles, a 2020 graduate of Trinity High School attending the University of South Alabama for nursing.
The song, written and performed by Evans, tells the tale of a young man longing for the attention of a girl already in a relationship. He takes his chance to tell how he would treat her better after learning her boyfriend is unfaithful. Evans’s deep, rich voice woos the uncertain Miles, serenading her from the yard as she sits listening on the roof outside of her bedroom window. He tells her someone has to be that man to” treat her right and do all he can,” and promises he will “wrap his arms around you like a slow dance … make you feel like the girl in the country song.”
The three-and-a-half-minute video was filmed in Wexford, Pa., over three stunning early fall days as the foliage just began to turn and streams of dazzling sunlight backlit the wooded settings.
Neither of these two young people from different areas of the country and pursuing different career paths have been in a music video before, until now.
A little networking secured Miles’s participation. Miles, 19, is no stranger to the camera, having modeled locally and nationally for the past six years. She’s grown a network of contacts over the years, and her name was brought up to the video’s producer, Ryan McMahon, as a good fit for the project.
Miles was thrilled and, fortunately, available. “Normally I’d be down here (in Mobile), but my grandfather was sick and I wanted to be with my family.” She came home for a visit to see him in early October and made time for a day of filming.
Miles didn’t meet Evans until the day of filming, but that wasn’t a problem. “He’s super sweet, such a great guy,” Miles said. “I’m really excited I got to meet him and work with him. They made it a fun day.”
She was relieved to find there was no pressure. “I was nervous going in because I didn’t have experience doing film like that. I didn’t know what to expect,” said Miles, who has modeled for Gladys Magazine and walked during Fashion Week in New York.
While the portion of her filming went smoothly, she said there was one “slippery” scene she had to film multiple times. “One of the toughest (scenes) to get was going from the window onto the roof because I had slippers on. I couldn’t stop laughing because I was trying not to slide off of the roof,” Miles said. “I’m not the most graceful person to begin with.”
Evans had the same admiration for Miles. “Bayli is a sweetheart. It was her first time acting in a video, but to me it looked like she’d been doing it her whole life,” he said. McMahon agreed and said even though this was her first experience, “she did everything I asked and more. She understood what I was trying to explain and she got it.”
Evans, 22, said he’s been making music most young life. His first effort was a pop song when he was 12. “It was the worst,” he said, laughing. “A couple years later I picked up the guitar. I said ‘this pop stuff isn’t for me’ and I started doing my own thing and that led me to country.” He has a long list of favorites, including George Strait, Alan Jackson, Darius Rucker and Cody Johnson.
Not only was this Evans’s first music video, but it was also his first time traveling outside of the south. McMahon is from the Pittsburgh area and arranged filming at the Wexford location. “It actually reminded me of home more than I thought it would,” Evans said. “A lot more hills up here, but I really like Pittsburgh,” especially when he found fishing poles available for his use on-site and a convenient nearby lake. “I was bass fishing everyday when I was up there. They literally had to pull me away from the lake. If you look closely in the video you can see the lake in the background and every chance I got I was out there. I grew up fishing. My grandad took me fishing. He took me to a catfish derby when I was a kid and ever since then, I’ve been in love with fishing.”
Conversely, Miles is becoming a fan of the south. She was already a country music fan. “It’s my favorite type of music, especially now that I go to South Alabama. That’s all we listen to here. Get-togethers are different here than at home. Normally we would play pop music and here they play country music and you slow dance or line dance. There’s one swing dance they do all the time and I finally had someone teach me,” she said.
A serious student, Miles belonged to numerous academic clubs during high school and received a scholarship from South Alabama. Modeling became a hobby for her after she won a modeling contest in middle school. Her goal remains to work in a hospital setting; however, she won’t rule out another music video if given the opportunity again. “It was a great first experience for a video. It made me realize that might be something I could be involved with because it was something I really enjoyed.”
The video was released on Oct. 16 on YouTube and Evans’s Facebook page. Miles, who has a large extended family, surprised them. No one in the family other than her parents knew about the video. She sent a link to them so they could watch it together. “It was hard not to tell them. We are a really close family. I sent a massive group link and they all watched it. They were so supportive,” Miles said. At school, Miles said someone recognized her from the video and asked if she knew Evans personally.
McMahon’s team included Andrew Grove and Darrick Scott. They produced the video in just a few days after filming. “It was a lot of fun and nice to see it come to life, especially during this challenging time.” McMahon said the production crew took the necessary safety measures, and the on-site staff was kept small to avoid potential exposures to COVID-19.
Evans said he expects to release an EP in the near future and plans to spend 2021 in the studio recording new music.
You’ll have to watch the video to see if he gets the girl. The video is available on YouTube, or search “Tony Evans Jr.” on any platform.