Simple passion: Play to the crowd

By Andrew W. Griffin

pop writer



OKLAHOMA CITY -- When the Brandon Clark Band plays The Wormy Dog Saloon on Saturday, band leader Clark will be engaging in an activity he deeply loves.

And that activity is one he engages in many days each week ... playing in front of crowds of people who love his style of "Americana Country" music.

Clark, who spoke to POP earlier this month from his home in Tulsa, said that the tag "Americana Country" is one he came up with because he didn't feel it was entirely appropriate to attach his band to the Red Dirt label, since they did not come out of the 1990s Stillwater scene that spawned homegrown Red Dirt music.

Clark, who grew up in the small Panhandle city of Guymon, loved music. In those early years, he was not a huge country fan.

"I was more into the rock stuff," Clark said. "My brother, meanwhile, was four years older than me and he was into metal. My parents were into Merle Haggard, Bobby Bare, The Beatles ... it was a big mix in our household."

All the while, Clark was a fan of music and playing guitar. After high school, Clark attended both Oklahoma State University and East Central University in Ada. He eventually ended up in Tulsa working for WorldCom, the scandal-ridden telecommunications company that eventually went bankrupt earlier in the 2000s.

"WorldCom tanked and there was no need to keep me around," he said.

Meanwhile, Clark said he was playing in bands on the weekends, doing acoustic shows and playing where he could. During this time, he met Darren Lightfoot, a bass guitarist. Joining Lightfoot, the two played in a cover band called Supermodel.

Clark was pleasantly surprised when he kept receiving calls from local bars asking him to play. In addition to his time in Supermodel, Clark was able to play several gigs a week to bring in cash.

"The money was good," Clark said of those days. He added that he "played covers to make everybody happy." He also said folks in the audience would try and stump him and that if he didn't know a song, he'd go home and learn it.

Then Clark and Lightfoot decided to head in their own direction. This is where the Brandon Clark Band got its start. He said they wanted to do originals.

That love of rock -- mixed with some country -- led to the Americana Country rock of the Brandon Clark Band, featuring Clark, Lightfoot, drummer Heath Jacobson and lead guitarist Dave Duval.

"Not many drummers around here are better than Heath." Clark said. "Him and Darren have played together for 12 years. I met Darren, and Heath came along with Darren, and that was alright with me."

The band clicked and was soon getting a lot of gigs in the Tulsa area and beyond, including Oklahoma City. Eventually, the band decided it was time to record an album.

After several attempts to strike the right sound, the band's first album, "Tall," was recorded in Broken Arrow at Valcour Sound with well-regarded producer Hank Charles.

"Once with Hank we had a deadline," Clark said. "I wish we'd had a little more time to polish things up. We went back in and did harmonies and little things like that. Most of the guitars are done live."

According to an album review on RedDirtReport.com, the songs on "Tall" feature plenty of heartbreak, booze, loss and long nights by a band that has a story to tell -- all with guitars and drums and attitude."

With Clark and Lightfoot sharing songwriting duties, songs like "She's Got No Wings," "18 Wheeler," "Another Bottle" and "This Hangover Ain't Over" really stand out as key songs from an Oklahoma band that has a strong future in the Red Dirt -- or in their case, Americana Country -- genre.

"My own personal thought is if you're Red Dirt, you're one of those five or six people that came out of Stillwater in the 90's," Clark said. "The rest of us are rock n' roll. We get thrown in Red Dirt scene, but to us, we're playing rock songs."

Asked about that country sound that infuses the band, Clark laughs and says, "We're from Oklahoma. We play our country with two loud guitars, bass and drums. It's good, loud country."

Guitarist Duval has since left the band -- amicably Clark said -- and has been replaced by Brandon Autry.

Now, Clark said the band plans to record new songs soon. Toward the end of December, they recorded a live album with Travis Kidd at the Mercury Lounge in Tulsa.

"We're doing this to buy us time until we get back into the studio," Clark said of the live recording.

And tomorrow night, helping take the Wormy Dog into a new decade, will be the Brandon Clark Band and their self-proclaimed "100 Proof Oklahoma Beer Joint Music." Joining them will be Fat Dixie.

Tickets for the band's 9 p.m. Saturday show at the Wormy Dog Saloon, 311 E. Sheridan Ave., are available at www.wormydog.com.

For more information, go to www.brandonclark.org.

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