A Random Woman At A Festival Changed Gary Clark Jr's Life Forever

The Texan vocalist and maestro guitarist Gary Clark Jr has achieved so much. He's won a Grammy, performed for President Obama at the White House, and even tried acting. Now Clark has delivered another definitive album in This Land. 

The Southerner – who resides on a ranch with his Western Australian supermodel wife Nicole Trunfio and their kids – wrote the compelling title track (and lead single) about racism after a disturbing encounter with a neighbour who disputed his ownership of the property. He sings, "Paranoid and pissed off/Now that I got the money/50 acres and a model A/Right in the middle of Trump country." Clark is heartened by the response to his hip hop blues-rocker of a MAGA protest song. "It's been, for the most part, good. I felt a certain way, and I feel like people would feel the same way. So it's been positive; a little bit of negative pushback, but that's fine," he laughs.

A laidback Clark is enjoying friends' company as he talks up his band's return to Australia for Byron Bay Bluesfest's 30th anniversary. "Can you hear me ok?," he hollers down the line. "I'm in the middle of a bar." The preferred GCJ drink? Whiskey. "Jameson. Always Jameson. Always Jameson. And, if it's not Jameson, it might be some sort of muscat. That is my life, I'm living my best life, I love it…" 

Obviously, Clark has family ties Down Under. "Australia is my second home," he rhapsodises. "I've got brothers, brothers-in-law, who are amazing." 

He commends the Melbourne-bred rocker Hamish Anderson, who's opening his sideshows. "He's the shit!"

Growing up in Austin, Texas, Clark was playing guitar at 12. He was soon gigging in local venues, and was embraced by the scene. Initially independent, the bluesman signed to Warner, making his major label debut with 2012's Blak & Blu. The song Please Come Home scored a Grammy (for Best Traditional R&B Performance).

"There's no rules; there's no boundaries. You can say whatever you want, you can do whatever you want – and I think that's healthy."

But, as early as 2007, Clark starred as a music prodigy in John Sayles' movie Honeydripper alongside Danny Glover (and fellow Bluesfest headliner Keb' Mo'). "I took away from that experience that I am not an actor and that acting is a serious profession," he drawls. 

Nonetheless, Clark impressed reviewers. "I have to give it up to my guy [actor] Brent Jennings. He pulled me aside, 'cause there's all these big-name actors and I was the lead of the film and I was like, 'Ahhh.' My first scene, I was supposed to be in jail and I'm looking around and I'm seeing the lights and the camera and I'm smiling. I'm like, 'Damn, I'm making a movie and I need to be an actor.' Brent had to pull me aside.

"I would love to do it again," he adds.

More recently, the busy Clark appeared as a club performer in the final season of the Netflix TV series Marvel's Luke Cage (revisiting his funky fave Bright Lights). "It was cool to be there but," he pauses bashfully. "I never watched the show… I'm not gonna pretend like I know what it's about."

Completing This Land allowed Clark to clarify where he's at in his journey – music serving as therapy. "I think that, as artists, we find a way to express ourselves without being able to express ourselves in everyday life. There's no rules; there's no boundaries. You can say whatever you want, you can do whatever you want – and I think that's healthy."

Though Clark is often hailed as the blues' saviour, he's shared his frustrations at being boxed in. Indeed, he's contributed to notable projects by both Foo Fighters and Childish Gambino and covered The Beatles' Come Together with electronica-type Junkie XL for the Justice League OST. His third major label record, This Land, burns through Memphis soul, dub-reggae and vintage punk. Clark rattles off an expansive list of acts he digs, starting with Drake. He readily discerns unusual connections or parallels. "I think my most favourite modern blues guy, when it comes down to hip hop, would be Big KRIT." Above all, the multi-instrumentalist is consciously challenging himself. "You gotta get better," Clark stresses. "You have to raise the bar for yourself. If you think you're ok, you're not ok." 

Ultimately, the guitar slinger is most famed for his live shows. Ask Clark what he values from an audience and he becomes philosophical, barfly or not. "It's energy," he ponders. "But I was playing a festival, and I was in three songs, and there's thousands of people watching, and somebody yells out to me, 'We're here to see you.' I grew up in blues bars, small little joints, nothing crazy, maybe 15, 20 people around, and so I was always the entertainment. It was like, you're the background. So this woman made me feel like that's important – and to me that was everything. I just never thought about myself as being a performer. So she changed my life."