2016 Stuff: Terri Clark, RyLee Madison house concerts, Nashville Bass Tracks

Hello again from our humble home / studio just north of downtown Nashville, TN! Hard to believe that we are almost halfway thru 2016 already. But it’s been a great year so far and there are still a lot of cool things to come.

I’ve been touring with Terri Clark for 6 years now, playing bass and singing in her band. And that’s 6 years of good laughs as well! While laughter is always a good medicine and sometimes just necessary for survival on the road, it comes easily and naturally with TC and this wonderful group of people in the band and crew. We’ve already had a few good runs on the road this year but we’ll be cranking it, for sure, from the end of June thru the month of July and part of August. Wondering where we’ll be? Well, wonder no more… FYI, all dates are with Terri Clark except for July 14-17 when I will be on the road with my beautiful and talented wife RyLee Madison.

Sat, June 25            Interlaken, Switzerland            Trucker & Country Festival Interlaken
Sun, July 3              Dauphin, MB                            Dauphin Countryfest
Thur, July 7             Evansville, IN                          Victory Theatre
Fri, July 8                Chicago, IL                              City Winery
Sun, July 10            Rhinelander, WI                       Hodag Country Festival
Thur, July 14          Petoskey, MI                             Hearthside Grove
Sat, July 16             Indianapolis, IN                        Private house concert
Sun, July 17            Southgate, MI                           37 North Church
Tues, July 19          Cape Girardeau, MO                 AC Brase Arena
Thur, July 21          Hopewell, VA                            The Beacon Theatre
Fri, July 22              Annapolis, MD                          Rams Head On Stage
Sat, July 23             Le Roy, NY                                Jam at the Ridge – Frost Ridge Campground
Sun, July 24            Twin Lakes, WI                         Country Thunder USA
Wed, July 27           Twin Falls, ID                           Rock Canyon Amphitheater
Thur, July 28          Hayden Lake, ID                       A Night At The Ranch
Fri, July 29              Powel, WY                                Park County Fair
Sat, July 30             Plentywood, MT                       Sheridan County Fair
Sun, July 31            Gillette, WY                              Campbell County Fair
Fri, Aug 5                National, IA                             Clayton County Fair
Sat, Aug 6               Fullerton, NE                            Broken Arrow Wilderness
Thurs, Aug 18        Richmond, RI                           Washington County Fair
Fri, Aug 19             Havelock, ON                           Havelock Country Jamboree
Sat, Aug 20            South Mountain, ON                 South Mountain Fair

In January, my wife RyLee Madison and I completed a very successful run of house concerts in Florida. I love real “grass roots” promotion as word is getting around about what RyLee and I do and we have already been booked for return engagements at a couple of those venues for January 2017! RyLee and I are planning to be in Florida for about a month or so, so… We look forward to connecting with many more people for these intimate house concerts and having some great experiences. If you’re interested, or at least curious, in hosting a house concert, email me at ryleemadisonhouseconcerttour@gmail.com.

I’ve also been very busy in my home studio, churning out bass tracks for clients around the globe, providing professional bass tracks for music sent to me by songwriters, artists, producers and publishers. Having the ability to be a part of the collaborative process and recording bass parts from the confines of my home studio is a wonderful blessing. My website is www.nashvillebasstracks.com.

As always, I’m incredibly grateful for the work I get to do (and love to do!) and for the people with whom I get to work. Thanks to all of you who are a part of this journey!

Peace and low notes,
Clay

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to one and all! 2015 was a great year and we are looking forward to an exciting 2016. We have much going on, including some house concert touring with RyLee, tour dates with Terri Clark (see the 2016 Shows page) and lots more from the studio. Our 2015 Christmas card features the “fur kids” Oskar and Emmy.

Busy 2015

Hey friends,

2015 has been a wonderful year! I’ve been quiet lately as RyLee and I have been very busy with a variety of projects. That said, here is a brief breakdown of what’s been going on (along with some shameless plugging). Here we go…

It’s been a busy year for our music production company, 7-17 Music. We have completed production on EP’s for artists Stephanie Rose from Saskatchewan, Canada, and Ben Klick from British Columbia, Canada. Both of these young artists are talented writers and singers and absolutely amazing people! It’s been a real pleasure and a privilege for RyLee and I to be involved in this early stage of each of their careers and we are happy to have them in the 7-17 Music family. You can hear samples from their records in the 7-17 Music Production sampler playlist, along with bits of other projects we have been a part of the last few years.

