Exclusive Premiere: Grace Leer Puts DIY Skills To The Test To Create Festive ‘Run Run Rudolph’ Music Video
Rising country artist Grace Leer is giving fans an early Christmas present this year with the release of her new…
Photo Courtesy Grace Leer
Rising country artist Grace Leer is giving fans an early Christmas present this year with the release of her new festive music video for her cover of “Run Run Rudolph.”
At the end of October, Leer unveiled her cover of the Christmas classic that features her unique country sound with a hint of a rock and roll flare. Now, she’s sharing the accompanying music video, which is sure to get fans into the holiday spirit as it contains a plethora of red and green décor to set the scene.
Leer explained that it was filmed at night in a rustic barn out in Nolensville, TN, which sits about 45 minutes outside of Nashville.
“We were there until like two in the morning in this freezing barn, and I’m just having to perform, ‘Run Run Rudolph’ over and over and over again,” she told Country Now. “But it was so much fun, and those were all my Christmas decorations and my friends’ Christmas tree. I was like, ‘does anybody have a Christmas tree?’ So it was very DIY. Also, decorating for Christmas is the best.”
Cheery lights, elegant garland, stockings, nutcrackers, and of course, a beautifully decorated Christmas tree with a bright star on top and presents underneath filled the background of the video. Leer steps onto the makeshift stage emulating her own holiday spirit with her white cowboy boots, white skort, red sequin top with feathered cuffs, and to pull it all together, a pop of cherry red lipstick.
“I just love my music videos. That is like my favorite part of, obviously, there’s a lot of favorite parts to music and the songwriting, but the videos are just, I’m such a visual person and I just love bringing something that, you know, people can smile at. The first cut I got of it, I was just smiling ear to ear. And that’s what Christmas is about. I mean, it’s the holidays; it’s jolly, it’s fun.”
As she hung the stockings with care and soaked up every bit of the holiday spirit, Leer belted out the lyrics, “Run, run Rudolph, Santa’s has to make it in town/ Santa, make him hurry, tell him he can take the freeway down / Run, run Rudolph, reelin’ like a merry-go-round.”
Choosing to cover this upbeat song was an easy choice, according to the Nashville-based artist.
“I decided to cover ‘Run Run Rudolph’ because it’s a classic Christmas song and I’m all about the classics for me. The traditional country music, ‘90s country, that’s my vibe,” she explained. “So I definitely wanted to do something that is classic and Chuck Berry’s version of ‘Run Run Rudolph’ is the best.”
Leer added, “I grew up listening to the classics in the kitchen with my mom baking cookies. So I wanted to do something like that, but I wanted to make it really fun. I wanted to make it, you know, a little bit of rock and roll, a little bit of country, and I think we accomplished that. Jared Hampton just crushed it on production, so very happy with it.”
With that being said, Grace Leer explained that she tries to wait until after Thanksgiving to start listening to Christmas music, but usually, she ends up giving into the temptation of the Christmas joy that comes from the holly jolly tunes because it reminds her of happy childhood memories.
“Growing up, Christmas was the best time with my family and I just have wonderful memories as a child,” she shared. “We’re very traditional with…we do the same thing every single year. We make the same thing on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and baking cookies with my mom and my sister. I mean, it is just my favorite, favorite, favorite time of year.”
While this may be her first Christmas song, Grace Leer hopes that it certainly won’t be her last.
“It is my first Christmas song I’ve put out, the one of many. I hope to have a full Christmas album someday. That’s the goal.”
This art for this song may look familiar as it is the holiday version of the cover art for her recently released debut self-titled EP, which was produced by Dan Fernandez, Jared Hampton (LANCO) and Daniel Agee.
The 7-track project features three new songs including “The One,” a heartbreaking ballad reflecting on love and loss, “Meant To Be,” an emotional breakup song, and “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere,” a cover of Dwight Yoakam’s classic track.
Grace Leer is currently on the road with fellow American Idol alums, HunterGirl and Noah Thompson, acting as an opener for their co-headlining tour. Her next performance is scheduled for December 1 in Lexington, KY.
Madeleine O’Connell graduated from North Central College with a bachelors degree in Journalism and Broadcast Communications before deciding to pursue her studies further at DePaul University. There, she earned her masters degree in Digital Communication & Media Arts. O’Connell served as a freelance writer for over two years while also interning with the Academy of Country Music, SiriusXM and Circle Media and assisting with Amazon Music’s Country Heat Weekly podcast. In addition to Country Now, she has been published in American Songwriter, Music Mayhem, and Holler.Country. Madeleine O’Connell is a member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.
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