CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Charleston residents got a first look at a West Virginia musicians first ever music video Tuesday evening.
The premier of Kate Boytek’s music video was shown at Short Story Brewing in downtown Charleston for her recently released song “Anywhere.”
The Logan, WV native was on hand for the showing of her music video and to sing some acoustic songs for the dozens of people who came to support her.
President and CEO of the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau Tim Brady is also a huge supporter of Boytek’s work ever since he saw her perform at Live on the Levee in 2022.
Then came an idea for Brady: Let’s try and work together with Boytek and promote the city of Charleston and the state of West Virginia with someone who’s authentic and loves Charleston and the entire state just as much as we do.
“We wanted to work with people who were local, passionate and talented, to talk to their followers about this place that we all call home,” said Brady, wanting to get away from influencer-related promotion.
For the two, it was a perfect collaboration. Boytek called it “an answered prayer.”
“It has been such a beautiful journey,” Boytek said, giving all the credit to Brady, her closest friends and some of the businesses that were included in the music video that Boytek has always had a close connection to.
She said she had always wanted to showcase her home state and the city of Charleston in a special way and she got to do just that with the video that was shot throughout Charleston.
“I’m so proud of my home state, I think it’s beautiful and we have beautiful people,” she said.
Instead of shooting the music video in Nashville, Boytek said this was a perfect opportunity to crush what she says are common misconceptions about what the mountain state has to offer and include the great scenery, people, and businesses she admires. She wanted it to be as authentic as possible.
As for the song, Boytek calls it a “transitional” piece.
“I transition from the known to the unknown and leave fear behind,” she said. “That’s the foundation of the song.”
It’s about how she left her house and her ex-husband and started driving through the mountains and valleys of West Virginia, mainly through and around Charleston.
“It was a really beautiful opportunity for people to see what Charleston has to offer, and even though the song starts off in a sad way, it does shift,” Boytek explained.