Ever the creative individual, my wife RyLee brewed up a different projects this year. Working them almost simultaneously, we recorded a new RyLee Madison EP called Live In Nashville and filmed a web series named RyLee’s Roost. As the title of the EP indicates, it truly was a “live” recording as there were no edits. We simply recorded each song 3 or 4 times and chose the best take of each song for the record. In addition to RyLee’s beautiful voice and fantastic songwriting, she is accompanied by yours truly (acoustic guitar/vocals) and our good friend Scott Bernard (acoustic guitar/vocals) with additional support by Joe Fick (upright bass), Kris Richards (gandolin). Special appearances by a couple other friends, uber talented young Canadian country artist Tenille and Lorrie Carter Bennett, daughter of Anita Carter / granddaughter of country legend Maybelle Carter. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention another friend, the crazy talented and mild mannered mad scientist Justin Burns, who was able to capture all the audio and video (for both the EP and the web series), mix everything AND do the photo shoots for the record. Check out Justin’s website: http://justinburnspictures.com/.

RyLee’s Roost episodes are 7-10 minute segments that feature RyLee having conversations with guest artists in which they talk about life and music, followed by a performance of a song. Episodes 1 and 2 are already posted online and available for viewing! Episode 1 features country artist Michelle Wright and a performance of her top 10 hit “Take It Like A Man” and Episode 2 features our good friend Codie Prevost and a performance of the title from his most recent record, “All Kinds Of Crazy”. Several more episodes to come!

**Special thank you’s to Ryan Smith for all the Shure microphones (which were exclusively used on the new RyLee Madison EP), Tom Spaulding from D’Addario for the extra help and Soundcheck Nashville for a little extra gear to help us complete the recording.

RyLee and I actually had a few days of a vacation this year and spent some time in Nova Scotia at a little place of our own. We were in Halifax from September 10-13 for Country Music Week and the Canadian Country Music Awards and hosted a pre-release / launch party for RyLee’s new EP. Otherwise, there was a lot of general taking care of business, seeing old friends, making new friends, and hearing some wonderful independent Canadian talent.

Of course, I’m still touring with Terri Clark, playing mostly around the US this year with limited Canadian exposure. It’s always a blast on the road with the Terri Clark family as each person in the band and crew is wonderful at his/her job respective job and such a great hang. Terri included! You know it’s good when the people you work with are also ones you would choose to hang with “off the clock”. Off the road, I’ve been adding low end to several projects for other people as well. A few notable people in that list are Grammy-winning producer Randy Kohrs, Jacob Rice, Shayne Hill (lead guitarist for Sawyer Brown and uber talented friend) and up and coming artist Chris Bullard.

As always, a HUGE thank you to DR Strings, Planet Waves cables and Templeboards for your fantastic products and amazing support!

To those who regularly read this little updates, thanks for hanging around. To those who might be new, thanks for joining me here! You can all find me on Facebook and Twitter and my other website, Nashville Bass Tracks, devoted to remote bass tracking from my home studio just outside of Nashville, TN. Look around the site here and find an updated tour calendar, info about our production company 7-17 Music along with a great playlist including some samples of our production work, and lots more.

Signing off for now…. Peace and low notes!
Clay

Nashville Bass Tracks, 7-17 Music and the CCMA’s

Holy guacamole! Has it seriously already been a year since my last blog post? I guess it’s true, I’m a bass player not a writer. Playing bass is something I have been blessed to do as my profession in Nashville, TN for 18 years now. Working with some of the best in country music, playing the Grand Ole Opry on a regular basis and playing on recording sessions in Music City is something I never want to take for granted and for that reason I continue to work on my playing on a daily basis.

