Boston alt-country rock band led by Leesa Coyne delivers a poignant and powerful music video, via Rum Bar Records

We recently had the chance to check out the new video for “Stayed 2017” from Lonely Leesa & The Lost Cowboys. You can watch the video for “Stayed 2017” below

“Stayed 2017 , is the powerful new video from Lonely Leesa & the Lost Cowboys. In the visual,out today, In the visual, out today, Leesa Coyne of the Boston-based Americana rock band confronts issues of domestic violence with a confessional, raw, and vulnerable plea aimed to draw attention to an upcoming Supreme Court ruling that will determine if domestic abuse orders can prevent abusers from owning and possessing handguns.

“Stay 2017 , is an important and powerful video that needs to be heard and seen. It combines something old and something new for Coyne, as she revisits a song first released as a b-side to her “Reckless” single seven years ago and pairs it with an impactful, first-person video directed, produced, edited and shot on an iPhone by the Boston artist and musician herself. A few days after the video goes live, Lonely Leesa & the Lost Cowboys perform live at The Burren in Somerville, on Friday, January 26.

The tender, but tense, alt-country track was first released in 2017, autobiographically written from the point-of-view of a woman unable to escape an abusive relationship. But Coyne revisited “Stayed” for a self-directed and self-produced music video in light of recent events.

For Coyne, who was inspired to pair “Stayed 2017” with her vision for the video after listening to Amicus Podcast’s November 2023 episode titled The Right To Bear Arms and Terrorize Your Partner, the time to raise awareness on this issue – and continue to highlight the perils many women face daily while trapped in abusive relationships and domestic violence situations – was never more important than right now.

While a new album from Lonely Leesa & the Lost Cowboys is set to arrive in the spring via the band’s new home of Rum Bar Records, Coyne is eager to show solidarity with women across the country as the Supreme Court ruling looms just months away.

“I hope this video helps someone else who has been suffering in silence to feel less alone and that it raises awareness of the United States v. Rahimi case ruling in the spring and what that could mean for the safety of many,” Coyne says. “Guns in the hands of domestic abusers equals death. One in four women and one in nine men experience severe intimate partner physical violence, and lots of folks in the United States own guns. It is literally a life-or-death situation for many. I am not sure if folks are aware of how common this is… [my goal is] not to normalize it, but just to show that we all have folks in our lives who could surely use some understanding and support.”

Coyne says she has had the thematic idea for “Stayed 2017″ in her head for a few years, dating back to when the song was first released. The track, which is also being re-released by Rum Bar in tandem with the video premiere, was produced, engineered, and arranged by Brian E. King; engineered by Elio DeLuca at the Soul Shop in Medford, MA; and mixed by Josh Cohen at Black Hat Music, also located in Medford.

For the video, Coyne stripped it all down – literally and figuratively – to reflect the raw vulnerability a person must face when confronting an abusive partner. It finds her alone, in the shower, engaging with the camera as the water rains down on her. It’s enough to wash away the day’s makeup, but not the physical marks left behind by physical abuse.

“This video I just wanted to be simple,” Coyne admits. “I wanted to shoot it myself on my phone. From a practical perspective to pull the veil back a bit, if I was doing the whole thing myself and the budget was zero dollars and cost only my time. Most importantly, I don’t think I could have been as vulnerable if other folks were around filming me. I also feel like with a lot of things in the arts there are not a lot of women filmmakers, and I really wanted this to come from the voice of a woman without a man’s perspective coming in to edit it or tone it down.”

It is important to stand up and take a stand and champion the things you believe in . Leesa Coyne has done this with a powerful and meaningful visual for “Stay 2017”

If you or someone you know is in crisis contact National Domestic Violence Hotline of 800-799-7233