Jordyn Pollard shoots music video in Moose Jaw for her new single

Jordyn Pollard is a rising Canadian country music star from Lloydminster, Alta. Her latest song “Love Letter” comes to streaming services on Aug. 26 and will hit radio stations on Aug. 31.

“I guess the one word that describes it is timeless,” Pollard said as her makeup artist prepared her for the camera. “I think especially now more than ever, people need to learn to appreciate the little things. … I hope when people watch this (music video) it melts their hearts a bit.”

A relatively small cast and crew led by Joel Stewart, a member of River Street Promotions (RSP), took over the backyard of a beautiful house in Moose Jaw on Aug. 23 to produce the video. Stewart’s friend Sean Smith, a director, cinematographer, and editor, was behind the camera. Stewart and Smith have worked with artists such as Paul Brandt, Corb Lund, The Hunter Brothers, Darius Rucker, Jason McCoy, and too many more to list.

Pollard met Stewart on April 29 during Music Row at the Mae, an RSP production bringing together three Nashville singer/songwriters. One of those artists was Victoria Banks.

“Jared (Mathieson from RSP), Joel, and I all met at (Music Row at the Mae),” Pollard explained. “And one of the songwriters was a co-writer on my song ‘Back to Us’. So, Jared asked if I would come and play that song with Victoria Banks.”

After the show, they stayed in touch and decided to reunite in Moose Jaw to do a music video together. Mathieson scouted the location and found local actors to star in the video.

“Every one of these things is different,” Stewart said during a filming break. “What goes into it is a lot of trust. The singer is trusting a stranger with her product, with the story of her song and even trying to heighten the story of her song.”

Stewart agreed to work with Pollard after she sent him the audio of “Love Letter.” He wrote a few ideas for how he might direct a video, and those ideas matched up with hers.

“Once we’ve kind of made sure we’re seeing the same thing, then we can think about the logistics and trying to keep the budget responsible, and all those details.”

Sometimes the artists get lost in the process, Stewart said, when you combine big crews and budgets and a lot of grizzled industry veterans. In this case, because she’s a young artist just finding her way, I wanted to make her comfortable and involved, he added.

Tyler Lewis was brought in as actor, playing Pollard’s romantic interest in the video. Lewis was a top 3 contestant on Canadian Idol in 2006. He is currently the lead singer of the band Buckshot out of Saskatoon. He was born and raised in Rockglen, Sask., and currently lives in Coronach.

“The last few years, especially, I’ve been writing and recording and getting ready for a bunch of releases in the next year,” Lewis said, although he will only be acting in this particular production.

“She’s got some of the best here,” Lewis smiled. “I have a ton of respect for the people that do this, because it’s crazy how much planning and organizing goes into making a three-minute video. I think it’s a cool idea today. When I first read the synopsis, I texted Jordyn and was like, ‘I got goosebumps just from reading it.’”

The video tells the story of a couple over several decades. Theo Marx and Gracelynn Bilawchuk play the young leads in the video, with Pollard and Lewis portraying the young adult versions and Joan and Ron Bexfield playing the older versions.

“It’s super fun to be able to create a storyline with my music, I haven’t been able to do that before,” Pollard said. “I’m really proud that this is the first music video that I’m putting together.”

Keep an eye peeled for “Lover Letter” when it releases to streaming services on Friday, and watch Pollard’s YouTube channel for the release of the music video.