WHAT HE SAID…
June 11, 2015BREAKING: Boustany’s trade protection act makes House cut
June 12, 2015
Clint Black is a content guy. And funny, too.
The New Jersey-born country singer/song writer has more than 100 songs in his catalogue – all tunes he penned himself -10 studio albums, nearly two dozen No. 1 hit singles and 31 Top 10 hits. Plus he’s sold more than 20 million albums worldwide.
The country crooner is in talks with a new label, and hard at work in his home-studio, located a few feet from the Nashville home he shares with wife Lisa Hartman Black. The new album, Black’s first new release in 10 years, has been a “gargantuan effort.”
“It is probably going to sound different from the stuff I’ve done in the past,” Black told Gumbo in a telephone interview.
For starters, he said his guitar chops continue to get sharper and his writing more meaningful. Black’s studio work is also more proficient.
“I’ve been working on music off and on for awhile,” he said. “I’ve had the opportunity to do various things over the years – TV, movies and reality shows – all the while, moving the music along.”
What Black loyalists can expect is his trademark independent-mindedness.
“I make my music. I don’t make someone else’s music and I can’t make someone else’s records,” he said emphatically.
Black imagines if RCA had known he intended to write all of his own stuff it would have been tougher to get a record deal when he was pitching “Killing Time” in 1989.
“They would have never signed me,” Black said. “My premise was, ‘OK, I wrote that first album, I think I qualify for the job now.’ Now, I’m probably more of a song writer/musician than I was then. I only played guitar so I could sing.”
Today’s country scene is far different from the one that saw Black, Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson rise to the top.
“I am a believer that every artist makes their own choices,” Black said. “I don’t criticize anyone. My goal was to stay true to myself.”
As he did with past hits, Black is pouring himself into the work.
“I’m playing more guitar – the slide guitar for the first time ever – and even the slide dobro,” he said.
“I’m doing things I wouldn’t have ever dreamed of before. I’ve grown tremendously as a player and a songwriter.”
As for the future beyond music, Black said he’d love to pursue a comedy TV show.
“I really do love comedy,” he said. “I’d love to do some good comedy; something that’s ridiculous and absurd.”
In the meantime, fans can follow his lighter side at #ClintsGotJokes. See for yourself, he is a funny guy.
Killin’ Time with Clint
Here are a few facts you may not have known about the country artist.
Clint met Lisa Hartman Black when she went backstage after a 1990 New Year’s Eve concert in Houston to meet Clint. “I didn’t know who she was, but when I saw her standing there with those beautiful blue eyes, I knew I wanted to see her again,” the singer/songwriter told People Magazine.
The two wed a year later in Katy, Texas. The couple has one daughter, Lily Pearl Black.
Clint serves as honorary chair for the International Rett Syndrome Foundation’s “Research to Reality: Funding Progress” campaign. With the help of Scott Hamilton, fellow “Celebrity Apprentice” cast mate and Olympic Gold medalist, Clint has raised more than $1 million toward finding a cure for the developmental disorder. “We’re in the quantum leap stage,” the singer said of the disorder that claimed the life of his niece. Researchers are close to beginning human trials to reverse or lessen Rhett Syndrome.
Clint’s big movie break came with in the movie “Maverick,” which starred Mel Gibson and Jody Foster.
Clint had jobs in construction, as a bait cutter and fishing guide, newspaper salesman and ironworker before the music gig took off.
Clint was a regular on harmonica in Jimmy Buffett & the Coral Reefer Band’s 2000 summer tour.
His Billboard No. 1 hits are: “Better Man” (1989); “Killin’ Time” (1989); “Nobody’s Home” (1989); “Walkin’ Away” (1990); “Loving Blind” (1991); “Where Are You Now” (1991); “When My Ship Comes In” (1993); “A Good Run of Bad Luck” (1994); “Summer’s Comin'” (1995); “Like the Rain” (1996); and “Nothin’ But the Taillights” (1998)
IF YOU GO…
CUNT BLACK
WHEN: June 13, 8 p.m.
WHERE: Cypress Bayou Casino, Charenton
COST: $35
CONTACT: TICKETMASTER.COM
Country singer and songwriter Clint Black visits Cypress Bayou Casino in Charenton this Saturday night. Black describes himself first as a songwriter. He penned all of his tunes. The New Jersey-born artist said he picked up a guitar just so he could perform his own songs. He’s back in the studio working on a new release, his first in 10 years.
