Whey Jennings Draws on ‘Very, Very Dark Time in My Life’ for New ‘Heartache and Serenade’ Video [Exclusive Premiere]

Whey Jennings draws on one of the worst periods of his own life for his gritty new video for "Heartache and Serenade." The hard-hitting new clip premieres exclusively with Taste of Country on Friday (Sept. 23).

The somber country song talks about the devastating fallout that comes at the end of a relationship.

"The world must've turned upside-down / 'Cause she fell out of love today," Jennings sings to open the song, before ruefully reflecting, "One or the other / They both led me here / There's heartache and serenade."

"I had hit rock bottom and was digging a hole," Jennings tells Taste of Country candidly about his inspiration for the song. "I had all but lost my girlfriend at the time — who is now my beautiful wife, whom I love with all my heart — and it had destroyed me. There was no happy inspiration behind this song. It was a very, very dark time in my life. I put pen to paper and wrote a very true, sad, heartbreaking song that doesn't have a happy ending. Even though ultimately it had a happy ending in my life, but in the song did not."

Jennings wants his listeners to know that "I feel pain just like everybody else does," he adds. "Songs like this unite us all. I know I'm not alone in the pain I felt at the time I wrote this song, and I want people to know that they are not alone in the pain they feel either."

Clayton Q and Jamileigh Nolen played Jennings and his now-wife in the new video, and they "nailed it," he enthuses, calling the shoot "an all-out great experience."

Tammy Carolus — who Jennings refers to as his manager and "momager" — played his mother in the clip, "because your mom is who ya run home to when the going gets tough. Shooting the video was an amazing experience, and so was recording the song in Nashville with some of the greatest session players in town," Jennings concludes.

Whey Jennings is the grandson of Waylon Jennings, and his music reflects the same kind of staunch defiance that characterized his grandfather's career. Jennings released his If It Wasn't for the Sinnin' EP on Sept. 6 via his new label deal with the Lacs' Dirt Rock Empire imprint. The album is available through a wide array of digital music providers.

For more information regarding Whey Jennings, visit his official website, or keep tabs on his music and tour dates via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.