Fresh Find - Jake Clayton
- Freshly Brewed Country
- Oct 15, 2015
- 6 min read
We are happy to announce Jake Clayton as our first Fresh Find for the month of September here at Freshly Brewed Country!
“I’m having the time of my life. I have a love affair with music, but being able to entertain
people is what I get out of it.”
So says Country artist Jake Clayton, the gifted singer, thought-provoking songwriter and talented multi-instrumentalist who is attracting the attention of Country fans and radio programmers everywhere with his hot new single, “What Not to Do.” Jake is the rare artist who is able to enthrall a packed house with not just his vocals, songs and showmanship, but with his amazing instrumental ability as well.
Playing over 20 instruments as an in-demand Nashville session musician, he is now stepping out on his own to take his place among the greats of Country music. “What Not to Do,” a song about the consequences of poor decision-making from his album By the Light of the Moon, is an uptempo, guitar-and-fiddle-driven romp that brings Charlie Daniels to mind. But Jake’s highly-recognizable tenor is all his own, inviting
comparisons to Garth Brooks, The Eagles and Tim McGraw.
A native of rural Mexico, Missouri, Jake was raised by musical parents who sang professionally in the area. He was given his late grandfather’s fiddle – which he still plays to this day – when he was 13. But he wasn’t able to stop there, soon taking up just about any instrument with strings or keys, including banjo, organ, pedal steel guitar and more, while developing his singing and stage chops. “I learned about playing music by watching VHS tapes of concerts that really captivated me, like Garth’s show in Central Park,” he recalls. “But most importantly, they showed me how an artist entertains an audience.”
As he learned every instrument in sight, Jake also began to understand the importance of delivering captivating vocals and crafting a good song. “The Dixie Chicks picked great, but their songs and their harmonies were powerful, too,” he remembers. “That’s when I started to take singing and songwriting more seriously.”
At 17 Jake was fronting his own shows. “I actually had my own theater in Missouri for a couple years, an old restaurant we converted into a venue where I could perform,” he recalls fondly. “I was doing mostly classic Country for older people who understood and loved music, which was great. Because of my age I really didn’t do bar gigs much. Then I took a fill-in job playing fiddle with The Oak Ridge Boys at 19 and moved to Nashville when I was 20.”
Jake has since been a utility man in the live bands of Tanya Tucker, Collin Raye, Jimmy Wayne, Joey & Rory and Jamie O’Neal, and travelled for several years with singer Sunny Sweeney on two major tours. And in 2015, Sweeney enlisted Jake and his own band to support her on Miranda Lambert’s 2015 Certified Platinum Tour.
Opportunities like this have made it possible for him to be part of opening slots with such Country music headliners as Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, Jason Aldean, The Band Perry, George Strait, and many more.
As an in-demand studio musician, Jake’s credits include playing violin and cello on Thompson Square’s #1 single, “If I Didn’t Have You,” and playing fiddle, dobro and lap steel on Sunny Sweeney’s critically acclaimed album, Provoked. He was the featured dobro player on Joey & Rory’s Inspsired DVD and TV special, and he recorded and co-produced the theme song for The portsman Channel’s Legacy Trails TV. Jake also recorded an acclaimed instrumental album, Barnyard Stomp, which was distributed by Rock guitar legend Steve Vai’s Favored Nations label.
As a solo artist, Jake has opened for Charlie Daniels, Jon Pardi, and Jerrod Niemann. He’s seen his childhood dreams come true as he’s graced the stages of Madison Square Garden, The Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame and other legendary venues.
Jake is a natural singer, with a distinctive voice that is right at home on today’s Country radio. “My vocals are one of the reasons I get hired to work with other artists, besides the fact that I play so many instruments,” the gregarious artist says. “I’ve been influenced by the best. I could listen to Don Henley sing the phone book, and Garth, of course, really knows how to deliver a lyric. I love Collin Raye, and Jared Leto from the band 30 Seconds to Mars. And I learned so much from being on the road with Tanya about how to do things inside a melody, and how to connect with people.”
Every song on By the Light of the Moon was written or co-written by Jake, whose songwriting heroes include some of the legends of Country as well as today’s most successful young writers.
“I’m a fan of Kacey Musgraves’ writing, and I really love Sunny’s writing,” he says. “I think
Bob DiPiero (David Nail, Martina McBride) is one of the greats. I love Tom T. Hall. And you can’t beat Marty Robbins, who was the pinnacle of what an artist and writer should be.”
Jake and his band play about 50 shows a year right now, and he looks to do more with the success of his new single. “We play all over the country and have been received really well everywhere we go,” he says. “While I still play for other artists, I see myself doing less and less of that in the future, because my main goal is to continue to release my own music and to give people a show they won’t forget. We’re all about the music and getting it out to the fans.”
"From its gut-grabbing opening guitar line to its final word, Jake Clayton’s new single, “What Not to Do,” is a powerful and honest song in the mold of how they used to make ‘em. His on-the-money tenor is definitely from deep country roots, and his delivery is filled with an energy that the genre hasn’t seen in a while. Fueled even more by his fiddle playing (he’s an accomplished multi-instrumentalist), Clayton is in a league of his own when matched against most of the current young country artists."
-Rick Moore (Music News Atlanta)
"A talented musician and songwriter who has often been backing other stars . . . now finally getting a chance to be the frontman with an official radio single of his own. The song features Clayton’s expert instrumentals (including his fiddle) and this rollicking story song features a story that rivals “Devil Went Down To Georgia” with an equally engaging melody and instrumentals."
-Matt Bjorke (Roughstock)
Be sure to download music from Jake Clayton today on iTunes.
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We know you want to know more about Jake Clayton so be sure to check out our interview with him below.
FBC: What made you want to get involved in the country music world?
JC: I grew up in the ‘90s. The Garth Brooks Live in Central Park concert was the spark and startof my musical fire, and seeing the Dixie Chicks on the CMA's was a 100 gallon tank of gasoline thrown on that fire.
FBC: What is your favorite song of yours and why?
JC: My personal favorite song is the last track on my new album, "Unwound." I love uptempomusic and this song just embodies everything I love about music in general. Fiddle, Banjo, Dobro Lap Steel... all mixed in with heavy guitars and aggressive drumming.
FBC: What do you use for inspiration to write your songs?
JC: I play a wide variety of instruments... so on some level my instruments are the inspiration. Iusually create music with them first. I don’t really know where the music comes from but the trick for me is to not inhibit its evolution and just let it flow. Once the musical idea has come forth, the lyrical melody or ‘hook’ has already started to show up. Then it just snowballs from there.
FBC: What has been your favorite country music memory so far and why?
JC: I was the Fiddle/Steel Guitar player for Tanya Tucker for a number of years. I hadn't met herprior to actually playing the first show with her. We started playing her intro, and she took the stage and started singing... next thing that happens, I’m sitting at the Steel, not playing, just mesmerized by her. The drummer threw a drum stick at me to snap me back into the reality that I was a part of this show the people were watching! That is the only time that's ever happened by the way.
FBC: Who is your country music idol and why?
JC: Garth Brooks. His ability to entertain an audience from front row to back row is definitelysomething that I've always appreciated and idolized. Plus his song selection is stellar.
FBC: If you could do a country duet with anyone who would it be and why?
JC: Brad Paisley. I love his sense of humor not to mention he is an unbelievable musician. Ithink we could create something rather special.
FBC: What are three fun facts about you that you want your fans to know?
JC: 1. I am a Weather Channel fanatic 2. I love NPR 3. I got to play for the Taoist Monks on Mt. Laoshan in China.
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