Photo: Hanna Evensen
Doyle Bramhall II releases his “Love and Pain” video from his new album, Shades released on on Provogue/Mascot Label Group on October 5th.
Doyle Bramhall II makes his case — albeit an abstract and artful one — for gun control in the video for his song “Love and Pain”. But he wants to make clear that he’s out for common sense and compassion and not to ban guns completely.
“I’m Texan. I grew up with guns,” Bramhall, who was inspired to write the song in the wake of the 2017 Route 91 Harvest festival shootings in Los Angeles, tells Billboard. “My family and friends are gun owners. Gun ownership has always been part of my culture. I do not advocate for banning all guns or abolishing the Second Amendment, but it is past time to recognize the perpetuated danger of doing nothing. Gun control is not a political issue — it’s a human issue. There have been more than enough mass shootings and gun-related tragedies in this country to warrant discussions with intent to establish real solutions and take action. We owe it to all those who have died and lost beloveds unnecessarily to discuss common sense measures that will protect people from these near commonplace tragedies in the future.”
The video, directed by Hanna Evensen, contains a series of images — a young child with angel wings, a blind man reading what appears to be a Bible, a graveyard — while Bramhall sings the biting, soulful opening track from his new Shades album, which came out Oct. 5. “Art and music created in reaction to tragedy has always spawned discussion of difficult topics,” Bramhall notes. “The more people on both sides of the gun control divide talk about and honestly address America’s gun issues, the sooner we can come to understand one another and find common ground in effective solutions. Anti-gun or gun advocate — we can all agree too many have died. I am moved to ask the question- what do we value, when our freedom to worship, study, dance, congregate, attend concerts and walk the streets is compromised by the ready availability of weapons of war, used against our citizens with regularity, and we do nothing?”
Bramhall also sees a role for both sides of the current divide to weigh in on solutions, noting that “Gun owners, who best understand what responsible ownership means, could share insights and lead the charge in helping survivors and our representatives craft legislation to protect America’s innocents from those who should not have easier access to assault weapons than a driver’s permit.”
Shades, Bramhall’s follow-up to 2016’s Rich Man, features guest appearances by Eric Clapton, Norah Jones, Tedeschi Trucks Band and the Greyhounds. Bramhall also appears on Clapton’s new holiday set, Happy Xmas, and is already working on his next solo album.
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