Bryan Clark: Press

The songs move from 'Foggy Mountain' style breakdowns such as 'Blackberry Blossom' to the evocative raga 'Midnight and the Harvest Moon' which sees Clark's acoustic and Pandolfi's banjo moving between Eastern modes and roots strumming with style. Other highlights on the acoustic CD include the opener 'Angelyne', an energetic and catchy bluegrass number. Elsewhere, 'Raven King' has the same quiet intensity as Richmond Fontaine demonstrated on 'The Fitzgerald' and 'Kiss the Bride' tells an too familiar story with charm: "Do you take this bottle to be your wife? / Then step up to the altar and kiss the bride".

The second disc, the “Electric CD” reworks several tracks from the first and adds a few new songs. These performances see Clark very much in control, providing almost all the instrumentation. At the heart is Clark's blues guitar work evoking Stevie Ray Vaughan on 'Angelyne' and elsewhere exploring the other mainstays of electric Americana, the revised 'Midnight Kisses' evoking Ryan Adams.

On 'Gossip, Inspiration and Slander', Clark has produced an impressive variety of songs that demonstrate his talent as guitarist, vocalist and producer, as band leader and solo artist. Better still, in the course of only one hundred minutes Clark explores the breadth and appeal of contemporary Americana, demonstrating he has every right to be considered among the best.

“Who IS this guy?” was my first thought after hearing a couple of minutes of Gossip, Inspiration & Slander. Bryan Clark received his first guitar at age nine and began playing in rock bands by high school. The summer before his senior year he attended a Berklee College of Music guitar camp and realized, “if I was going to do this (guitar) as a career, it was going to require some serious effort.”

Clark proceeded to earn not only an undergraduate degree in music, but also a masters and doctorate at the University of Southern California. While working on his doctorate Clark discovered bluegrass music. Listening to the Ricky Skaggs’ albums Ancient Tones and Bluegrass Rules Clark was, “blown away by the level of musicianship. There was so much akin to jazz with all the improvisation going on.” In 2002 Clark formed the trio Honeywagon and recorded three albums that covered popular music with acoustic bluegrass style arrangements. Sympathy for Bluegrass – A Tribute to the Rolling Stones, Grass Stains (a tribute to Blink 182) and Green Day, Bluegrass (a tribute to Green Day) sold briskly with the last release spending over 90 weeks on Billboard’s Bluegrass Top 15 chart. In 2006 Clark relocated to Nashville where he joined the faculty of Belmont University School of Music. In addition to his academic duties Clark works as a session player in Nashville and on TV and film projects including “America’s Top Model” and “Project Runway.”

Gossip, Inspiration & Slander is a self-produced double CD with one disc dedicated to acoustic music while the other is all electric. The acoustic disc features a veritable pantheon of Nashville’s best including Casey Dreissen on fiddle, Chris Pandolfi on banjo, Matt Flinner on mandolin, Bryn Bright on stand-up bass, and Clark on all the guitar parts. It combines eight Clark originals with two well-worn instrumental standards, “Blackberry Blossom, and “Bill Cheatum.” On these two war horses Clark demonstrates he has something new to say. His acoustic guitar playing is awesome – clean, precise, and musically inventive. To say he can keep up with the likes of Dreissen and Pandolfi is an understatement. The eight Clark originals display a facility with both lyrics and melodies that rivals any songwriter currently working in bluegrass. His song “Midnight Kisses” combines especially clever visual imagery with chorus that is more addictive than a boxful of chocolates.

On the electric CD Clark plays EVERY instrument except for rhythm guitar and bass on one cut. All the songs are also Clark originals, with two versions of his song “Angelyne”. The acoustic CD frames it in a swing/hot-picking arrangement while the electric rendition shows how far he can push the song into R&B inflected country, complete with background singers and syncopated handclaps. Clark’s singing and guitar playing easily rank with the top big-name country stars like Keith Urban and Brad Paisley. Bryan Clark’s simply a monster player, songwriter, singer, and a musical force of prodigious talent who deserves your immediate and complete attention.