Something else I’ve been working on is a new website called Nashville Bass Tracks. After a few years of recording remotely for other projects, I recognized the need for a site that offers a one-stop shop for any and all bass tracks. Prior to the site’s official launch today, work has already been generated via word of mouth and through my official Facebook page. The new Nashville Bass Tracks is all about providing professional bass tracks at affordable rates for songwriters, artists, producers and publishers around the world. Recently, I have cut bass tracks at my home studio for songwriter Jimmy Yeary (co-writer of the 2014 ACM Song Of The Year “I Drive Your Truck”), songwriter Molly Reed and a wonderful young country artist named Jody Direen from all the way over in New Zealand! I am looking forward to meeting the needs of many more projects down the road. Shout out to my good friends Sean Harrison and Aaron Farmer for helping with the launch of the site! Drop by the site, have a look around and let me know if there is any bass recording I can do for you. www.nashvillebasstracks.com / www.facebook.com/nashvillebasstracks.

I’ve also decided to officially jump into the producer’s chair with my wife RyLee Madison. After co-producing her award-winning album Where Does The Time Go (2013 East Coast Music Award for Recording Of The Year), RyLee and I followed that with a Christmas EP, collaborating with one of her co-writers Ron Robinson. With the ECMA award and some international critical acclaim under our belts, RyLee and I officially formed our production company 7-17 Music earlier this year. We are very excited and pleased with our first 7-17 Music project with Melody Lovejoy from Edmonton, AB, Canada, and can’t wait to see where her debut EP takes her. Melody will release her first single to radio this month called “I’m Letting Go”, a cowrite of RyLee’s, fellow Canadian Danielle Lowe and Ron Robinson. 7-17 Music will be making its debut appearance at the 2014 CCMA’s in Edmonton this weekend as panelists on the Round Table event. We will also be starting our next project in October with another Canadian talent, Stephanie Lloyd, as well as a third project sometime in November.

 

Edmonton will also find me doing one of the things I love most: slappin’ da bass for one of Canada’s best, my boss, Terri Clark. We will be performing with Terri live on the CCMA awards show Sunday night on CBC television.

That’s about it. Pretty blessed year indeed. Now, time to finish packing!

Peace and low notes…
Clay

Grateful for a busy summer

Every once in a while I find it’s really nice to just step back and look at my life, reflecting with a spirit of gratitude. For I am truly thankful for the gift of music and the ability to continue to make it with good friends and people I love.

In the spirit of reflecting, here goes a little recap…

It’s been a good run lately playing several cool shows/venues with Terri Clark, Michelle Wright and RyLee Madison and enjoying a couple weeks of great vacation time and our shared birthday in Nova Scotia among family and friends.

Among the gigs has been Canada Day on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, where we played to 80,000 people and were broadcast on the CBC network across Canada and also met the Prime Minister and Governor General of Canada. We shared the stage with Metric (http://ilovemetric.com/) and Carly Rae Jepsen and had some great hang time with all the musicians on the day of show and at the after party. Terri also played the Budweiser Blank Ticket concert at the Calgary Stampede, surprising thousands of crazy Stampeders with a fantastic show.

While Terri and the rest of our band and crew flew home, I flew from Calgary, AB over to Moncton, NB and connected with Michelle Wright and band for a show in Prince Edward Island at the Cavendish Beach Music Festival. And to make it even better, I was able to make music with my wife RyLee Madison in an afternoon full band performance on one of the festival’s side stages and an evening acoustic set in the VIP tent sandwiched between concerts by Little Big Town and Kenny Chesney. (Kudos to Michelle Wright for letting us use all the guys in her band on RyLee’s performance!)

After some much-needed vacation time with my wife in Nova Scotia, it was back to work. I’m just home from a few crazy days of travel in planes, passenger vans and various hotels after playing three great shows with TC. We did two shows in the beautiful state of Washington at Watershed Fest at the Gorge Amphitheater, one of the most beautiful outdoor concert venues I think I’ve ever seen and had the privilege of playing. After sharing the bill with Thompson Square, Luke Bryan, Shooter Jennings and Toby Keith, we trekked thru more airports and hit the stage at Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, AB, sharing the stage with Big & Rich and Tim McGraw.

Here is a picture of yours truly on the video wall at Watershed Fest last week at the Gorge Amphitheater in George, WA…

…and an impromptu picture that Terri took of the band during one of several airport experiences.

