REBA RELATED
Country singer Terri Clark progresses from fan of Reba McEntire to touring with her
BY CLAUDIA PERRY
When country singer Terri Clark, 36, was growing up in Medicine Hat, Alberta, she proudly wore her Reba McEntire T-shirts and was a member of the singer's fan club.
"That was before she was just going by 'Reba,'" Clark says her Nashville home. "I would wear her T-shirts and people would ask, 'What's a Reba?'"
No one has to ask that question anymore. McEntire is a multimedia star who has gone beyond her top-shelf country singer status to add Broadway, movies and a television series to her credits. McEntire tapped Clark to open her upcoming tour, which stops at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel on Saturday.
"It's just amazing that I'm now on tour with her," says Clark, who is doing her second tour with McEntire. "I have such idol worship of her. I was working as a boot salesman in Nashville, and she came in with Narvel (Blackstock, McEntire's husband) and Shelby (their son). I sold (Shelby) his first pair of cowboy boots."
Whether it's boots or tough-girl tunes, Clark has been closing deals since she hit Nashville nearly a decade ago. In 1995, her first big single, "Better Things to Do," established her as a down-home, feisty and independent spirit, unlike her pop-inflected countrywoman Shania Twain. Gretchen Wilson, whose "Redneck Woman" was the breakout hit of last year, mines some of the same territory Clark staked out.
"I've tried to pursue life full throttle," Clark says. "A lot of young girls listen to my music, and they're looking for role models, women who are strong. I get a lot of letters, and my message to them is be your own woman and don't be afraid to be strong."
Clark doesn't have a fear of humor that can make some country singers seem rigid and sanctimonious. Her single, "Girls Lie Too," is a good example of her wit. ("Girls lie too/Old gray sweat pants turn us on/We like your friends and we love your mom")
"It's just kind of little white lies," Clark says of the song. "Guys do that to us all the time. 'You look great in that dress.' 'That doesn't make you look fat.' They do that to us, so I'm just giving it back to them."
The video that accompanied "Girls Lie Too" featured a woman fantasizing about being swept off her feet by Johnny Depp as he appeared in "Pirates of the Caribbean." At the end of the video, the woman wakes up next to Wayne Newton.
"That wasn't Johnny Depp," Clark says. "It was our video director dressed up as Johnny Depp. A lot of people thought it was him. It was the real Wayne Newton. So the video does have a celebrity in it, just not the one everybody thinks. I thought it was pretty cool."
Clark's current album is a greatest hits collection that includes a version of "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me," a hit for Linda Ronstadt.
"We had been doing that song in our show and got such a great response to it, we decided to cut it," Clark says. "We put it out as a single (in 1996) and it did really well. It's a crowd favorite to this day."
Since Clark has had success with songs in keeping with her no-nonsense persona, she finds herself being typecast by song pitchers.
"You are faced with a challenge," Clark says of her next album, which she has been working on since 2003. "You want to grow as an artist and not keep doing the same thing over and over again. I'm working constantly not to alienate my previous audience. I think that's part of the reason it's taken me so long on this album. This will be my seventh album. I've already said a whole lot, but I want to find new things to say. I think I have been somewhat pigeonholed over the years. You can paint yourself into a corner. I'm just trying to find a new shade."
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BY CLAUDIA PERRY
When country singer Terri Clark, 36, was growing up in Medicine Hat, Alberta, she proudly wore her Reba McEntire T-shirts and was a member of the singer's fan club.
"That was before she was just going by 'Reba,'" Clark says her Nashville home. "I would wear her T-shirts and people would ask, 'What's a Reba?'"
No one has to ask that question anymore. McEntire is a multimedia star who has gone beyond her top-shelf country singer status to add Broadway, movies and a television series to her credits. McEntire tapped Clark to open her upcoming tour, which stops at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel on Saturday.
"It's just amazing that I'm now on tour with her," says Clark, who is doing her second tour with McEntire. "I have such idol worship of her. I was working as a boot salesman in Nashville, and she came in with Narvel (Blackstock, McEntire's husband) and Shelby (their son). I sold (Shelby) his first pair of cowboy boots."
Whether it's boots or tough-girl tunes, Clark has been closing deals since she hit Nashville nearly a decade ago. In 1995, her first big single, "Better Things to Do," established her as a down-home, feisty and independent spirit, unlike her pop-inflected countrywoman Shania Twain. Gretchen Wilson, whose "Redneck Woman" was the breakout hit of last year, mines some of the same territory Clark staked out.
"I've tried to pursue life full throttle," Clark says. "A lot of young girls listen to my music, and they're looking for role models, women who are strong. I get a lot of letters, and my message to them is be your own woman and don't be afraid to be strong."
Clark doesn't have a fear of humor that can make some country singers seem rigid and sanctimonious. Her single, "Girls Lie Too," is a good example of her wit. ("Girls lie too/Old gray sweat pants turn us on/We like your friends and we love your mom")
"It's just kind of little white lies," Clark says of the song. "Guys do that to us all the time. 'You look great in that dress.' 'That doesn't make you look fat.' They do that to us, so I'm just giving it back to them."
The video that accompanied "Girls Lie Too" featured a woman fantasizing about being swept off her feet by Johnny Depp as he appeared in "Pirates of the Caribbean." At the end of the video, the woman wakes up next to Wayne Newton.
"That wasn't Johnny Depp," Clark says. "It was our video director dressed up as Johnny Depp. A lot of people thought it was him. It was the real Wayne Newton. So the video does have a celebrity in it, just not the one everybody thinks. I thought it was pretty cool."
Clark's current album is a greatest hits collection that includes a version of "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me," a hit for Linda Ronstadt.
"We had been doing that song in our show and got such a great response to it, we decided to cut it," Clark says. "We put it out as a single (in 1996) and it did really well. It's a crowd favorite to this day."
Since Clark has had success with songs in keeping with her no-nonsense persona, she finds herself being typecast by song pitchers.
"You are faced with a challenge," Clark says of her next album, which she has been working on since 2003. "You want to grow as an artist and not keep doing the same thing over and over again. I'm working constantly not to alienate my previous audience. I think that's part of the reason it's taken me so long on this album. This will be my seventh album. I've already said a whole lot, but I want to find new things to say. I think I have been somewhat pigeonholed over the years. You can paint yourself into a corner. I'm just trying to find a new shade."
CLICK HERE to discuss in our forum.
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