 In his debut CD Workin' On A Groove, Jameson Clark unveils a beer-drenched, sweaty, Southern soul sound that blends the best of Bakersfield, Nashville and Memphis to create country music that shatters any boundaries that dare to cross its path. Clark's music is a reflection of one of the most unlikely journeys to country music success, a 13-year sojourn that included four years at The Citadel military school, five years at a Nashville machine shop and several years in the kitchen and onstage at Nashville bars.
But the common thread running through this plethora of experiences, as well as the songs he co-wrote on his first album, is a youthful, unrestrained enthusiasm for life. That edgy exuberance is captured in this album, from its wickedly delightful rockabilly piano accompaniments to its driving rhythm and electric guitar parts in such songs as "Waitin' On The Whiskey" and "Out On Parole".
"I consider myself the host of a party and I'm always looking for a party," Clark says. "What I want everyone around me to be doing is looking for a good time all the time. And this album helps you find that good time groove and hopefully you can stay in it for a little while."
This fun-loving spirit complements a rare musical ability and gift for capturing with the simplest words how people feel. Clark co-wrote all 12 songs on his album and co-produced the project. This creative contribution is rare for any artist and almost unheard of for a debut release. Despite his love for live performances, Clark remains, first and foremost, a songwriter at heart.
Clark's music is a culmination of his musical influences, from Merle Haggard, George Strait and Alan Jackson to Aerosmith and Motley Crue. "A lot of people describe it as Kid Rock on a haystack," he says. "I made this record for the guy in social studies class who one day has on a HankWilliams Jr. shirt and the next day a Metallica shirt. But beyond that, it's just real imperfect and unapologetic. It doesn't follow any set formula in any way."
"The whole album was born out of the frustration with the car I was driving, the house I was living in, just everything going on around me. Desperation causes people to do really good things sometimes and I was desperate to do something."
Clark was raised in the small town of Starr, S.C., where his mother played piano in the church (where she made him sing with his brother) and his father coached the high school football team, which Clark later led as quarterback. When Clark was sixteen, he convinced the lady who was running a local beauty pageant that he should be the entertainment between wardrobe changes. His motive, of course, was to meet and impress girls. Clark performed "On The Other Hand" by Randy Travis and the crowd gave him a standing ovation. It was at that moment, Clark realized one day he would be a performer.
After high school graduation, he attended The Citadel, a rigidly disciplined military school that is a seemingly unlikely choice for such a fun-loving guy. "I come from a family of educators, so education was the most important thing I was taught when I was growing up," he says. "I knew enough about myself, even at 18, to know that if I had gone anywhere else, I never would've gotten my education. I put myself there because I knew that I would have to study every night, not that I did."
When not playing intra-mural sports or organizing school talent shows, Clark was going AWOL every Thursday night to sit in with bands at The Lazy B in nearby Ladsden. One Christmas, his brother gave him the Alan Jackson CD Here In The Real World, and from then on, he knew what he needed to do. "It just struck a chord in me for some reason," he says. "When that album came out, I was like, 'Yeah, I'm going to move to Nashville.'"
And that's just what he did, six days after former President Ronald Reagan handed him a Citadel degree in 1993. He loaded up a U-Haul and drove to town in a 1979 Caprice Classic Laudau, stopping only in Chattanooga to buy an $80 guitar. He took a $5.75-an-hour shipping job at Rock City Machine Shop. "I loved it because I could look out the window at my shipper receiver table and see the Ryman Auditorium and it gave me hope."
He soon added a second job as a short-order cook at the Douglas Corner Cafe, where Nashville's best songwriters regularly perform. "I was back there flipping burgers and hearing the best songs and the worst songs in town every night. That was my grad school; that's were I learned my craft."
He also gained business insights when he worked as a handyman for Alan Jackson's fan club. Since Jackson inspired Clark's musical journey, it was a thrill for Clark just to be in the same environment as his hero. "I learned how much work it was and how much you needed people around you that you can trust," he says.
In 1995, he formed a band and began playing at Robert's Western World on Lower Broadway. Each member was paid $15 a night but Clark (who worked for free) guaranteed them $30, so he relied heavily on a tip jar. "I got pretty good at being able to judge at 20 feet how much money was in a tip jar," he says. "In the two years we played there, twice my wife had to go down to the ATM and get money out so I could pay the guys."
In May 1998, five years to the day of his Nashville move, he landed a publishing deal with BMG Music. He learned of the deal via phone while standing in leaky waders in a 60-foot sewage tank that he was repairing for a Rock City Machine client. "I climbed out of that tank, took those waders off and said, 'Boys, I'm never doing this again,'" he says.
That led to his deal with Capitol Records. "His music just makes me smile," says Capitol President Mike Dungan. "It's just an honest look at young, rabble-rousing guys. We all wish we could stay 19 forever and this music is a celebration of that spirit."
From the swampy yet Bakersfield-influenced "Still Smokin'" to the slow sensual ballad "One More Night With You", Clark creates a unique sound that captures the anticipation, excitement and temptation of a Friday night after a long week's work. "I'm not a middle of the road kind of guy. I like having fun and doing things to the max, doing things as hard as you can for as long as you can."
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