I’m back in Nashville for another week or so. Next up, an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry with Terri Clark on Tuesday, August 13. Then I will be setting aside my bass for a few days and picking up the acoustic guitar for a couple house concerts in my home state of Indiana with my uber-talented wife, RyLee Madison. We will be performing in Greenfield, IN on Friday, Aug 16 and then jumping up to my hometown of Winamac, IN for a concert on Saturday, August 17. And at the end of the month (Sat, Aug 31) Terri Clark and crew will be dropping in on the legendary Billy Bob’s in Ft. Worth, TX for a big show… and some Mexican food! Join us if you’re in the area!

Until next time, I’ll remain grateful.

Peace and low notes,
Clay

Summer time!

Greetings from Nashville!

Life continues to happen and I haven’t broken away from it in a while to add any blog material. Alas, I have finally committed a few minutes to update the huddled masses yearning for any news of what’s going on in the land of Krasner. (At least it’s good to know that sarcasm has not yet escaped me. Right? Right.)

The spring “Classic” tour with Terri Clark was a huge success, having played close to 30 sold out shows across Canada in the months of March and April. Props to Terri herself as well as the other uber talented musicians (Chris Cottros – guitar, Ali “Gator” Raney – fiddle / acoustic guitar, Jason Cheek – drums) and a truly amazing crew (Jeff Jones – FOH / tour manager, Tommy Webb – monitors/guitar tech, George Gorton – lighting director, Darrell Sullivan – stage setup/merch) for making the road experience such a enjoyable and musical one. We’ve all been home for a little while and are now chomping at the bit to get back together and make a little noise. Thankfully, that’s going to be happening this week for Terri and the band/crew. And a number of other things are following in the few weeks to come. So here is a brief rundown of what’s coming up…

June (w/ Terri Clark)
21          Bettendorf, Iowa @ Quad-Cities Waterfront Convention Center
22          Durant, Oklahoma @ Choctaw Resort Casino

We’ll be flying up to Canada near the end of the month for a couple days of rehearsal in Ottawa, Ontario for the big Canada Day festivities on Parliament Hill happening on July 1.

July
1             Ottawa, Ontario – Canada Day festivities / TV program (Terri Clark)
4             Calgary, Alberta (private gig w/ Terri Clark)
5             Travel day
6             Cavendish Beach Music Festival, Prince Edward Island – I’ll be playing bass for a 1:30 PM set on the side stage with my lovely and talented wife RyLee Madison, a 5:30 show on the main stage with Michelle Wright, then donning an acoustic guitar and accompanying RyLee once again for an 8:45 PM duo acoustic set on the festival’s VIP stage.

RyLee and I are going to enjoy a few days off in the area before driving off to Cape Breton for a couple newly added gigs the following weekend.

12             Port Hood, Nova Scotia @ The Clove Hitch
13             Sydney, Nova Scotia @ The Cape Breton Fudge Company

After all the skipping and jumping around, we’ll enjoy some time with RyLee’s family in Nova Scotia before heading back home here in Nashville. August will be here before you know it and I’m looking forward to a few more dates on the road with Terri Clark as well as Sarah Darling.

That’s all for now. Time to practice some more!

Peace and low notes,
Clay

Classic tour with Terri Clark

We are just about to hit the road again with Terri Clark on the “Classic” tour. As usual, I’m very excited and looking forward to playing some fun shows and hanging with my brothers and sisters on the road. We played one show in the beginning of January and that was just a tease for all of us! The tour will take us all the way across Canada with one little dip into the US at the very end. My last few days in Nashville are filled with practicing, running errands, practice, laundry, practice, getting my gear tour ready and, oh yeah… more practicing! Terri and the band will have a few days of rehearsal together before we play the Grand Ole Opry on Tuesday, March 5 and then get on the bus later that night to make the trek to Western Canada where the tour begins.

Below are all the dates and venues we’ll be visiting on the Classic tour. These dates and more can be found on my 2013 Shows page under the LIVE tab.

