Clark Paterson

"Brow-beaten and broken-down, Clark Paterson sat on a cold steel bench shaking his head under the ‘Deportation’ sign of London’s Heathrow Airport early one Thursday-morning-gone-wrong. Guitar strumming along in hand… this wasn’t how he envisioned his first British-gig going. Without the ‘right’ music visa, he found himself awaiting the next flight back across the Atlantic, courtesy of The Queen. “I came to Europe to play some good music and share a lil’ piece of my ‘American Dream,” he said. “All I got back, was handed my walkin’ papers and shoved on home.” Forced to cancel tour dates in London and Germany, this rural-Michigan native found himself back in his artist-centric neighborhood of East Nashville. Not interested in failure, Clark took this opportunity to get back into the studio and build genuine music around life’s misfortunes that he had been dealt. He collaborated with good-friend-writers and ‘real thing’ players including Counting Crows drummer Steve Bowman, amongst other dear musician friends. Paterson felt things really coming together and decided he should press a record. The rent was coming due, but regardless he ran to “Duane’s Dirt Shack” Recording Studio with $500 in hand and said, “What’ll this get me?” Duane smiled and said, “Come inside.” A short time later, the dust settled and Clark hit the road touring in support of his latest EP “Walkin’ Papers”. From trans-Atlantic calamities, to the everyday hiccups of a normal guy’s life, Clark has seen turbulent times. His songs are built-up from real world stories about hard-luck and heartbreak, and what we do with the finer moments of life that shatter in-between the peaks and valleys. His art offers a darker glimpse of the truths behind tough times and hard lessons learned. With a freshly blended style of ‘a little bit country’ and ‘a little bit rock ‘n roll’, he has the perfect concoction of quality tunes to soak in while thinking over a cold beer or four. It’s about time to get belly-up to the bar and pop a top for a few rounds of Clark Paterson."