Zach Bryan’s Oak Island Music Video Sets a Cinematic Standard in the Music Business

Zach Bryan’s song “Oak Island” was released earlier this summer on his album, The Great American Bar Scene. The song itself didn’t become a summer staple of Bryan’s nor garner him streams and chart placement’s unlike other hits from the album “28” and “Pink Skies.” Nonetheless, the song’s lyrics are some of Bryan’s best storytelling, making it highly conducive for the screen.

In short, “Oak Island” is about two brothers, one who needs protecting, and the other who is the protector. Although, what truly makes the song’s lyrics so prepped for the screen is the detail in the blue collar, rough edged descriptions of the song’s setting. That being so, it can be surmised that when Bryan and his girlfriend, Brianna LaPaglia sat down to write the script for the video, they didn’t have to do much work. As Bryan’s lyrical framework already accomplished a majority of the work.

Zach Bryan & Casey Affleck

If one watches the music video for “Oak Island,” it wouldn’t be foolish to mistake it for the trailer of an upcoming blockbuster film. Not only is that because of the cinematography and production quality, but also because it’s starring Oscar winner, Casey Affleck. Affleck, who plays the protective elder brother gives a genuine performance that speaks multitude without any dialogue. Once again, Bryan’s lyrics do all the heavy lifting.

It’s one thing to have a great performance in a music video, it’s another thing to have that performance be from an A-list actor. That said, by having Affleck star in the video, Bryan not only produces a great product, but also incidentally pushes every other musician in the game to top his video. Lastly, this isn’t first time Bryan has had a heavy hitting actor in one of his music videos, Matthew McConaughey starred in Bryan’s music video for “Nine Ball.”

The Sheer Quality

This might seem a bit elementary and not a very substantiated claim, but the truest ones don’t need much evidence. This is entirely true when it comes to this music video, as it’s just pretty and well done. Now, this isn’t a film publication, so we won’t bore you with those details. Though, compared to the rest of the other current videos it’s a masterclass.

Zach Bryan’s music video is a reminder of how important music videos used to be, as well as how they were a staple facet of a musicians career and not just an obligation. “Oak Island” came out just six days ago and already has 915 thousand views with more to come. Watch this cinematic piece of pop culture below.

Photo by Daniel DeSlover/Shutterstock