MARCH
Tues, March 5                    Nashville, TN                    Grand Ole Opry
Fri, March 8                       Abbotsford, BC                  Abbotsford Entertainment Centre
Sat, March 9                       Duncan, BC                        Cowichan Theatre
Sun, March 10                   Nanaimo, BC                      Port Theatre
Tues, March 12                 Williams Lake, BC             Gibraltar Room
Wed, March 13                  Vernon, BC                          Vernon Performing Arts
Thurs, March 14               Trail, BC                               Charles Bailey Theatre
Sat, March 16                     Calgary, AB                         Chrome Showroom
Sun, March 17                    Sherwood, AB                    Festival Place
Mon, March 18                  Melfort, SK                          Kerry Vickar Centre
Wed, March 20                  Saskatoon, SK                    Dakota Dunes Casino
Thurs, March 21                Yorkton, SK                         Painted Hand Casino
Sat, March 23                     Moose Jaw, SK                  Mosaic Place
Sun, March 24                    Winnipeg, MB                   McPhillips Station Casino
Mon, March 25                   Winnipeg, MB                   McPhillips Station Casino
Wed, March 27                   Petersborough, ON          Showplace Theatre
Thurs, March 28                Brantford, ON                    Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts
Fri, March 29                      Brockville, ON                   Brockville Arts Centre
Sat, March 30                     Toronto, ON                       Sound Academy

APRIL
Fri, April 12                        Moncton, NB                       The Centre at Casino, New Brunswick
Sat, April 13                        Halifax, NS                         Casino Nova Scotia
Mon, April 15                     Montreal, QC                      Olympia Theatre
Tues, April 16                    Ottawa, ON                          Centrepoint Theatre
Wed, April 17                     Chatham, ON                     Capitol Theatre
Thurs, April 18                  North Bay, ON                    Capitol Centre
Fri, April 19                        Kingston, ON                     Grand Theatre
Sun, April 21                      Sault Ste. Marie, MI           Kewadin Casino-Dream Makers Theater

For anyone fellow music geeks interested, below is a picture of the basses I’ll have with me for the tour.

I’ll continue to update the site with new dates and info as things come in. So stay tuned…

As always, I hope to see you on the road!

Peace and low notes,
Clay

End of tour, it’s TV time

Greetings from Nashville!  I am resting in the warmth of our humble home just north of town.  After a pretty busy summer and fall on the road, it’s nice to be able to sit back and enjoy a bit of a break.

We finished up the Michelle Wright “Songs From The Halls” Tour and the bus pulled into Nashville around 1:00 AM Thanksgiving night.  Before changing the subject, let me first say that I had a fantastic time on the road with Michelle and the rest of the band and crew.  From Michelle to the rest of the band, crew and our driver, it was a real pleasure sharing the road with all of them.

I was only home for five days before my wife and I flew up to New York City for a whirlwind 3-day vacation.  The first stop, and primary purpose of our trip, was to see the lighting of the tree in Rockefeller Plaza.  We made it in plenty of time to secure a good spot on the edge of 49th Street (right next to Rockefeller Center) and brave several hours outside in the cold, cold air to watch the festivities and the tree lighting while partaking in some great New York pizza and lots of hot chocolate.  For the next few days we just geeked out with all sorts of touristy things, including a fantastic performance of the show Wicked.  I highly recommend that show if you ever get the chance to see it.

CHRISTMAS TV SPECIAL

Terri Clark will be featured on the CBC Home For The Holidays special this month.  Of course, yours truly will be the guy on the bass and backing vocals.  The program debuts on CBC (Canada only) December 20th at 9:00 pm.  The show will then re-air on CMT on the following dates:

Fri, Dec 21 @ 6:00 pm, 11:00 pm
Sat, Dec 22 @ 2:00 pm
Mon, Dec 24 @ 6:00 pm
Tues, Dec 25 @ 12:00 am

All show times are EST.  Check out http://www.CBC.ca/music for more details.  Tune in if you can!

Looking forward to January 4 with Terri at Casino Rama in Ontario and the big tour across Canada in March and April in support of her new record Classic.  Until next time…

Peace and low notes,
Clay

Tours, Tours and Reviews

OK, the last time I updated the blog section of my site was a couple months ago so now there is much to say.