You can’t fault Texas native Bryan Clark for lack of ambition – Gossip, Inspiration & Slander is a two-disc set divided into acoustic and electric halves, and on the latter he ably handles all the instruments himself. The full-band acoustic disc demonstrates his facility with bluegrass, while the electric disc gently rocks out while retaining some country flavor. Gossip, Inspiration & Slander is a dazzling display of virtuosity.

Bryan Clark’s “Gossip, Inspiration and Slander” had two things going for it before I ever popped it in the player and hit play. One…when I get a package in from publicist Martha Moore with a personal note attached, I know the music is going to be serious and demand my attention. Two…when Flatpicking Guitar and Vintage Guitar magazines rave about a player I know I’m in for something jaw dropping. Guitar players KNOW guitar players…guitar players know John Jorgenson before the Hellecasters album comes out, guitar players know Mark Christian before the Merle Jagger album comes out…they probably knew of Bryan Clark before this album hit the street. He’s a serious player…a very, very serious player.

Normally double albums spook me. I often find that the material could have been condensed into one really good album as opposed to two OK albums with too much filler. Not the case here. The album is divided into two parts. The acoustic album, a ten song journey through all that is missing in today’s “Bill Monroe built my hot-rod” bluegrass rehash. Oh there’s plenty of tradition here for the bluegrass purists but this album has more to offer the Americana roots crowd than it does the back porch, Lynchburg lemonade sippers. It ebbs and flows around the blistering string attacks of Clark’s guitar, banjo player Chris Pandolfi, the dizzying fiddle fills from Casey Dreissen and mandolin player Matt Flinner. What’s most memorable about this album is not only the all out assault of this quartet but I found Clark’s vocals to be incredibly impressive. At times reminiscent of Steve Forbert, at times Paul Simon and yet the songs also have a Poco, Pure Prairie League kind of feel. Instantly familiar, radio ought to love that. Even if you’ve never heard Bryan Clark…you’re pretty damn sure you have. The instrumentals will surely serve the bluegrass radio boys and tracks like ’Angelyne’, ‘Midnight Kisses’ and ‘Nights Like These’ will find a home at any radio station looking for a sweet southern blend of Americana and alt-country. If you just want to stare in amazement and wonder how many times the human fingers can move in the span of a second stick with ‘Blackberry Blossom.’

Then there’s an electric album. The album kicks off with the same track as the acoustic album, the aforementioned ‘Angelyne’ with a Memphis soul twist. Clark plays all the instruments including some tasty B3 flavored keyboards. He shows all the chops in a complete arsenal as the album continues through a variety of styles including a west coast jazz feel surrounded by steel guitar and piano on the boogie laden ‘Bumper to Bumper’. It’s a very interesting concept to offer acoustic and electric versions of some of the songs especially instant radio hits like ‘Nights Like These’, ‘Midnight Kisses’ and ‘Angelyne’. Clark is a master of styles with an impeccable sense of rhythm and all of it seems to be his own. His vocals complete the package. It’s all here…blues, rock, country, bluegrass touches of jazz and soul, seething guitar solos, poignant lyrics, top shelf production…what a document. Bryan Clark’s “Gossip, Inspiration and Slander” is a brilliant album. Every song seems to be a gem in its own right yet the album flows perfectly. A place for every note and every note in its place.

“Clark is making a new dimension of cosmic American music as he rollicks and reels with a bunch of pals or a bunch of instruments of his own plucking. You want a wide open record like the ones you tripped across in college in the 70s? This guitar tour de force is sure to leave your head spinning as you play it again and again just to figure out what just happened here. Solid throughout.”

