Courtesy Photo Country artist Brendon Mac, who is an Alpena native, is returning to Alpena to film a video for his latest single. Mac is doing a remake of the Stray Cats smash hit ‘Rock this Town’.

ALPENA — Up-and-coming country music artist Brendon Mac, an Alpena native, is going to shoot a music video for his upcoming single in downtown Alpena in early September.

The Alpena Municipal Council voted 5-0 to close 2nd Avenue for a few hours on Sept. 2 so filming can take place.

Mac, whose last name is legally MacNeill, is in the process of remaking the 1980s hit song by the Stray Cats called ‘Rock This Town’.

Mac’s previous release was a remake of Johnny Cash’s ‘Ring of Fire’ and the song caught fire and rocketed to well more than one million views.

Both ‘Rock this Town’ and ‘Ring of Fire’ could be included on his upcoming EP he is recording, and original tunes are also in the works.

MacNeill said the concept of the video will show the town he grew up in and loved in all of its glory. He said there will be some additional clips shot in Nashville too, but the overall theme will be a journey from where he started to where he is now.

It is the filming in Alpena he is the most excited about because of what it means to him and the support the community is showing him as he pursues his dream.

“I love my home town because it means a lot to me and this is a way to show it off,” he said. “I love the community and I want to capture its fire, spirit, and passion. I want other people to see it and say ‘I want to visit there.'”

MacNeill said he expects 300 to 400 people to register to be in the video shoot and each will have to sign a consent form that will allow their likeness in the video and other marketing material to be used.

He described how the video will play out.

“We’ll stage at the parking lot by the Fletcher Paper parking lot and I will begin walking down Fletcher Street to 2nd Avenue and then over the bridge through downtown. As I walk, people will begin to fall in behind me and by the time we get to Culligan Plaza there will be a mob of people. I’m sure we’ll probably have to stage people in several locations to pull off.”

People who register to be in the video will each receive a rubber wristband which will gain them entry into an after party, which will be announced soon. MacNeill said filming will continue there.

“We want that to sort of be like a concert setting,” he said.

On Monday, MacNeill began recording the new songs for his upcoming EP. He said the band will record its parts for ‘Rock This Town’, with a scratch vocal track he recorded and that audio will be used for the video shoot.

When the tune is played during the video recording session, it will not feature vocals, but MacNeill said he will sing it while he makes stroll through town, so everyone can follow along with the song and react to it.

“I’ll actually be recording the vocal parts later,” he said.

‘Rock This Town’ was released as a single by the Stray Cats. It was released in America in August 1982, and peaked at No. 9.

MacNeill said the amount of support he has received from the people and businesses in Alpena humbles him. He said WATZ radio has been a tremendous help and there are too many other people and businesses to name. Still, he said, he appreciates the support.

“When I announced that I wanted to record in Alpena, it just sort of snowballed and now, there is a huge sense of excitement,” he said. “I’m excited and I can’t wait to share Alpena with the world.”

MacNeill said anyone interested in being in the video shoot can follow his Facebook page for more information.