Jameson Clark

Jameson Clark says he puts his, “heart and soul”, into recording country/punk music that is simply about, “having a good time”.

And, the music on Clark’s debut disc titled, “Workin’ On A Groove”, is filled with songs about nightclubbing, drinking and sex, followed by more of the same. Just what Jameson Clark believes his audience wants to hear. So when Clark is asked to describe himself as the character of a classic movie, the answer comes out quickly and clearly. “Paul Newman in, “Cool Hand Luke”. “I don’t want to change the world,” he says,” I just want to sing about the world that I enjoy and I have fun in.” And during the following interview, Jameson Clark talks about his style of country/punk music, partying and “healthy sexuality.”

(Q)- State your name, age and date as well as place of birth please.
Jameson Clark- Jameson Clark, date of birth is 4/1/71, Charleston, South Carolina (USA).

(Q)- Is there a country star who you feel opened up the doors for you and your own unique style of music?
Jameson Clark- Garth Brooks. Thank God for Garth Brooks.

(Q)- Why?
Jameson Clark- Because it was Garth Brooks who paved the way for artists like me. Garth brooks is an international country superstar.

(Q)- Is there a theme that sums up the lifestyle you are trying to portray?

Jameson Clark- Life is a wonderful thing and it should be enjoyed to the utmost, as long as we have it. I do enjoy life, every facet of it. You’ve got to embrace the good times and face up to the bad times. You’ve got to celebrate all of those. That’s what I want to keep doing. If I can do it through my music or do it on-stage, then I’m a lucky guy.

(Q)- Define the phrase, “good time”.
Jameson Clark- A lot of friends hanging out, maybe over a pool table or a football game on TV or maybe on somebody’s back porch. A few adult beverages going around. And, a lot of good songs on the radio. Just hanging out, that’s my idea of a good time.

(Q)- Your music lyrically certainly is risqué.
Jameson Clark- I’ve been told that, on-stage I come across as really, “cocky”.

(Q)- Why?
Jameson Clark- I’m confident in what I’m doing and what I’ve created and since I’m up on-stage singing my own music, it contributed to my confidence. I’m not up on-stage trying to be somebody that I am not. And that translates into the sexuality too.

(Q)- Sexuality? In what way is that the case?
Jameson Clark- There’s several levels of healthy sexuality.

(Q)- Such as.
Jameson Clark- Whatever floats your boat, if you can find somebody who you’re a good match with and the two of you are confident with one another, then that’s great! That’s what it should be. Sexuality comes with confidence. I know now, that when I got laid the first time, after that, I sure developed confidence. (He laughs.) I think that sexuality and confidence go hand in hand. If you are going to get up there and sing about, “I like blondes and I like red heads”, in front of a whole house full of them, then you’d better be bringing the goods, you know? Every girl in the house needs to be saying while you’re up there on-stage, “Yeah, I’d do him”.

(Q)-Sexuality with no apologies.
Jameson Clark- Yeah. You have to be confident in what you’re doing. I mean I’ve had critics say to me, “It’s all about sex and drinking.” And yeah the music is about sex and drinking. But let’s be honest, music for me is an escape. I can act out things in song that I can no longer act out any more.

(Q)- Why?
Jameson Clark- Because I’m married. (Jameson Clark’s wife’s name is Amanda Clark.)

(Q)-So how do you know so much about all of these wild times?

Jameson Clark- A few years ago, when I was tending bar, at the Douglas Corner Cafe, where I got started in Nashville (Tennessee, USA.) I saw people who, “got burned”, by hooking up with people who they shouldn’t be hooking up with. I saw that and everybody gets tempted and that doesn’t mean that you always act out on it. But, to be able to write a song about that subject is an almost therapeutic experience.

(Q)- That’s what being a, “recording artist”, is all about, isn’t it?

Jameson Clark- I’m going to write about the fun and the experiences that I’ve had. We wrote the song “”Waitin’ On The Whiskey”, over a bottle of Jack Daniels Whiskey in twenty minutes in a nightclub I used to work at. Somebody said, “I’m waiting on the whiskey. I’m trying to get over a broken heart”. And, we sat down then and there and wrote the song. That’s real. Those moments are real and since they are real, the song comes out a lot easier then a paint-by-numbers-Nashville kind of song.

(Q)- Why?
Jameson Clark- Some people (songwriters) in Nashville take themselves so seriously.

(Q)- Your album “Workin’ On A Groove”, lyrically displays a sense of sexuality that is certainly intriguing, yet you display a sense of, “rye wit”, rarely displayed in the country genre anymore. You’re almost like the “Mick Jagger” (Rolling Stones, sexuality.) and the “Keith Richards (Rolling Stones, “rye wit”.) of country at the same time.
Jameson Clark- As far as the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards comment, hey, good for them! I mean, we’d all love to be nineteen years of age forever and when you’re a, “rock and roll superstar”, you can be.

(Q)- Do you believe the same with a country superstar as well.

Jameson Clark- Exactly! That’s right! That’s absolutely right! I mean I look at Alan Jackson and hey, he’s a country superstar. He’s out there living the life. I wish I was still nineteen. I mean at thirty-one, that’s not very old but at the same time, I look at kids and say to myself, “Man. I was that young at one time too.”

(Q)- How does that make your music and song lyrics different?

Jameson Clark- Because, I’d much rather see people dancing around and having a great time then seeing them with Kleenex in their hand, trying to wipe away tears. I mean, I’ve toured with so many country artists who are at the same stage in their careers or a step or two above me and they drink as much as I do and they smoke as many cigarettes as I do. And, I do smoke cigarettes. And, as soon as that door of that (tour) bus opens up they almost shit their pants because they realize that a fan could possibly see them walking around with a cigarette in their hand. It’s like, “Dude, it’s who you are! Do you realize that most of these people (fans) smoke cigarettes?”

(Q)- Why?
Jameson Clark- Because they have been programmed so much by the record company people and the people in the media department or someone who they have hired to teach them how to act, that the males have been, “neutered”. A lot of who they are gets taken away from them. They hide behind this, “family-oriented face” and that’s fine I understand but it’s not always true and it’s not always honest.

(Q)- Describe your music please.

Jameson Clark- It is a country/punk music. And there is country and metal in there. I love country, metal, hip-hop and punk. I waned to incorporate all of those sounds in my music and I feel that with this album I’ve done that. I made this record for people who like music. I really didn’t put a whole lot of trouble into this album because most people listen to music because it is enjoyable to them. Not because they’re trying to break it down and to get any kind of meaning out of it. Today everyone puts it on a computer and makes it, “perfect” and I’m really proud of that fact, the fact that we didn’t make it, “perfect”. I like to call my music, “imperfect.”

(Q)- Are people, “hungry” for your, “style”, of music?

Jameson Clark- Yeah. People are hungry for music that they can forget about their everyday sense of normalcy and they can get lost in somebody who is running around up there on-stage having fun. They’re not all looking for somebody who is up on-stage and just waiting for that, “tear jerking” (crying) moment, in the song. My music asks nothing of you and that’s the way music should be. How about celebrating the first time you had sex? You know what I mean?

(Q)- It’s weird. There’s an almost completely unrealistic double standard. You’re saying in a sense that many males are not permitted to express their sexuality in music except in this dreamy-eyed, soap opera sense of expression. Yet the females are permitted to strip down to risqué French lingerie, such as Shania Twain in her one music video.
Jameson Clark- That’s right. It’s funny.