An artist who gracefully--and seemingly effortlessly--bridges the traditional and the progressive schools, Bryan Clark makes a bold statement with Gossip, Inspiration And Slander. A double-CD set, its first disc is all acoustic, the second all-electric, but that's not to say the most intense energy is collected on the latter. "Angelyne," the acoustic disc opener, begins with Casey Driessen--who knows from progressive bluegrass--scratching out a protesting fiddle line ahead of the rest of the band sprinting away with him on a hard charging ode to a rather fetching, if difficult, model of feminine pulchritude. Driessen has a couple more aggressive, stuttering runs, and banjo man Chris Pandolfi (of the Infamous Stringdusters) matches him with a series of rolling, propulsive punctuations of his own. In addition to Driessen and Pandolfi, Clark is supported by Matt Flinner on mandolin and Bryn Bright on acoustic bass, and the entire aggregate plays with the synergy and energy you'd expect from folks who have been together for a long time, which they haven't been. To the wistful, backwoods feel of "Raven King" they bring appealing introspection in the tenderness of their atmospheric ruminations behind Clark's sensitive vocal, which Clark enhances with his own plaintive dobro fills. The danger here, of course, is getting so lost in the scintillating musical choices that you overlook how finely crafted are Clark's songs. The swaying, poignant reflection on lost love that is "Nights Like These" shows an acute awareness of what a number a failed romance can do on the head and the heart both, and the emotion in Clark's voice--the timbre and the slight rasp in his voice makes him sound a bit like a backwoods Paul Simon--adds enhanced depth to his lyrical musings. Alternately soaring and reflective, "Predictions of You" is a clever, midtempo treatise (with wonderful dialogue between Pandolfi's banjo and Driessen's fiddle) on reclaiming a love that's slipping away, Clark casting himself as the paramour rushing from points far away to make his stand with the object of his desire--"I'm racing through these midnight miles to tell you that I love you," he howls ahead of his own spirited acoustic guitar break--with a clear understanding of what's at stake, to wit: "our future is what I see/when predictions of you show up in the tea leaves."
Playing all the instruments himself on the electric CD, Clark illustrates the wide range of influences he's absorbed in shaping his own music--everything from Bob Wills to Stevie Ray Vaughan to XTC, even the '80s shredding guitar style he became enamored with while attending Berklee College of Music. Like the acoustic set, the electric disc kicks off with his "Angelyne," radically altered for the sake of a deep, soulful groove, with Clark's sputtering guitar, burbling organ, handclaps and infectious, ascending chorus reminiscent of Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do." On the other hand, the frisky "Bumper to Bumper" is a jazzy, western swing romp with wit and high spirits to burn, a milieu made richer for Clark's Les Paul-ish guitar solo and cascading piano fills; in a similar, jazz-based vein, "Don't Blame Me" brings out the artist's sardonic side, as he kisses off a seemingly alluring gal who has a problem with being faithful--"you know secret little sinners can't live loud in Paradise," he cries, three times, as the piano, guitar and dobro mesh in a tumbling, antic burst of triumphant glee. As beautiful as it is, though, the full-band version of "Nights Like These," though it could very well be a mainstream country hit for someone, loses some of its gripping intimacy in comparison to the acoustic version on disc one. That's a rare misstep here, and easily overlooked when you come across heart-tugging and big-hearted twangy love songs such as "Yes It Is Amen" and the touching, rustic-flavored instrumental, "All That Really Matters," the latter having, thanks to Clark's evocative, searching piano soloing (in tandem with his lonesome dobro moans), the feel of Bill Evans's inward-looking meditations. There really is something for practically all tastes on Clark's ambitious outpourings here, but its greater achievement is in its seamlessness--whether acoustic or electric, whether in one-man band mode or surrounded by some of the finest bluegrass players in the land, Bryan Clark sounds right at home, making it easy to follow him through doors that open into different worlds

