Liz Kennedy
“Hike Up Your Socks” Music Video
Directed by Eric Peltier – Wildbunch Collective
Clean White Shirt Music
Add date – 04/11/19
About Liz Kennedy
If you’ve ever walked on the streets and steps surrounding Telegraph Hill in San Francisco (and if you haven’t, you really should), you’ve probably wondered about the residences on those steep and spectacular slopes. Who lives in those lovely houses in the trees, and what sort of relationships do those people have with the surrounding neighborhoods below? Well, singer-songwriter Liz Kennedy makes her home in the shadow of the Coit Tower, and she’s here to tell us all about it. “Hike Up Your Socks” is a love letter to Telegraph Hill, historic North Beach, and San Francisco in general. Kennedy presents herself as a woman enchanted by her surroundings and deeply invested in her neighborhood, and the message of her clip is clear: a life well lived, she argues, is one that’s deeply rooted in the local community.
Kennedy’s late husband was a good citizen and a good neighbor, and “Hike Up Your Socks” was, in part, inspired by his passion for North Beach and the many relationships he’d cultivated while living there. But it’s also a powerful reaffirmation of something that fans of Liz Kennedy already know: the artist is a genuine San Francisco resident and a carrier of her city’s storied folk tradition. Since the 1960s, the Californian style of folk has foregrounded idiosyncratic perspectives, wry personal narratives, engaging characters, good humor, flashes of insight, and above all, camaraderie with other artists – and arguably, nobody’s been truer to that communitarian project than Liz Kennedy has. Her five albums are textbook examples of winning San Francisco folk, and “Hike Up Your Socks” radiates local pride. The witty lyrics namecheck area landmarks (Mario’s Bohemian Cigars and Stella’s Pastry if you’re following along in your guidebook), extols the benefits of pedestrianism, and encourages you to greet passersby with the warmth of a good ambassador. Because, really, why wouldn’t you?
About The Video
Eric Peltier’s clip for “Hike Up Your Socks” follows Liz Kennedy – on foot, naturally – from the stone stairs and landings of Telegraph Hill to Washington Square to the independent shops on Columbus Avenue. Some of the landmarks, like the Transamerica Pyramid, the Powell and Market cable car, and the City Lights Bookshop, are internationally recognized symbols of the Bay Area that happen to be right there in the singer’s backyard. Yet the video also immerses the viewer in North Beach, the oldest Italian American neighborhood in the city, and its quotidian sights: restaurants, pastry shops, churches and parks, locals walking dogs and taking in the sunshine. Most of all, it shows Liz Kennedy interacting with her friends and neighbors – smiling, talking, joking, living a life in full in a place as wondrous as San Francisco.
Want more from Liz Kennedy and HIP Video Promo?
It’s a thrill to work with Liz Kennedy once again, and we hope you enjoy “Hike Up Your Socks” as much as we have! Please let us know what we can do to get this clip included in your regular programming, or if you’d like us to send some merch for on-air contests and giveaways. Contact Andy Gesner and the HIP Video Promo team at (732)-613-1779 or email us at info@HIPVideoPromo.com. You can also visit www.LizKennedyMusic.com for more info on Liz Kennedy.