It’s October 28 and we are coming up on the halfway mark of the Michelle Wright “Songs From The Halls Tour”.  When it’s all said and done we will have played close to 30 shows in theatres across Canada.  I have to tell you that Michelle is a fantastic singer and the band is just plain great.  Every show is a musical treat as all the guys in the band are such wonderful players and the songs really run the gamut in styles of music.  The tour is a way to celebrate Michelle’s induction last year into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame so we are playing many of her hits as well as several hits by other artists who belong to varying halls of fame (rock & roll, blues, country music, etc.), such as Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt, Merle Haggard, Joni Mitchell, Bryan Adams and Al Green.

From one artist to another…

I will be hitting the road once again with Terri Clark after the first of the year.  We will be playing one show on January 4 at Casino Rama in Orillia, ON, then rehearsing in February for a large-scale tour across Canada thru March and April.  It will be the “Classic” tour, in support of Terri’s new album of the same name which will be released in just a few short weeks.  Some of the early dates on the tour have already been released and I have posted them on the page for 2013 Shows.

Last but not least…

I would be greatly amiss if I didn’t mention the great reviews that have been coming in for the latest RyLee Madison record, Where Does The Time Go.  For those of you who may not be aware, RyLee is my wonderful wife and we produced this most recent record together.  The Phantom Tollbooth started its review by saying, “Madison mines some shining nuggets of wordcraft among more solid country fare.”  Click on the link to read the entire thing.

And yet another glowing review came in courtesy of Music Maker magazine in the UK. As we are particularly happy about this one, I am reposting it directly here.

_______________________________

Music Maker magazine review
RyLee Madison – Where Does The Time Go

Well, the name screams country but in this instance we’re north of the border and RyLee Madison is one of Canada’s rising stars.  Ten accomplished, accessible easy-on-the ear songs, with a reprised duet, signal the reason.  The voice is genre specific but the music rocks in at the contemporary end of the spectrum, devoid of any cloying sentimentality and with occasional room for other devices and desires.

RyLee seems to have nailed the art of songwriting – for the large part swing-along constructs, with sing-along hooks, and most exclusively her own work but occasionally put together with a co-writing credit.

There’s no hogging of the limelight here – RyLee strums and picks at a Takamine acoustic but has assembled such a strong entourage of musicians around her that the album is instrumentally multi-faceted and the band is up there with her all the way.  Is there anything better around at the moment on the country scene?  Somehow I doubt it.
_______________________________

Not bad, eh?  In case you are interested, here is a link to the online version of the magazine.  The review can be found on page 25.  Music Maker magazine – RyLee Madison CD review

So there you go.  There is much going on with music these days.  Of course, I am forever thankful.  Allow me that subtle segue to say one more thing.  I know it’s still a few weeks away but in case I am not back before then, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Oh Canada!

I got home yesterday from a couple shows in Ontario, Canada with Terri Clark.  As per usual with this particular group of musicians, we had a great time and the band sounded fantastic. Sunday’s set was at the Boots & Hearts Festival, a filler date from another previously booked gig in Ottowa that fell through. So we ended up with an early afternoon set and, unfortunately, didn’t get to hang around and enjoy some of the other artists on the bill that evening like Lionel Richie and Carrie Underwood as the bus had to start heading back to Nashville. At least we had the opportunity to hang with some friends who were playing with other acts (one of the perks of playing festivals).

There are only a handful of dates left this year with Terri.  We are finishing up on September 9 with a performance on the Canadian Country Music Awards in Saskatoon, SK along with a taping for a CBC Christmas Special that will air across Canada this December.  Following that, September will finish off with a couple more shows with Ty Herndon.

This fall will find me in Canada yet again, but this time for a long tour with Michelle Wright, veteran country singer and 2011 inductee into the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame.  I will be accompanying Michelle on close to 30 shows across Canada thru October and November beginning in British Columbia and working our way through to several dates in Ontario.  Sadly, unless more dates are added, at this time it doesn’t appear like we will be visiting the Atlantic provinces at all.  This will be my first time out with Michelle and I am looking forward to the adventure.  The full tour schedule can be found on my 2012 Shows page and also, of course, on Michelle’s website.

Then, if you don’t think I’ve had enough of the “Great White North” by that time, my wife and I will be heading up to Nova Scotia to spend some of the Christmas holiday with her family and friends there!

That’s all for now.  I have to get some gear together for a couple shows this week… and take my dog outside.

Peace and low notes,
Clay