"Gossip, Inspiration, and Slander is a testament to Bryan’s abilities as a picker, singer, songwriter, composer, arranger, and producer. The boy can do it all! The CD is more Newgrass than Bill Monroe and really more Americana than bluegrass, but the songwriting and vocals are very strong and the performance turned in by all of the band members is phenomenal. Be prepared to add a new name to your favorite guitar player list”-

Texas born Bryan Clark was given his first guitar when he was around the age of nine. He took music seriously but one of his great delights was the discovery that he was capable of creating his own sounds and, growing up listening to the literate compositions of writers like Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark it was almost inevitable that his own writing was influenced by them. In time, Clark enrolled in the University of Southern California and later in the University of Texas, earning a Master’s Degree in music, followed by a Doctorate. During his studies he immersed himself in a wide range of music, classical, jazz, blues, all the while focusing on composition, and then he was exposed to the music of Ricky Skaggs and he became fascinated with bluegrass. In 2002 he formed ‘Honeywagon’ and with them he recorded three bluegrass albums, one of them, GREEN DAY, BLUE GRASS spent an incredible 90 weeks on Billboard’s Bluegrass Chart.

In 2006 Clark relocated to Nashville. A multi-instrumentalist whose main instrument is guitar, he has become a much sought after session musician but is also a faculty member at Belmont University’s School of Music where he is involved in teaching jazz and harmony composition but he has also managed to release six albums on his own Rainfeather Records. This has allowed him the freedom to record in whatever style he chooses and, talking about bluegrass, Clark is quoted as saying that he is interested in bringing bluegrass music “out of that preservation mentality and to bring variation to the genre.” To a large extent he demonstrates what he meant on the first of the two CDs in this set. Vocalising and playing guitar and Dobro, he is joined by a tight band of top flight bluegrass musicians who add banjo, fiddle, mandolin and acoustic bass. There are four instrumentals including the traditional Blackberry Blossom and Bill Cheatum along with his own Down On The Saddlehorn and the atmospheric Midnight And The Harvest Moon on which his virtuosity on the guitar is nothing short of spellbinding. The remaining six tracks are Clark originals on which he vocalises. Both in themes and tempos the songs are varied making for absorbing listening.

Where the first CD is wholly acoustic, the second is electric. Apart from being joined on one track by an acoustic rhythm guitar, and a bass on another, Clark plays all the other instruments. Three of the songs which appear on the acoustic album, Angelyne, Midnight Kisses and Nights Like These are reprised on the electric album but they lose nothing in their reinterpretation. The remaining songs, as with those on the acoustic album, are every bit as interesting leaving the listener in little doubt that Bryan Clark is a writer of literate songs, some based on personal experience and others telling of characters and events he has encountered through his life. The closing track, All That Really Matters, is the only instrumental and here, on this rather sombre cut, Clark demonstrates his skill on Dobro. In summary, what we have are the two distinct sides of a singer, songwriter and consummate musician demonstrating that music need not be jealously guarded in what he regards as a ‘preservation mentality’, and in doing so he shows how it is possible to bring variation to a genre without it losing its identity.
Four Stars!

“Gossip, Inspiration and Slander is an artfully crafted project. Bryan Clark demonstrates his talents to their fullest on this double-disc treat. This is music for everyone, and it's pure ear candy. The production is absolutely flawless. If you're a fan of folk, Americana or bluegrass, there's more than enough here to satisfy you. Put it in your player; it'll be there for a long time!”

"Bryan Clark’s stellar playing and singing combine influences from numerous musical aspects. As a soloist, he’s equally soulful and ambitious, able to execute complex progressions or edgy chord flurries with the same care and dexterity he brings to sweet, soothing ballads. Clark’s new double CD Gossip, Inspiration and Slander has both an electric and acoustic side, and has him displaying his fluency in bluegrass flatpicking, jazz and blues tunes, and his proficiency operating as either a leader or a rhythm contributor.”

