Terri Clark talks Tootsie’s, touring and taking charge: The Interview

I first saw Terri Clark about 20 miles from where I now live. She was playing the Scioto County fair in Lucasville, Ohio in 2003. I was 19 years old that Summer, and life was a blast. About a year before, I had become captivated by country music, and the Terri Clark show was the only reason I was on the fairgrounds that night. The date was August 5, a date I later learned was Terri’s 35th birthday. I’m not sure she acknowledged that fact onstage, but it had already been made apparent by the singing of a small group of fans congregated backstage. These people had traveled to southern Ohio from various states to be at Terri’s show on her birthday. Terri Clark’s fans obviously adore her, and always have. I feel lucky to be numbered among them – especially after I heard her channel Patsy Cline in one breath and then do a pitch-perfect John Anderson impression in the next.

I still have my autograph from that hot August night, and I still drive to see Terri Clark when she comes close. Over the years, I’ve watched and listened with fascination to her since she was the lone female hat act in the mid-90s parade of Stetsons. I soaked up the imagery and personal songs on Fearless, rocked with her for the past few albums. And now that I’m being forced into maturity, Terri’s music is still relevant to me. Not many artists have maintained my attention as long and as consistently as the tall brunette from Alberta, Canada.

After being a consecutive hit-maker for over a decade, Clark felt the restraints of major label politics weighing her down, and like so many other artists, went the indie route with her latest album. The result couldn’t be more organic or more rewarding to the listener. Raw and real, The Long Way Home, has many saying the singer has finally reached her potential as a recording artist. I’m no expert, but I think that means the best is yet to come.

When I talked with Terri, we discussed her early days as a barroom singer at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, the fast track to fame, and her goals for her career in the long haul. I also asked about the album, writing and recording it, and also about her new unplugged tour. Here’s the conversation between one very happy fan and one talented woman.

J.R. Journey:  The first thing I want to say is that I absolutely love your new album, The Long Way Home. It topped my best of 2009 list. I just want to say thanks for giving your fans such a great album.

Terri Clark: Well I want to thank you for that. That, that means a lot. When I get to put something up on my website saying it made the best of 2009 list somewhere, it means a lot because I really put my heart and soul into it. So I really appreciate that very much.

J.R.:  I’ve always loved the story of how you began your career in Nashville as a singer at Tootsie’s downtown. How did you come about that gig?

T.C.: Well, like any other tourist, I was walking around, and I was doing the tourist trap thing. I was 18 years old and it was my first week in Nashville of course I wanted to see Tootsie’s, being a history buff. So I wanted to know what that was all about. So we went in there, me and my mom and a friend. And there was virtually nobody in there. I asked the guy sitting there on the stool if I could sit in at some point and sing a few songs. He said yes and I got up and started singing. The door was open and people started filtering in. And the owner of the place, the manager, saw that it brung some people in. So he gave me a job. I got my first gig there for $15 a day plus tips.

Heart, soul and talent: Connie Smith’s recipe for great country music

A few days ago, I had the great honor and privilege of sitting down for a conversation with the legendary Connie Smith:

RX: Your entry into the country music world seems to be something that just sort of happened, instead of something that you spent a lot of time pursuing. Prior to meeting Bill Anderson, had you given any serious thought to going to Nashville to pursue a career in country music?

CS: No. It was always a dream I had to sing on the Grand Ole Opry. I remember when I was about 5 saying that, but I never thought I really would. If I hadn’t met Bill I probably wouldn’t have pursued it because I already had a young son. The way I met him was I went up to that park because I’d heard that George Jones would be there. But they’d given my husband and me the wrong date, so when we got there Bill was there. I hadn’t gone to sing, I just wanted to hear George because he was my favorite male singer. When we got there we found out that they had a talent contest every week, and my husband and friends talked me into entering. The biggest holdback was that you had to do your own accompaniment, and I can only play the guitar in the key of C, so I had to pick a song that I could do in C. And I think the reason I won was because the winner for the prior seven weeks was a seven-year-old banjo player and I guess they just wanted something different. I’d like to think it was my talent that won but I’m really not so sure. I know it wasn’t my guitar playing (laughs).

RX: But it was definitely your talent that caught the attention of Bill Anderson. You went to Nashville at his invitation, and “Once a Day”, your debut record, was a megahit – the kind that every new artist dreams of having right out of the box. Was it difficult to adjust to that kind of overnight success?

CS: I was just very lucky to have come along at the right time and to have gotten such a great, great song. But it was difficult being thrust into the spotlight so quickly. I just wanted to hear my record on the radio but I was never really career-driven.

RX: Most artists from that era, particularly women, seem to have been almost completely controlled by their labels and producers.  Did you have any say in what you got to record or how your records sounded?

CS (emphatically):  Absolutely. I never recorded anything I didn’t want to. I was very fortunate to get to work with Bob Ferguson as my producer for the first 9 years. Any attempts to force me to record something I didn’t want to wouldn’t have gone down well with me. If he really, really wanted me to do something, I did it but I was never forced. RCA did say to me, “You can do things besides just country,” and I said, “I’m not sure that I want to.”  That wasn’t Bob or Chet forcing me – that was coming more from New York. They really wanted me to do some middle-of-the-road stuff. So we did the whole Downtown Country album. But those really weren’t the best songs for me.

Country Music Isn’t Dead: An Interview With Miss Leslie

Leslie Sloan aka Miss Leslie has been playing country music for over 20 years. Last year, she released her first album of all original material – and all of it self-written. When I interviewed her, I found a woman who truly loves traditional country and has made it her goal to get that music out to as many people as possible.  Here, she tells us that country music isn’t dead – you just have to seek it out. Miss Leslie’s kind of country is a wonderful meld of cheating, drinking, and heartbreak songs, all performed with heavy doses of twin fiddles and steel guitar.  And she points us in the direction of several artists who are recording her kind of country, so we too can hear the moan of the steel and the cry of fiddle.

I’m fascinated that your introduction to music was through classical music and violin lessons. Your bio says you studied classical and bluegrass at the same time. At what point did you change directions toward the hard honky tonk of your music today?

I think that the 1980s turned my head towards country.  I fell head over heels in love with Ricky Skaggs’ country stuff.  I already loved his bluegrass albums with Ralph Stanley and Tony Rice.  But I fell in love with country when Ricky Skaggs went in that direction.  I was especially in love with Bobby Hicks’ fiddle playing.  He was … is amazing.  And that love affair just continued on - through George Strait and Randy Travis and the early Reba stuff.  And all of that led me back to classic country – which is where I had to stay when the 90s came along and the traditional movement went “Gone With the Wind” with Shania and the rock-n-roll country movement.

You hit the Texas honky tonk scene at 14 in a family group with your parents and brother and sister. What was that like?

I loved being onstage but I think that I didn’t fully appreciate everything.  I wanted to be a typical teenager and have weekends with friends but looking back, I’m glad I had the experience. I am one of the few people that can say that I shared my music onstage with my family.  And we still do today. That’s pretty cool.

And what would you say is the most valuable lesson you learned from that time?

At the time, I thought that music was about practicing and playing the “right notes” and having good technique.  Looking back, I now know that music is something that comes from a more genuine place inside – it is a way of expression.  People always tell me that they wish their parents would have made them play an instrument. I strongly disagree. Music should come from inside of you. If it doesn’t and you don’t have a pull towards it, then it means you’re supposed to be pulled towards something else.