Premiere: Jordie Lane honors his great grandfather ‘Frederick Steele McNeil Ferguson’ in new video

A recent study out of the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests sons of men who fought in the Civil War inherited the traumas of their ancestors. Intergenerational trauma, which is greatly influenced by social and economic factors, as well, is indicative of a larger, more troubling complexity. Through epigenetics, a process of particular stressors flicking a stitch, so to speak, on major health issues, descendants have been discovered to be unequivocally bestowed with a harrowing heritage that is nearly unbreakable. Such is the case of Americana music-man Jordie Lane, originally from Melbourne, Australia and now residing in Nashville, who explores his position in a post-trauma world and how his great grandfather forever changed his life.

With “Frederick Steele McNeil Ferguson,” a cut off Lane’s new album GLASSELLLAND, he sharpens is lens on what is bubbling just below the surface. His skin is taut, and as he attempts to lasso his mental state, he comes closer to fully understanding his great grandfather. The music video, premiering today, features Lane planted directly in the path of the camera in a ruinous backyard in Thornbury ⏤ the uncertainty and quiet misery etched on his face. Directed by Leo Longo, the clip is uncomfortable in its simplicity and frenzied off-kilter nature. Lane is seated with his eyes closed, and two angels of wisdom, Casey Pringle and Bess Meredith, approach with pairs of scissors and all dressed up in white. The lyrics splinter into frayed ends, with both Pringle and Meredith frantically cutting off locks of his hair. It’s a clearly-drawn, yet startling, metaphor of trauma that’s been long buried within his very genetic makeup.

Lane explains to B-Sides & Badlands of the song, “Frederick Steele McNeil Ferguson was my great grandfather on my dad’s side. He died long before I was born, and I knew little about him until one night I was back in Australia having dinner with my folks and my dad talked more about what he went through,” he says. “As a 16-year-old, he lied about his age so he could fight in world war one. I myself struggled to connect with what it would have been like way back then (when the prospect of war for a young man at that time was filled with excitement and adventure). I began to think about the idea of past trauma being past on through the generations ⏤ I guess, in an attempt to understand what he went through.”

Sticking to a smokey haze of Americana baked to a crisp, Lane takes a moment to expose his angst. “Imagine what it felt like to be stuck down in the trenches / I don’t know how to even comprehend nor understand it / I’m just here in the sun / It’s 25 and sunny every day / Got my fair lady’s hat on, so I won’t get burnt by the sun’s rays,” he sings, allowing himself to accept his own truths in stark contrast to the past’s omnipresent shadow. His voice is haunted by things he may never quite  understand or ever be able to process, but he wades deeper into the watery sludge to enlightenment. He later acknowledges, “Family tree running through my veins / Born with the guilt in me…”

GLASSELLLAND (produced by Clare Reynolds, known for her work with Haley Reinhart, Timbaland, Aly Ryan and others) is out now on Blood Thinner Records.

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Photo Credit: Jose Cardoza

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