Kara Clark

Native rockers offer services to benefit Beau Farley

June 25, 2009 @ 10:54 PM

DAVE LAVENDER

The Herald-Dispatch

HUNTINGTON -- Forget being a little bit country and a little bit rock 'n' roll, Huntington natives and Nashville songwriters Kara Clark and Rick Blair are more than a little bit country and a whole lot rock 'n' roll.

The two rockers, who are chasing that proverbial neon rainbow in Music City -- Nashville, Tenn. -- are back home Saturday for a gig at Skybox Sports Bar, the old Laredo's, located on 5th Street Hill.

Clark and keyboardist David Walker will play two sets with the first one at 8 p.m.

Blair and fellow Nashville songwriter and guitarist Greg Jones will play songs from Blair's new CD between Clark's sets.

The music is just one part of a weekend-long benefit for Beau Farley, a long-time friend of Blair's.

Farley has been diagnosed with brain cancer, and area folks are rallying around him and the family this weekend.

Today, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., there is a spaghetti dinner at the Redmen Bingo Hall on Adams Avenue. It's $5 donation to eat in or take out.

Saturday, the Cabell County FOP Lodge 122 Poker Run will benefit Farley, who has been at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota since May 6 for his second brain surgery. While in surgery, he had a stroke which incapacitated his left side.

Currently in radiation treatment and chemotherapy, Farley is also receiving physical therapy. The family plans to return to Huntington in mid-July.

Blair, who began working for Farley at his hot dog stand when he was 13, said he would do anything for him.

"I'm coming up just for Beau Farley," said Blair, who has cut several CDs since moving to Nashville in 1996. "This started out as one thing and has morphed into a huge benefit. Let me tell you something, Beau is one of the coolest guys on the planet, and I would do anything for him. He's the first person, if the shoe was on the other foot, that would step in to help."

Blair, who built big followings at Stat's Sports Bar in Barboursville and around the Tri-State playing some with fellow Nashville buddy Rick Huckaby, said he's been grooving on life in Music City and taking his time to write his second all originals CD.

"The old saying is that you get a lifetime to write your first record and six months to write the second," Blair said. "I was lucky enough to own my own label, so I've had six or seven years, and it's been a lot more depth for me. It's definitely pushed a little more of the rock 'n' roll edge."

Blair, who just happened to run into fellow Huntington East High School graduate Kara Clark at a Monday night songwriter's night in Nashville at the famous Bluebird Cafe, said he's excited to see what happens for her.

Like many who knew her growing up, Blair didn't even know she sang.

Clark, a thirtysomething who graduated from Marshall University and who has been an emergency medical technician since 1990, came to music late but has been making up for lost time the past few years.

Amazingly, Clark moved to Nashville in 2001 to do music but had never been in a band and barely played guitar.

"I had never been to Nashville, and I didn't sing. I went to Marshall, got married and was living my life," said Clark, whose grandfather played with Hank Williams Sr. "Then, in my late 20s, I wanted to sing some songs, bought a guitar and taught myself some chords ... packed up and came down. It was like the Twilight Zone. I was booking gigs and had never played in a band. It seems to have worked. We've created somewhat of a buzz, and it seems to, like, really have gotten serious in the last year."

Clark, who lists Hank III and Uncle Tupelo as musical influences, delivers a raw rock energy with country lyrics and has the MySpace hits to prove her prowess -- a respectable 306,000 MySpace plays with such original rockers as "Sinnin."

Recently signed with management, Clark hopes to be in the studio this fall and on the radio by spring.

In the meantime, she's ready to come back home for the first time as a singer.

"I've never come back home to play," Clark said. "I have like 2,500 MySpace fans from the Tri-State, and I didn't even realize how much they've gotten behind the whole local thing. We had talked about coming home and doing a show, and this was just a natural with the poker run for Beau and the FOP pig roast. They've just combined it all into one big huge party."

Go online at www.myspace.com/karaclarkmusic and www.myspace.com/rickblairnashville to hear their music. - HeraldDispatch.com

Kara Clark Plays Exit/In December 8th




Exit/In welcomes a night of rock on Tuesday, December 8th. The show starts at 8:30 pm. It is being presented by Berry Ladd. Performers include Kara Clark, Beautifully Crude, Brad Nelson and Oceana Gayden. Clark will be performing at 10:30. Exit/In is located at 2208 Elliston Place in Nashville, Tennessee.


“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Most up and coming artists would say they grew up knowing that they wanted to sing, write or play music. Not Kara Clark.



Clark discovered her talent and passion after she had established a career as a paramedic and worked as a flight medic. She grew up the daughter of a West Virginia State Trooper and had lots of dreams. None of those dreams included music. However, the tables turned for her after singing for some family and friends. Her talent was realized by everyone there, including herself. After that, she picked up a guitar and taught herself to play. To compliment her strong vocals, she also started writing songs. She currently has written over a hundred songs, with genres being anywhere from Rock to Country to Bluegrass.



Like most children, she did sing in her room as a child.

“I remember singing Juice Newton “The Sweetest Thing” into my bed posts on my canopy bed. I remember singing Mellencamp over and over also. As an adult, I would say the first song that I really connected with was Sara Evans “Three Chords and the Truth,” says Clark.



Taking the advice of a good friend and fellow musician, Gail Chasin, Clark decided to make the move to Nashville. She met with vocal coach Renee Grant-Williams. Clark laughs now and says "I had a homemade CD of 3 tracks, I was covering Martina McBride and Faith Hill, I had never been on a stage, never had a band, but I bent the truth just a little."


To her surprise, Williams told her "you will stand out, you have something that people want to be taught...emotion, style, and character...that cannot be taught". Clark says "I will never forget her words, ever".



Clark put together a band, including Grammy-nominated guitarist Bobby Messano. They played clubs around town and then recorded an EP with a controversial title track called ‘Sinnin.’ The official release for the CD is 2010 but it is already in print.



"It's funny to me, I wrote that song in twenty minutes, it's open ended and it's just about finding the strength to leave a situation that is hurtful, nothing more,” says Clark.



Clark figured out where her talent comes from while recording “Murder and Suicide.” It was brought to her attention that her biological grandfather was a musician and that he had played with Hank Williams Sr.

Clark says a quote that describes her best is “an artist cannot be created in a studio, life made me Kara Clark."



Clark is managed under Lord Entertainment. For all booking inquiries, email laticia@karaclark.comlaticia@karaclark.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. For more on Kara Clark, visit www.myspace.com/karaclarkmusic or www.karaclark.com.



- Strum magazine