From Courtroom to Country Spotlight: Rob Sexton Appears in Award-Winning Music Video

When Hancock County Assistant Attorney Rob Sexton traded the courtroom for an Old West saloon last year, he didn’t expect the music video he appeared in to ride all the way to an award. The Ella Langley and Riley Green collaboration for “You Look Like You Love Me” went on to win the 2025 American Country Music Award for Visual Media and Single of the Year.

Sexton portrayed a bartender in the video, placing him at the heart of a classic cowboy gathering spot—a fitting role for someone who’s long admired the grit and spirit of that era. The video was filmed in August of 2024 at the old Guntown Mountain theme park in Cave City, now converted into a movie studio. The location perfectly matched the project’s classic Western theme, with its frontier ghost town aesthetic.

“It was one of the most memorable things I’ve ever done in my life,” he said. “It was an unexpected opportunity that ended up being a really great experience. I’m a long way from being a professional actor, but it was just really a privilege to be involved with something like that.”

Since 2021, he has been a member of the Cowboy Posse, an Old West re-enactment troupe based in Oldham County. The group staged several shows at Guntown Mountain in 2022, which he said was particularly meaningful since many of them had visited the attraction as children when it operated as a theme park.

Nathan Frensley, then owner of Guntown Mountain, saw Sexton’s performances with the Cowboy Posse and later reached out during casting for the video, confident he would be the perfect fit for the barkeep role.

“They just gave us a few directions before filming and we rolled with it. I wanted to look historically accurate for the period. Like most of us in the Cowboy Posse, I do research into that,” he noted. “I look at old pictures and read old newspaper articles, etc. So, I kind of based my appearance on old pictures I’ve seen of bartenders during that period. I was standing there behind the bar most of the day, pretending to be the bartender, and just had a really good time. I was amazed that it was just a one-day filming. I’d never been part of that process before. The assistant directors had it down to a science—they knew exactly what they wanted to do and when; It was a very efficient process. The saloon set they have up there is amazing. It’s really pretty historically accurate. At the start, I was talking to Mr. Green’s character like bartenders do but then he notices Ms. Langley’s character and gets bored with me. That was sort of the theme.”

He traveled to Cave City the night before filming because production was set to begin early the next morning, and said the whole day of filming was a blast. Lunch was provided on set, and he enjoyed spending time with the cast and crew, meeting people from across the country. He also had the chance to talk with Langley and Green, as well as many locals that were cast as extras, primarily from Bowling Green and Louisville. His Cowboy Posse buddies were there for the filming as well, which made the day especially enjoyable, he said.

While putting his attire together for the character, he realized the only thing missing was a bartender’s apron. His late wife, Nancy, lovingly sewed one just for him—a kind gesture that became one of his most cherished memories from the whole experience.

“When I do Old Western acting, I usually portray a Pinkerton detective, so I didn’t have the apron. I was telling Nancy that they wanted me to wear one. She said, ‘No problem, I’ll just make one.’ She did that in no time flat. She didn’t go down there for the making of the video, but she was a big part of the process and so it was something that we shared together. They were careful about who they wanted on the set, so she didn’t get to go but that was something that she got a real kick out of, and it’s a very special memory for me,” he said.

They didn’t tell the cast what the song was going to be or any other details before they arrived for the filming. They were also told to keep it a secret until the video premiere.

“They don’t tell you who is doing the video until you’re there. I didn’t know Ms. Langley was going to be there, and I had never heard the song before until that day. I thought it was really neat,” Sexton said. “I’m always interested in anything involving the Old West. There aren’t a whole lot of westerns being made anymore. In our area, that’s sort of picking up. It is a good setting for westerns, and I wouldn’t turn down an opportunity to do something like this again in the future. One particular memorable moment was when Mr. Green did a scene with the dog. That went really well. You can see a little bit of that scene that actually made it into the video.”

Frensley, who was also a part of the production, has a dog named Carl Green who was a member of the cast listed as “Man’s Best Friend.”

