Love and Theft ‘Dancing in Circles’ for New Music Video

The streets of downtown Nashville on a chilly Sunday afternoon aren't exactly bustling, but when a production crew sets up to shoot a music video, you can expect a crowd to gather. And in the case of the new Love and Theft video, that crowd included close friends, family members and children of all ages. But they weren't spectators, they were among the dozen-plus extras in the cross-cultural clip for 'Dancing in Circles,' which also represents, through various filmed vignettes, several time periods in modern American history. It's the second music video for the trio (Stephen Barker Liles, Brian Bandas and Eric Gunderson), and the follow-up to the Top 10 hit, 'Runaway.' It's also a tune -- and a video -- with an always timely message.

"It's a reflection of people interacting with other people," says Brian. "Sometimes that's beautiful and other times it's troublesome. And we want to show that whole gamut of emotion and struggle and joy and victory."

"This song's about people loving each other," adds Stephen, who penned 'Dancing in Circles' with acclaimed songwriter Robert Ellis Orrall. "We just wanted to get a bunch of ethnicities and ... a lot of our friends are in it. My brother and my sister are both in it. My Uncle Danny, my goddaughter and some of our mutual friends from town, and couple of roommates."

For their part of the video, Love and Theft played themselves, performing the song (over and over, as is standard practice during a video shoot) on a stage situated on Music City's 5th Avenue. The clip is directed by award-winning Kristin Barlowe, who also helmed the trio's 'Runaway.' The reason the street was used, she says, was so that one side could "represent celebration and the joyful unity of humanity. The other side is destruction; war, riots, the sadder parts of our human existence."

The finished product will also include newsreel footage of such life-changing events as World War II and parades welcoming veterans home, "to again join the good and bad of community," says the director.

When it comes to working with Love and Theft, Kristen is clearly on the "good" side of the street. "They're awesome," she enthuses, adding, "they're cute, they're sweet ... I've got them brainwashed. I'm going for [video] number three."

Love and Theft spent much of 2009 on the road with Jason Aldean, and they'll head back out next year on tour with Tim McGraw and Lady Antebellum.