“Surrender (It’s You)” by Brett Ryan Stewart & Cheyanne Cope
If first you don’t succeed try try again. That’s the mind set of independent artists Cheyanne Cope and Brett Ryan Stewart and their approach to their latest Nashville music video. While collaborating on a track some years back, Stewart was noodling around on the guitar at his studio The Sound Shelter in Franklin, TN.
Cope recognized something special, something more than a side jam. She made the choice to capture the inspiration on a voice memo on her smartphone. Unbeknownst to Brett Ryan Stewart, Cope would continue to sit with the recording and audition possible fitting melodies.
Fast forward to The Sound Shelter
Some time later, Stewart and Cope met once again at The Sound Shelter to collaborate on a new tune. Cope decided to call up that old voice memo to offer the track one more nod. But this time, Brett and Cheyanne locked in on a vision for the track and before long, “Surrender” became a song the team agreed was worth lending attention.
Studio interns Zach Manno and Michael Deano added some extra elbow grease and the team layed down a sonically competitive version of the ballad. Feeling inspired by the organic creation of the tune, the group began to feel that the “little melody that could” deserved a proper release.
The friends entertained talks of sync licensing and the suggestion to pair the ditty with video to demonstrate its cinematic potential felt like a good plan. As a result, Cheyanne Cope decided to reach back into the past yet again.
Flashback to college
Biola University 2014. A senior thesis project challenged its film students to produce a 14 minute short film. Senior filmmaker, David Tracy, got busy capturing a story of a young couple on the verge of a breakup. The discouraged lovers decide to embark on a road trip to revive their relationship.
We’ll save you the suspense. It doesn’t work out for lead actor Braden Roggow. Talk about a total shoe gazer! However, the short, entitled “Tornado Alley” left the Cinema Media Arts Awards at Biola University Taylor-Swift-style with an armful of awards including Best Cinematographer (Samuel Halleen), Best Editing, Best Director, Best Picture and Best Actress.
Anyone want to take a guess who the best actress was? Here’s a hint…Cheyanne Cope.
A failed launch
A slew of broken promises and the lack of major budget backing keep the indie film from ever finding the scratch to make a proper debut in the real world, a major bummer for the cast and crew involved in the project. What a downer!
Re-purposing
Are you putting two and two together yet? Cheyanne reached out to David Tracy about pulling some of the sleeping footage to create a 30 second promo for “Surrender” and staying true to his incomparable work ethic Tracy made a suggestion. The choice was made to re-edit the forgotten footage into a full Nashville music video release.
Finally, over time and space, two separate pieces of content shake hands and find new life. Our team at NASHVILLE UNSIGNED is quite impressed with the results of the repurposing and is proud to present the song and the music video that almost didn’t exist.
To learn more about the masters behind “Surrender” visit www.brettryanstewart.com or www.soundcloud.com/cheyannecopemusic
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