Sexton said that his love of the stage began during his middle and high school years, when he was involved with a local theater group in Louisville where he grew up. He rediscovered his passion for the hobby when he joined the Cowboy Posse, blending his intrigue with the American West historical era and his joy of entertaining.

In 2023, they brought their Old West flair to Tell City, staging lively train robbery reenactments along the scenic railroad route to nearby towns such as Troy. The group, known for their detailed costumes and dedication to history, transformed the rides into immersive performances complete with mock gunfights. Children passengers sometimes joined the “robbery” either as good guys or bad guys, holding money bags or wearing plastic badges. Even the occasional horse-riding outlaw would pull alongside the train for the performance!

Behind the scenes, Nancy always played an important role in keeping his attire in great shape, such as with mending his costumes and sewing on missing buttons.

The Cowboy Posse continues to travel around Kentucky and Indiana every year. They perform at county fairs, city festivals and community events, where the camaraderie of history lovers and the passion of entertaining remain central to each show.

“We really have fun with it,” he emphasized. “The performances are a little bit different each time. Some of us play local lawmen and some of us play detectives. We have gunfights between the good guys and the bad guys. The Pinkerton detectives I usually portray, they were almost like a private FBI. They were used as strike breakers sometimes, or to hassle farmers when great big ranchers didn’t want people putting up fences. So, they are kind of ambiguous in history. They aren’t outlaws but they are not really totally always on the right side of history.”

His love for the era began in childhood, nurtured by watching westerns with both of his grandfathers and visiting Guntown Mountain several times as a boy. He was captivated by the Landmark Books series, which introduced him to stories of frontier life and sparked a deeper interest in history. His favorites to watch were Bat Masterson, Have Gun—Will Travel, Gunsmoke and Death Valley Days.

Sexton mused that he’s always had a sense that he “might have been born a century too late.” Through books and films, he was greatly fascinated with figures like Wyatt and Virgil Earp—Virgil having been born in Ohio County—as well as Jim Bridger, known as one of the greatest frontiersmen. He said he enjoyed reading about military commander George Armstrong Custer, as well as Native leaders such as Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. In his youth, he also read a book on the Mormon settlement of Utah, a story that added to his enduring intrigue of the Wild West.

When he’s not portraying lawmen or outlaws, he enjoys another hobby that is just as fun and unusual. He and a friend began taking camping trips last year, and their outdoor adventures are centered around Bigfoot folklore.

“I did a fair amount of camping when I was growing up and I just really still love it. We usually go to Land Between the Lakes because there are a lot of Bigfoot stories there,” he said. “This last time we went to German Ridge in Hoosier National Forest. We just camp and look around for the big guy and talk. It’s a good time. We wouldn’t mind seeing some evidence. We’ve seen what we think of as evidence of a possibility. The shelters they built for themselves, we saw something that looked a lot like that. We’ve heard some tree knocks. And sometimes if you see trees arranged in an X, according to the stories, they do that to warn you not to go further down the trail. We saw one of those. There are a lot of Bigfoot stores in Hancock County, particularly at Vastwood Park. I want to go camping there one weekend just to see what it’s all about. I’ve heard that there is more than one person who has seen some really weird stuff there, and I’d love to meet somebody who has a story to tell.”

He encourages anyone who has a history in acting or an interest in the Old West to contact him if you think you might enjoy being a member of the Cowboy Posse.

“We could use some more members who live in this area. It’s not hard to find items for your costume. There are several places on the internet where you can order things. I’ve really had a lot of fun with it. Anybody who’s interested can reach out to me, and I can put you in touch with our trail boss, Eddie Kinberger,” Sexton said.

The website for Cowboy Posse Productions Old West Entertainment is cowboyposse.com. To inquire about booking a performance or joining, send a message through the website or via Messenger to the Cowboy Posse Facebook page.

Sexton, who has practiced law for 35 years, now serves as Hancock County’s assistant attorney alongside County Attorney Paul Madden Jr. in Hawesville. “It’s a privilege to be able to serve in Hancock County,” he said.

He lives in Owensboro and is a proud father, blessed with a daughter, Rena, and a son, Ben.