“Bryan Clark’s tremendous ability to create an Americana-based sound wrapped around well written lyrics filled with great imagery allows you to live the lyric with him the way that his idols Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt did. “

When I receive a CD to review, I studiously avoid the liner notes. I can usually tell what I will be listening to just by looking at the cover and reading the song titles, and I would like to think my review is based on my impressions and not by what I am told to be listening for in the notes. Bryan Clark's offering, though, was a little mysterious. The packaging is nondescript and plain, and adding to the mystery is the fact that there are two disks enclosed, one titled Acoustic CD, the other titled Electric CD.

I went for the acoustic first. From the opening of the first track, Angelyne, to the last note of the last song, you understand Clark has a definite affinity for Bluegrass. Fortunately, he also has the talent to back it up. Surprisingly, the acoustic CD is anything but stripped down, and could easily hold its own as a separate release. His string work is nothing less than amazing on such tracks as Dom on the Saddlehorn. And when you think you know what he is all about he throws a little surprise in with Midnight and the Harvest Moon, which wanders delightfully into New Age territory.

His vocals and arrangements are difficult to compare to anyone else, which is a great thing for any artist to accomplish. The closest comparison I can think of would be mixing Marty Roe of Diamond Rio, Gary Levox of Rascal Flats with a dash of John Denver. The bluegrass instrumentals are definitely reminiscent of Ricky Skaggs' Uncle Pen days.

I popped in the Electric disk expecting a rehash of the Acoustic version, and once again was more than pleasantly surprised. For one thing, not every song is the same. But Clark delivers even more in the fact that the repeated tracks don't sound rehashed at all, they are fresh enough to have you pushing the repeat button more than once. Down in Flames has a Mustang Sally rock type flavor to it, but tracks like Don't Blame Me, with it's bare bones acoustic feel, really show that Clark has enough variety in his repertoire to guarantee something for all fans of country, bluegrass, and even indie genres.

When I did get around to the liner notes, the biggest surprise was that Clark played all the instruments on the Electric disk himself, and also sang harmony on both disks. The range of instruments he masters is impressive. Not so surprising, but pleasant for me to read, was that a huge influence on his early works was indeed Ricky Skaggs.

The best of both disks is definitely Angelyne, with it's decidedly irreverent lyrics about a "renegade concubine". It is raucous fun at its finest in both versions and I believe it is ipod bound for me. I will most definitely be looking for more from Mr. Clark.

"Guitar technique and musical versatility in a setting more Americana than bluegrass, but his method of songwriting is infallible, this disciple of Buddhism must feel the music in him before it touches the ears of the listener."

Relatively young though he may be, musically, this is mature like seasoned wine, the class that comes only with inborn poetic-artistry and hard-worked ardor. An earthy double album (acoustic & electric), he sings directly from the gut. He possesses an evocative quality in intonation, a rare breed in this day-and-age of conveyor-belt ‘mu-sick’. Plaintive urban-country vocals proverbially leave behind the fashionable-and-trendy for that which is gutsy, straight-forward, and ‘in-your-face’. Strikingly packaged, the art visually and audibly meets the theme.

Americana, Bluegrass, Country, and Folk, what do all of these genres have in common? They all share the right to call Bryan Clark one of their own. Bryan's voice is so pure, unique, and downright wholesome, it almost should be a sin to have this much talent. He is a singer, songwriter, musician, producer, and anything else that can be included in that list. One thing that makes him stand out is the fact that he is not one specific style, yet he still relates to them all. Bryan may not be a household name, but his music has been played in more homes than you can imagine. His work has been featured on "America's Top Model," along with ESPN, The History Channel, and even Bravo. He has been on countless musical charts and even went into the top ten on the Bluegrass charts. If you enjoy hearing a good story song, while hearing classic acoustic guitar licks in the background, this solid record deserves to be listen too.
Being a double-disc set, you truly get your money's worth. You get one disc that is titled "The Acoustic CD" and then the second one titled "The Electric CD." Each one of them is different and equally good. When you put either record into the player, you better have a while to listen to them, because they are going to play over and over. Each time you listen to a song, you walk away with even more information and more to think about. It is hard to narrow down which songs are the greatest simply because they are all good. A few songs that really stand out above them all are "Midnight Kisses," "Midnight And The Harvest Moon," and for those of you who like pure instrumentals, "Blackberry Blossom" and "Bill Cheatum" will blow your mind. "Midnight Kisses" is a personal favorite and shines above them all. It is a story that is told from the man's perspective that describes his personal thoughts about the one that he loves. It is always great to hear something this personal. It truly shows off Bryan's ability as a poet and songwriter. Artists like Bryan Clark are few and far between, which makes it even more of a pleasure to hear them once they are discovered. If you would like to check out more on Bryan Clark, his music is available through CDBaby.Com.

