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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — JUNE 7, 2004
CONTACT: Marc Lipkin /
Chris Moncada
email: publicity@allig.com
RADIO: email: radio@allig.com
p.o. box 60234
chicago, illinois 60660
773-973-7736/773-973-2088 (fax)
GODFATHER OF AUSTIN
BLUES, W.C. CLARK,
CELEBRATES NEW RELEASE IN AUSTIN & SAN MARCOS!
“W.C. Clark is a Texas
legend…a commanding six-string master, a deep R&B songsmith and a tough,
soulful vocalist.”
-- Chicago Tribune
“Armed with a powerful, gospel-approved voice, Clark delivers his songs
with god-fearing intensity.”
--Guitar Player
R&B and soul master W.C. Clark, known as “The Godfather of Austin
Blues,” will celebrate the release of his new Alligator album, DEEP IN
THE HEART, with live performances in Austin & San Marcos. A native of
Austin, Texas, Clark has been singing, writing and playing the blues for
over 40 years. And he's been mentoring countless young blues and soul
players in the finer points of the music for almost as long. Blues stars
from Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan to Angela Strehli to Marcia Ball have
all perfected their craft under Clark's tutelage. Performance
information is as follows:
Thursday, July 8th:
Oasis
6550 Commanche Trail
Austin, TX
512.266.2442
7:30 p.m.
No Cover
Saturday, July 10th & Friday, July 23rd:
Saxon Pub
1320 South Lamar
Austin, TX
512.448.2552
11:00 p.m.
Ticket Price TBA
Sunday, July 11th:
River Pub & Grill
701 Cheatham St.
San Marcos, TX
512.353.3747
7:30 p.m.
Ticket Price TBA
DEEP IN THE HEART is a slice of stunning soul mixed with contemporary
electric blues. Clark's gospel-inflected vocals and inspired, lyrical
guitar work dominate the album, which was recorded in Austin and
produced by Mark “Kaz” Kazanoff. From wrenching, heartfelt ballads to
celebratory, horn-fueled Texas stomps, DEEP IN THE HEART is a blistering
ride through sinewy Memphis soul and foot-stomping Texas roadhouse
blues. With the addition of friends Marcia Ball and newcomer Ruthie
Foster duetting on three songs, DEEP IN THE HEART is the most fully
realized and soulfully intense album of Clark's long career.
Wesley Curley Clark was born into a musical Austin family in 1939. His
father played guitar and his grandmother, mother, and sisters all sang
gospel in the church choir. He learned the guitar as a youngster and, at
age 16, played his first gig at the Victory Grill, where he was
introduced to Texas blues legend T.D. Bell. Soon after, Clark switched
to playing bass and joined Bell's band, The Cadillacs. In the early
1960s he began a six-year stint with Blues Boy Hubbard and The Jets at
the popular Austin nightclub, Charlie's Playhouse. There he met
R&B hitmaker Joe Tex, who recruited W.C. to fill the vacant guitar slot
in his group. Clark toured the Southern “chitlin' circuit,” learning
music firsthand from Tex and countless soul and blues stars along the
way, including Tyrone Davis and James Brown. The R&B stars also taught
Clark how to lift an audience into a soul frenzy. When he returned to
Austin, Clark found the musical landscape changing with a whole new crop
of young white kids beginning to venture out to the blues clubs to learn
how to play. The scene was completely transformed as future stars like
the Vaughan brothers, Bill Campbell, Paul Ray and Angela Strehli came to
Austin and discovered the rich musical legacy of bluesmen like W.C.
Clark.
In the early 1970s, Clark formed the band Southern Feeling along with
singer Angela Strehli and guitarist/pianist Denny Freeman. He then
befriended Jimmie Vaughan's firebrand guitarist brother Stevie Ray, who
occasionally sat in with the group. After Southern Feeling dissolved,
Clark took a day job as a mechanic, but was courted relentlessly by
Stevie, who was determined to have W.C. as a member of his own band.
Clark eventually quit his job to become the bass player in the Triple
Threat Revue with Stevie, keyboardist Mike Kindred, drummer Freddie
Pharoah and singer Lou Ann Barton. While playing in this band, Clark and
keyboardist Kindred co-wrote Cold Shot, which became one of Vaughan's
biggest hits and recently earned W.C. his first platinum record.
Clark left Vaughan in the late 1970s and formed his own band, The W.C.
Clark Blues Revue, and self-released his first recording, SOMETHING FOR
EVERYBODY, in 1986. The band became stalwarts on the Austin scene
throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, playing regular gigs at legendary
venues like Antone's and opening for the likes of B.B. King, James
Brown, Bobby “Blue” Bland and Albert King.
Clark's star – at least locally – was rising.
In 1994, Clark's friend Mark “Kaz” Kazanoff introduced him to Hammond
Scott of Black Top Records. Impressed by what he heard, Scott released
HEART OF GOLD that same year. For the first time, through national
touring, Clark emerged from Austin and became a favorite of blues lovers
around the country. TEXAS SOUL followed in 1996, exciting fans and
critics alike. “Honey dripping soul, the toughest of Lone Star blues,”
hailed The Chicago Tribune. By 1997, Clark's visibility was growing
fast. He performed at the 1997 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and,
a short time later, won the W.C. Handy Blues Award for Soul Blues Album
Of The Year for TEXAS SOUL.
Clark's next Black Top release, 1998's LOVER'S PLEA, earned him another
W.C. Handy Blues Award, this time for Artist Most Deserving of Wider
Recognition. Another televised performance (as part of The Best Of
Austin City Limits) hit the airwaves in 1998, setting the stage for a
national tour in support of LOVER'S PLEA. And in 2000 Austin City Limits
aired an extended jam between W.C. Clark and Stevie Ray Vaughan as part
of a Stevie Ray Vaughan special.
In 2002, Clark released his debut album for Alligator Records, FROM
AUSTIN WITH SOUL. Blues Revue declared, “With FROM AUSTIN WITH SOUL,
Clark has painted his masterpiece. Few artists rival Clark's ability to
sing as soulfully as Al Green and play guitar with such tasteful
precision. Non-stop touring – including a performance at the 2002
Chicago Blues Festival – kept Clark's star high and rising.
Blues Revue says “Clark conjures the vocal power of Otis Redding and
Wilson Pickett and the guitar of Steve Cropper and Albert King.” Living
Blues calls him “a first-rate and funky, passionate and powerful
performer… a singularly skilled leader among modern blues artists.” DEEP
IN THE HEART – an album full of Clark's captivating, blues-drenched soul
music – drives this point home. With continued non-stop touring,
Clark's star continues to rise, as his soulful singing and blistering
guitar playing guarantees that his constantly growing fan base will
never stop shouting for more.
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