Grammy award winning singer-songwriter Gary Clark Jr released his new album “Story of Sonny Boy Slim” breaking the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart in its debut month.
The album went on sale on September 11th and is currently holding the No. 8 spot on the Billboard charts.
Clark’s last studio album release was nearly three years ago and the 31-year-old has been steadily climbing towards superstardom since.
“It’s crazy to think, 2010 I was sitting around in my house wondering what I was gonna do then cut to a couple of years later and being introduced to Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy, you know, B.B. King and being able to be on stages with guys like that and Rolling Stones and Alicia Keys and we were talking about The Dream, I just traveled to a lot of places that I never thought I would ever see,” Gary Clark Jr, called Sonny Boy or Slim by family and friend, said.
Earlier this year and in the middle of production for the album Clark has his first child with girlfriend Nicole Trunfio, a well-known Australian model. Clark calls this a very personal album.
“I was about to have my son, Nicole my love was very pregnant and so I was dealing with a lot of that and he was born in the middle of making the album and so my life changed and just l like, it was a whole transition thing and I had the opportunity to be in the studio at that time and really sit back and reflect and let it out,” Clark said.
The blues guitarist hails from Austin, Texas and has been a part of the established music scene for more than a decade. He got his start in blues playing guitar at age 12. Local Austin musicians like Jimmie Vaughan – brother of the late Stevie Ray Vaughan – took Clark under their wing. At around 15, he played alongside blues legends Hubert Sumlin, Calvin “Fuzz” Jones, James Cotton and Mojo Buford.
However his favorite people to perform with are still his family members and on the track ‘Church’ his sisters lend their vocals to the powerful song.
“To have my sisters come in, we just grew up singing together and I was just thinking of a bunch of people I could call and there’s nothing better than family so I called them up and they annoyed the hell out of me in the studio and I thought that it was a terrible idea as soon as they got into the studio and started making me look bad in front of all these people, I was like man, but I love them and they made the cut.”
One of the tracks on the sophomore album ‘The Healing’ is a very personal song written near the end of the album creation process. For Clark it was his way of accepting and preparing mentally for barriers and detours that will come his way while still staying hopeful .
“If I didn’t have music, if I didn’t have that outlet I’m not quite sure where I would be and I don’t know if I want to find out, you know what I mean and I was thinking about my favorite albums, people ask me about my favorite records all the time and I was thinking about why I like them and I feel like why I love them because they’ve kind of shaped who I am as a human being like there’s been lessons taught in these songs,” Clark said.
In the lyrics of ‘The Healing’ Clark’s voice is filled with grit and emotion as he sings again and again ‘We got this music’ and the back-up vocals echo ‘Healing’ over and over in the background.
Having performed with B.B. King, Trombone Shorty, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck, Mick Jagger, to name just a few of the music great Clark has performed alongside, the talented musician and guitar virtuoso is often compared with the late great Jimi Hendrix.
A comparison that Clark quickly rejects, “First and foremost I know my place, me and Hendrix aren’t in the same, he laid the foundation for a guy like me to even do what I’m doing, so I respect that. And I think once that comparison begins to be put out there that becomes an expectation, you know which I don’t think is fair to put on somebody as an artist.”
As for legacy, Clark has no thoughts he is willing to share on what his music will mean to future generations but the singer-songwriter continues to strive for ‘seeing a little bit of everything’ through his music and fans.
“People connect from all walks of life I can walk up on stage and see a little bit of everything and that’s the most important thing for me just to be free and open and connect and just accept, you know what I mean, that’s what I think about. But legacy though, we’ll see,” Clark said.
Gary Clark Jr is currently on tour with the Foo Fighters. (Reuters)
