This show has been in the planning stages for months, and was one that I had really been looking forward to, knowing all along that it was going to be a good one. I meet a lot of artists doing these shows, and in general, most of them are quite nice, very supportive, and easy to work with. (Yes, there have been "exceptions.") Very few, however, are as genuinely amicable as Bobby Clark. From the first few minutes you talk to him, you feel like this is a guy you've known for years, and he reciprocates by treating you like one of his oldest and dearest friends. He talks about his life in the laid-back manner of a master storyteller with a big smile and a twinkle in his eye -- well, except when he's wearing his trademark sunglasses -- and seems to treasure every moment of of a lifetime spent entertaining people with music.
Ah, yes, the music. The most distinguishing thing I found about Bobby is that, unlike many of his more-contemporary peers, he simply loves playing for an audience. He admits to enjoying cover shows as much as original music shows, and is for the most part unconcerned with whether he's playing to six people or six thousand people, as long as they're having a good time. My favorite line of the interview, and I think the most-telling when coming from a three-decades-plus veteran of the music scene: "The only thing I truly understand about this whole thing ... is that I hear songs in my head, and I want other people to hear them."
Links referenced in the show:
