VIDEO PREMIERE: William Crighton - Jesus Blues

In-demand troubadour William Crighton has had a banner year across the board, seemingly staying in a prime position on our radar for the past several months.

Part and parcel of that is the fact that he's spent that time knocking over high-profile festival spot after high-profile festival spot, appearing at BIGSOUND, Australian Music Week, Mullum and Queenscliff music festivals, and has even been locked down for a spot at next year's WOMADelaide event in March.

But, moreover, it's because he's just a damn talented musician, blessed with a beautiful yet bold baritone that stands apart as vital an instrument as any other featured in his infectious, earthy tunes.

The latest slice of Crighton's down-home deliciousness comes in the form of the rollicking, rock-steeped Jesus Blues, the clip for which The Music is proud to be premiering today.

According to the man himself, the track shares a deeper thematic connection with ol' JC than just its title, being "a song about temptation and questioning everything", and this carries over into the visual aesthetic of its video clip.

Directed by Pier Carthew, the video is "an evangelical trip into hard-knock suburbia" that starts off innocuously enough but, with increasing flashes of psychedelia, eventually descends into a frantic kaleidoscope of alternately benign and downright demonic imagery. It works brilliantly.

The new clip and its source single, which is taken from his recently released self-titled album (out now on ABC Music), both arrive ahead of Crighton's upcoming national tour, including an already sold-out showing at Maitland's Grand Junction Hotel in January with Melody Pool (a second show has since been added).

He'll kick off at MONA, in Hobart, with the Southern Gospel Choir, this weekend, lining up shows in Junee and Maitland before the year's out, and continuing into the new year with Sydney (with Wallis Bird), Narooma, Maitland, Tamworth (with Melody Pool), Orange and Wagga Wagga (both with The Beach Boys and The Temptations), Echuca-Moama (for the Riverboats Festival) and Riversdale.

For a full rundown of dates, venues and other booking information, see theGuide.