“The Bluegrass/Country/Americana guitar flavorings are remarkable, but so too are the layered vocals, in some cases reminiscent of the early Byrds.”

Clark’s musical style does not belong to any one genre. Not only does he transcend genres from song to song on this album, Clark sometimes does the same thing within the same song – a nifty talent and difficult to pull off as seamlessly as he does.
Clark has a rich, smooth voice that punctuates his talents as a songwriter. Lyrics are well-penned, well-sung and often profound.

“A truly unique artist. His ability to mix and transform genres is a pure delight for the ears.”

“Bryan has engaging warmth in his voice. He sounds like a bluegrass singer and not some Buzzcock from the bay area”

This could be one the years best CDs. Work Songs of Love? is for music lovers. Serious lyrics. Serious guitar/dobro.

Bryan Clark is a rising star to watch. Carrying the torch for the new breed of Texas singer-songwriters.

"Bryan Clark has a jazz-funk sensibility akin to Hollywood studio cats like Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton, and Steve Lukather. An understated composer with echoes of vintage Pat Metheny, Clark exploits space and timbre in his long, modally tinged, melodic passages."

Bryan's influences are wide ranging to say the least. Classical meets improvisation here with no genre (inc. rock and bluegrass) left unexplored.

Thoughtful & introspective lyrics that thoroughly engage the listener. Jazz phrasings, bluegrass flatpicking, Dobro, blues, acrobatic rhythm guitar playing - Bryan does it all with a grace & fluidity that is pure poetry.

Bryan Clark is an ambitious musician and a guitar virtuoso. His most recent release “Gossip, Inspiration & Slander“, in which Bryan Clark wrote or co-wrote all but two tracks on the album and also served as his own producer, is a two-disc album that showcases both Bryan’s electric side as well as his acoustic side

While releasing “Gossip, Inspiration and Slander” as a double disc album was certainly a risky endeavor that has certainly paid off. Bryan Clark has certainly come out of it with an album that is well-written, played and produced. “Gossip, Inspiration and Slander” isn’t a mainstream release but that’s fine because there’s likely no way a mainstream artist would be allowed to release something like this double disc album. It certainly feels like it’s one of the better Americana releases of the year so far and one that fans of roots music should be on the lookout for.

Bryan Clark’s style and voice have some comparing him to Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett, and Elvis Costello. It’s a well-crafted amplified album that is a perfect example of the “Americana” genre label as it touches upon most forms of American music. Fans of strong acoustic or bluegrass music will really enjoy the acoustic album.

The notable cuts on the acoustic set include the tantalizing “Midnight Kisses”, the moody “Raven King”, and ‘Kiss The Bride” playing on its tale of love and loss. The electric set is as enjoyable; again, Clark shows his many talents, all wrapped in a voice that earns a listen with its country and Americana leanings. Standouts include the bluesy “Bumper to Bumper”, the distinct sounds possible radio single “The Way It Is”, and “Don’t Blame Me”.

Bryan Clark is the real deal, a hard core country singer/songwriter. Be on the lookout for more Bryan Clark, he is here to stay.