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24 illinoisentertainer.com april 2019
a letter in the mail from Eric Clapton invit-
ing him to play at the 2010 Crossroads
Guitar Festival in Bridgeview, IL. Opting
to pay tribute to Jimmy Reed with his blaz-
ing take on the classic “Bright Lights, Big
City,” Clark was temporarily stumped
when the PA system went down for half
the tune. Thinking quickly, he extended
the song until the sound kicked back in.
The result was a performance that capti-
vated the crowd and became the highlight
of the concert film that featured heavy-
weights that included Buddy Guy, B.B.
King, Hubert Sumlin, Robert Cray, and
Keb Mo. After the fest, Clapton wrote him
another letter. This one proclaiming,
“Thank You - you make me want to play
again.” in R&B, funk, gospel and hip hop. The fact
that all of these genres are offsprings of the
blues wasn't lost on many fans, but Clark
defiantly blended hip hop loops, funk
falsettos and gospel harmonies with juke
joint riffs for an aural demonstration of
African-American musical expression.
Clark made it plain that he wasn’t accept-
ing any of the limiting definitions of what
music he could play. “I just love to take
[the fewest] amount of notes and make it
sound interesting,” he explained.
Fans were unprepared for just how
interesting when he released his third stu-
dio album, This Land, in February. Drawing
upon the anger and frustration stirred up
by the current administration as well as
personal experience on his Texas Ranch,
And just like that, Clark found himself
with a Warner Brothers record deal and
rock star status. He was soon selling out
major venues as a headliner, opening for
Eric Clapton and fielding offers for album
guest appearances. He racked up star-
studded fans like Keith Richards, B.B. King
and Barack Obama. Before his enigmatic,
major label debut Blak and Blu (Warner
Bros) was released in 2012, he had co-writ-
ten and appeared on Alicia Keyes’ hit song,
“Fire We Make.” He had moved a long
way from sitting in a dark room, contem-
plating his future.
With the release of Blak and Blu, Clark
would face the guitar god and blues savior
labels head on. The 13-track CD unleashed
his carefully crafted blues chops as well as
his love of R&B and hip hop, to fans
expecting a straight-ahead blues collection.
Blues flowed through the CD, but it was
just one of many sounds, which perplexed
listeners and set him on the defensive. He
also released a mixtape of Blak and Blu fea-
turing Mississippi MC Big Krit that further
proved that he was not your daddy’s blues
guitar god. It would also establish the tone
for his sophomore album, The Story of
Sonny Boy Slim, which dabbled even more Clark dropped the title track, a scathing
answer to MAGA and the ultimate anti-
racism protest song. Shooting out lyrics
with a hip hop delivery over wailing guitar
and throbbing beats, he charges, “paranoid
and pissed off/now that I got the
money/fifty acres and a model A/in the
middle of Trump country/I told you ‘there
goes the neighborhood’/now mister
Williams ain’t so funny/I see you looking
out your window/can’t wait to call the
police on me." His fury whips through the
song and boils over as he spits out the cho-
rus “F--ck you/I’m America’s son/this is
where I come from/this land is mine.”
“That song is about my views on
America around the time of the 2016 elec-
tions and a lot of stuff happening now; it’s
kind of dark and sad,” he explained. On
top of the toxic national atmosphere, Clark
was confronted about how he could be the
owner own his 50-acre ranch by a racist
neighbor. The angry exchange happened
in front of his son and stirred up memories
of the racism he endured during his Austin
childhood. “My life is cool; I surround
myself with people who are open and love
and care for me. It’s the [other] people who
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