Anglo/Irish Terry Clarke is from Reading, Berkshire, west of London in the Thames valley but he sings like his heart belongs in Sligo, Ireland and his bones are happiest in Austin, Texas, he tells stories about loners, freewheelers and passionate home- comings ...
Songwriter, bandleader, singer/raconteur, producer/arranger, 12 string guitarist and mandolin player, lately his own photographs and paintings have appeared on his album artwork ...
Writing and singing melodic songs that echo and reverberate with; country, rockabilly,Irish laments, poetry and street language, Terry Clarke has established himself as one of the most important acoustic Rock/Beat/Folk writers and performers of his generation ...
"Recorded in Texas with Champ Hood and Lisa Mednick ...mood is laid back and blues in the night ... included is a cool cover of Johnny Cash's 'I Still Miss Someone'"
Village Records, Kansas
Of all English speaking peoples, even if the language wasn't of their choosing, the Irish have best perfected the art of melancholy and Clarke's work can, I think, be seen as a postmodern expression of the mournful dirges with which generations of exiles lamented their lost patrimony. His songs are far more complex and intelligent than the 'take me back to the lakes of Killarney and that redheaded colleen I loved' tradition, but there's an essential continuity. ... a lineup that keeps the title from being merely ironic and provides gorgeous atmospheric to Clarke's restrained intensity, (Jesse) Taylor yet again demonstrating his telepathic rapport with singer-songwriters. ... Johnny Cash's 'I Still Miss Someone' and 'Bye Bye Blackbird' ... can be taken as general indicators of the general mood, which hits that Irish spot of being sad but not depressing. ... Clarke is regarded as an honorary West Texan ..
3rd Coast Music, Texas
The Clarke originals prove that he remains one of our finest and most diversely influenced composers. His Irish (influenced) canon advances still further with 'Did He Sing Danny Boy' and the stunning, pseudo-traditional 'By The Light Of The Plough'. 'Gardenia Blues' is a slow soulful number underscored by languid guitar lines, while (Lisa) Mednick's support vocal is well to the fore on 'Crow Blues'. Should you wish to envelop yourself in a dreamy laid back jazzy ether, then for over five minutes. 'Mr Lucky' will fulfill your wildest fantasies. Pickin' clover or pickin' strings, life can most surely be 'Lucky'
Kerrville Kronikle
BIOGRAPHY
Terry Clarke's music is infused with the warm, breezy subtleties of Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael, the rough-hewn, hard-living country of Johnny Cash and the kind of street poetry and vivid imagery that make him one of the most important writers of his generation.
Whether he is calling up the spirit of the blues, tearing through a good, honest rock & roll song, introducing you to one of his flesh, blood and bone character studies or breaking your heart with a lonesome lament his work has the weight of history behind it - the history that gave us Son House, Dion, Springsteen, Johnny Cash, Jimmy Webb and Mercer - but his work pulses with a contemporary heart that continues to make his music full of surprises.
As well as producing 10 fine albums, which are coloured by his love of the blues, of rock & roll, as well as by his Anglo Irish roots and by his long association with Austin Texas, he has enjoyed the respect of, and collaborations with, some of the best.
During his twenty-year writing association with blues slide guitarist Michael Messer he has been responsible for the modern classics of the genre that are winning Messer increasing recognition. The feted bluesman's new album, Lucky Charms, out in February 2006 is, as ever packed with Clarke laments and finely drawn character studies which keep the blues flame burning.
Clarke's friendship with one of Austin's favourite adopted sons, Wes McGhee, led to the two of them getting together in the studio last year to produce Night Ride to Birmingham - a flashing, neon, jukebox of an album full of rockabilly swing, rock & rollers, and homages to Clarke's heroes such as Johnny Burnette, Johnny Cash, Gene Vincent, Elvis and Laura Nyro. As their fans will attest McGhee and Clarke are natural allies both on stage and in the studio, with a shared musical language and this album marks a new and exciting phase in their long relationship. The pair have just returned from a UK tour, with writer, musician and cult legend Ronny Elliott, making up the Unholy Trinity.
Other recent projects for Clarke include a tour this month of North Carolina, West Virginia and Ohio, alongside David Childers and the Modern Don Juan's, who tear up the music venues of those states with a potent liquor of rockabilly and rock & roll played with skill of experience and the heart of a rowdy teenager.
Clarke has very recently relocated to Swansea, Wales, the home of one of his writing heroes Dylan Thomas. As is his habit, Clarke is assimilating the culture, the history and the richness of his new surroundings to produce a fine body of work hewn from the local landscape.
To date he has enjoyed some great performances in Wales, including at the Dylan Thomas Centre and he is working on a number of new projects here, notably with the actor Peter Read, that will take him into new musical and performing territory.
December sees Clarke share a bill at the Cluny in Newcastle with Jackie Leven and with Hank Wangford in Clerkenwell. London.
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