Biography
Fearless
Terri Clark's multitude of fans will be somewhat surprised - and pleasantly so - when they hear her new Mercury CD, Fearless. Five years after her recording debut, the Canadian singer/songwriter follows a natural musical progression, resulting in a well-rounded project that represents the artist she is today.
"No Fear," one of the two songs she wrote with Mary Chapin Carpenter, leads off the CD and primes the ear for the 11 captivating songs that follow. "It sets the tone for the whole album. That's really what it was for me…the whole project was a fearless endeavor. 'No Fear' has just as much attitude as 'Better Things To Do,' but in a much different, more subtle way. It's still me, it's just me seven years later."
In fact Clark co-wrote eight of the 12 cuts on Fearless. "I found that I really wanted to start fresh with every aspect on this album," she explains. "It's almost like re-inventing yourself. A turning point, Phase Two of my career. I didn't want to repeat myself. To me, if you want to play a different game, you've got to go to different sources." She did just that, collaborating for the first time with noted tunesmiths Mary Chapin Carpenter, Gary Burr, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Angelo and Annie Roboff.
"My mother was a child of the '60s and she listens still to Bob Dylan and Joan Baez and Joplin and the Beatles. When I was growing up, that's what I listened to. I wanted to write with people who had that influence who could help bring that out. You can hear it coming out of my music now, where it didn't before. I think a lot of it has to do with just coming of age, full circle back to your roots. I'm discovering parts of myself musically that I think I've repressed a little bit."
She had but one request to make of her co-writers. "Every time I went to a co-writing appointment, I said, 'First of all, ignore everything you've ever heard from me before. Let's just write something really great, and let's not call it pop, country, rock, folk or anything.' That's how we approached this co-writing thing."
"I feel like I'm writing with my heart now more than my head," she believes. "It's coming from a different place. A more grownup place. When I wrote the songs for my first album, I was 23 and 24 years old - that's almost 10 years ago. That's a big jump in maturity and life experiences. You go through things and you mature and you grow. I've learned from it, and I think it's made me a better person, a better artist and a better writer. The songs I'm writing now are coming from a woman's standpoint instead of a little girl.
"Fearless is the most personal album I've ever made, and the most honest thing my fans have ever heard from me," she says. "I had to let go of any expectations anybody might have had of me and just do what I wanted to do creatively. I always follow my heart wherever I am at the time. If I don't stay true to who I am as a person, then I'm not doing myself or anyone else justice. Who you are as a person should come out in your artistry and in your craft. It should come from the heart. Every song contains a subtle moral."
Subtle, yes, with clean, acoustic production. But also attention-getting. Clark's vocals are as crisp and clean as ever, delivered with emotion and conviction. Unaffected arrangements allow Clark's powerful voice to dominate each track. "We just wanted to make it real sounding," she says of the plan she and producer Steuart Smith executed during the recording process. For the first time since her Just The Same project, she found herself behind the board as co-producer.
"Steuart is one of the most brilliant men I've ever met in my life," Clark raves. "We really holed up to make this album. He played just about every instrument on the project - harmonica, accordion, acoustic guitar, all the electric guitars, bazouki, mandolin, acoustic piano."
Producer Keith Stegall loaned his talents to two songs, "No Fear" and "A Little Gasoline". "We knew those two had single potential," Clark explains. "Keith's got his finger on the pulse of country radio, so it made sense for him to come in on those two and make sure that we were headed in the right direction."
Another important factor was her choice of a recording studio - the basement in her Nashville area home. "It was a really laid-back atmosphere. You can hear the vibe that was going on. I think as a vocalist, I really came into my own on this album because I was so comfortable where I was, and I didn't feel the pressure of a clock ticking or dollars flying out the window. There was no forcing anything. I could re-do something if I didn't like it. I'm really proud of the vocal performances on this more than any of the other CD's I've done."
Clark, who struck gold with a cover of "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" in 1997, included another classic on Fearless. Her version of "Easy From Now On" (a top 10 single for Emmylou Harris in 1978) is striking in its simplicity.
"That was one of the tracks I did for me," Clark explains. "It's Appalachian, it's got accordions and banjos and fiddles in it. I love every song on this album, but there are some that I did strictly because we wanted to, and we did 'em any way we wanted to do, not worrying about whether they were going to be singles or not."
One thing's certain - critics and fans alike will rejoice in Fearless, the current phase of Terri Clark's musical evolution. As for the singer, she's proud of the project yet remains, despite the numerous successes of her career, grounded and down-to-earth. In many ways, she's just like the proverbial "girl next door" - wholesome, dependable and surprisingly unassuming.
"I think I'm beginning to actually believe that maybe I am kinda good at this," Clark says pensively. "Maybe it's not just a fluke. I feel like I'm coming into my own as a writer and an artist. I'm starting to figure out what I really, really want to be when I grow up."
July 2000
