Premiere: Keturah Allgood reflects on first love with heart-warming ‘Beautiful You’ video

Keturah Allgood‘s “Beautiful You” is a love song of the highest order. It’s a difficult task to write and perform a love song that cuts through the noise. But the tasty sweet ballad, produced by William Gawley, washes over you, rinsing you clean of the world’s problems. All that there really is the present. It’s “knowing the risks, taking the risks, and leaning into the unknown and uncertainty of what is to come,” Allgood tells B-Sides & Badlands, “all for the reward of being loved and loving someone else.”

“The road I ride’s been dusty and long / A lot of gravel, grit and heartbreak songs,” she sings over an acoustic, luminescent production. “My edges are rough, my nights are tough / I’ve got some demons I’ve yet to control, but then there’s you.”

Allgood’s voice is honeyed, allowing her to dig in her teeth and deliver rich emotion. She bares her heart and soul, even if her scars still throb sore and red. “After all these years it’s still hard to believe you fell in love with someone like me,” she confides, “in these worn-out jeans, my insane dreams / And my beat-up soul.”

With the accompanying music video, premiering today, Allgood showcases two love stories, each as heart-warming as the next. One couple (played by Bradford and Jessica Carson) meets over drinks at the bar, while the other (Anne F. Bowles and Alicia Sotelo) enjoys a new gallery opening, perusing art and making a deep connection. Dangers might be swirling outside the door, but a new-found love alleviates their pain.

In filming the video, with her hometown of Brevard, North Carolina as the stage, Allgood found herself reflecting upon her first girlfriend and “how she used to climb the trees outside of the coffee shop I worked at and throw flowers on my head when I got out of work. I could see the two of us, our teenage selves madly in love,” Allgood shares. “I thought of how hard it was for us being out in this small town and then I thought of how much this town had changed. I sang this song and looked down at the bustling streets full of all sorts of diverse people holding hands, laughing, living, loving. I felt a real sense of healing and peace and faith in our better angels, hope for humanity, and how I have seen the changes in my own life in my own town. While we are still struggling and seeing so much pain in this world, it was a beautiful reminder in real time of how far we really have come and how if we just keep reaching towards the light we can’t help but to eventually eradicate this hatred and fear.”

Director Mike Moore brings the song’s lyrics to pulsing vitality, allowing her “lyrics to resonate with different groups of people and speak to a variety of ages,” he says. “I thought by portraying numerous examples of what love in this modern world really looks like, it could help this song go to an even deeper level. Even the example of a lost love.”

Panning around town, the clip showcases several different locations around Brevard, including the rooftop of O.P. Taylor, Vescovo neighborhood eatery, and Haen Gallery. “I love to showcase as many local businesses as I can in my productions. This really helps me connect to the location, and it helps those in the filming areas to feel recognized and excited to be a part of something,” continues Moore. “When sharing my videos, I always make sure to credit those who have helped bring my vision to life. This is an important part of the process. It’s also very beneficial when friends of those businesses want to share your project with even more people. I’m grateful that Keturah came to me with this project, and I hope to bring more of her songs to life in the near future.”

“Beautiful You” is ripped from Allgood’s debut record, Shine, a sparkling and soul-shaking 12-piece.

Watch the “Beautiful You” music video below.

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