Gary Clark Jr.

Gary Clark Jr. Bio

Gary Lee Clark Jr. (February 15, 1984) is an American rock and blues vocalist and multi-instrumentalist from Austin, Texas. At the early age of 12, Clark began playing guitar and played small gigs around Austin. Eventually, he met promoter and proprietor of the Austin Music Club, Clifford Antone, who kick started Clark’s career by setting up performances at his venue. Rising to local fame, Clark eventually became a popular artist in Texas and indepenetly released his first album, ‘Tribute’ in 2005. Followed by his debut was a pair of self-produced albums, ‘110’ and ‘Worry No More’ in 2008 and an EP, ‘Gary Clark Jr.’ appeared in 2010. Shortly after the release of his self titled EP, Clark was chosen by Eric Clapton to perform at the Crossroads Guitar Festival, leading to a record deal with Warner Bros. Seen as one of the most promising young stars from Texas, Clark went on to release an EP ‘Bright Lights’ in 2011 followed by a full length album, ‘Blak and Blue’, that arrived in 2012. In 2013, his single ‘Please Come Home’ from ‘Blak and Blue’ won Clark a Grammy award from for Best Traditional R&B Performance and a nomination for ‘Ain’t Messin Round’ for Best Rock Song, also from the same album. Along with touring with The Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters, Clark’s career only progressed from then on working with Alicia Keys on her album, ‘Girl on Fire’, Childish Gambino on his album, ‘Awaken, My Love!’ and Tom Morello on his album, ‘The Atlas Underground’. By 2019, Clark released his most recent body of work, ‘This Land’, is “reflecting of the political landscape of the time through the perspective black American living in Texas” according to Clark’s Spotify. ‘This Land’ won Clark 3 Grammy Awards for Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song and Best Contemporary Blues Album. Clarke currently performs live with bass player Johnny Bradley, guitarist King Zapata, drummer Johnny Radelat and Jon Deas on keyboard.