Gary Clark Jr. Brings Guitar Heroics to SXSW -- Top 100 Acts at SXSW 2011

Posted on Mar 7th 2011 1:30PM by Arielle Castillo

WBR

Gary Clark Jr. is no run-of-the-mill indie rocker. The 27-year-old guitar prodigy and Austin native is the next great hope for bringing raw blues to a mainstream audience, starting at SXSW. Clark is a rarity in the blues community -- a musician who respects the great standards while remaining open to other sounds, freely mixing in rock, jazz and pop, crossing genres like a true millennial.

What has earned Clark steadfast respect from blues hardliners, though, is his serious fretwork. Although he's self-taught, he was playing the Austin club circuit by his early teens, quickly scoring a recurring slot at the legendary nightspot Antone's. His age served as a selling point rather than a drawback, and by his mid-teens, he was sharing the stage with such greats as Jimmie Vaughan.

Eventually, Clark was tapped by none other than Eric Clapton to play the 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival, a career-making gig that helped him score a major-label deal with Warner. With pre-production for his debut album underway, Clark chatted with Spinner about his eclectic tastes and ongoing growth as a musician.

What inspired you to first pick up the guitar?

A lot of things stand out. I was a big fan of the Jackson 5; I remember seeing Tito with his red Gibson and thinking that was pretty cool. Then a friend of mine, Eve Monsees, who lived down the street from me, started playing guitar when we were in about fifth grade. After that I got inspired to actually get one.

The thing that made me want to play guitar, really, though, was the Michael Jackson 'Bad' tour, around '88, when I was maybe 4 years old. It was a surprise from my parents, and I saw the show and saw Jennifer Batten with her lights and her whole big deal, and I thought that was pretty cool. That concert made me want to play music -- I don't know if it was guitar in particular, but that changed my whole perception at a young age.

What kind of music did you grow up around in the house?

My parents had all kinds of records: Prince, all the Motown stuff, Earth Wind and Fire, the Commodores, B.B. King, Stevie Wonder. It had a huge impact, just dancing around the living room with my sisters 'til we passed out.

How did you come back around to the kind of stuff you're playing now?

I was playing with my friend Eve Monsees, and I was really into what she was into. When I got my guitar and I went over to her house, she would introduce me to the Ramones, things like that. There were a bunch of kids in school right around that time rocking Nirvana shirts and Pearl Jam and all that stuff. Being in Austin, I was surrounded by all kinds of stuff, so all the cats that played guitar, we'd get together and share stuff. It was like, Silverchair, B.B. King, Nirvana, Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan all that kind of stuff.

Did you take any lessons, or did you teach yourself?

I taught myself, basically, by listening to records. I'd learn power chords from Eve and this guy I was hanging out with. It was a soak-it-up thing, basically, just being open to anything. At such a young age, 12, everything and anything that moves catches your attention.

When did you first start seriously gigging around Austin?

Me and my friend Eve -- I keep bringing her up because we always said we were gonna be in a band for forever -- went down to a blues jam on 6th Street. We happened to run into a friend of my dad's who was a bass player, a guy named Appa Perry. He hired me for my first gig, at a spot called Joe's Generic Bar. From there out, it was on! I was 15.

What was your first gig like? Were you nervous?

I was really nervous. I remember practicing in the mirror all day, because people were going to be watching me and I wanted to have my struggling-new-guitarist face on! It was all covers at the time, just old blues. Down in Austin, there's a whole thing where if you pick up the guitar and call yourself a blues guitarist, you'd better know all the standards.

How did you first meet Clifford Antone of Antone's, and how did he help put you on to a larger audience?

I'm not exactly sure when the first time was. As soon as I got out, everything happened real quickly. I was a young black kid in Austin, Texas, playing blues, so a lot of things kind of came my way quickly.

But Cliff Antone put me onstage at 15, with James Cotton, Mojo Buford, Calvin "Fuzz" Jones and George Rains. That was the band, and maybe Pinetop Perkins was up onstage too, so that was my intro to Antone's! It was like, "I heard this kid can hang -- can you really hang? So I'll put you onstage with the cats."

I remember we did 'T-Bone Shuffle' and I think Howlin' Wolf, 'Shake for Me' or something. From that point, it was on. Cliff put me on shows and introduced me to everybody. It happened so quickly.

Do you think your appearance at the Crossroads Guitar Festival has been the biggest thing you've done so far?

Yeah, I've definitely gotten a lot more phone calls since then. It was huge, that Crossroads performance. Just being invited to that thing was huge. I got to be onstage with my heroes, people I used to read about in magazines.

Having grown up in Austin, how do you feel about SXSW? Do you feel it's important for musicians from Austin's local scene to play the festival?

It's important for anyone to play it. People come out and see you. It doesn't matter if there are three people in your audience or 3,000; there are people from all over the world. It's just getting out there and playing.

Now that you're signed to Warner, a major label, are you writing new music with a broader audience in mind, or are you just doing what you've been doing?

I'm just doing what I do. I'm comfortable in my little zone, and I've been doing my thing for a while, and so far, it's been good. I don't really see a whole lot of reason to change much, besides just getting better and improving, whatever that means.

Do you think the mainstream music-buying public is ready for blues?

My confident side says "yes." My unsure side says, "I hope so," because it's coming!

Catch Gary Clark Jr.'s SXSW Set on Thursday, March 17 at Habana Bar Backyard (708 E 6th St.) 10:30PM, and Wednesday, March 16 at The Ghost Room (304 W 4th St.) 12AM.

Watch Gary Clark Jr.'s Live Performance of 'Catfish Blues'