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The Time Terri Clark Played Who’s Who with Kelly Clarkson
109 Plays16 days ago
Get ready to kick your boots up as we sit down with country music legend Terri Clark. From humble beginnings in Canada to becoming the first Canadian female artist inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, Terri shares her extraordinary journey through decades of country music. Hear how a shoelace tied to her guitar led to her big break at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, her thoughts on today’s music industry, and the wild story of Blake Shelton being mistaken for her!
Terri opens up about life on the road, her iconic hits like “Better Things to Do” and “Girls Lie Too,” and how she’s connecting with new generations through her new album Terri Clark: Take Two. Plus, find out why Cody Johnson’s admiration for her music hits close to home, which 90s Western fashion she’d love to see make a comeback, and—of course—how she shapes her signature cowboy hat!
With a career spanning three decades, Terri Clark proves why she’s a true trailblazer in country music. Don’t miss this unforgettable episode! Her latest album, Take Two, is out now.
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Transcript
Intro and Guest Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Like anyone would do, I just texted her. I said, is this Kelly's number? She said, yep, that's Kelly's number. You can go ahead and text her back. It's a rat. So I texted her back. She said that in text. That's how she said it. No, actually I called her.
00:00:15
Speaker
Hey everybody, and thank you for listening to another episode of the Kick Your Boots Up podcast. This episode is extra special. We're here in Las Vegas at the Golden Nugget Casino where Terry Clark is performing tonight. And guess what? The guest today is Terry Clark herself. Terry, thank you for being on. Thanks for having me, Taylor. It's great to be here. Absolutely.
Terry's Musical Roots
00:00:35
Speaker
And you know, there's a lot that I could introduce you with being inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, having all the top 10 hits. But I think I'm going to introduce you as the one who has a ton of kate ah Canadian hockey jerseys in her closet. I do. This is true. This is true. every Every market that I played in Canada in the early days, especially, and I still get them today too as well. um
00:00:59
Speaker
They would bring me ah a hockey jersey, and it was my encore outfit for many, many years. So I've got quite a few. I've probably got 50 of them. Oh my goodness, and I love that. It's like a special, unique thing that you'll be able to carry with you forever and ever. And I think we're gonna start this episode off by just talking about your humble beginnings. That's kind of how we do it around here at the Kick Your Roots Up podcast. Thanks for tuning in. The first question is, what was it like for you growing up in Canada with a mom and grandparents, or parents and grandparents that were both musicians growing up musically? What was that like?
Learning and Teaching Music
00:01:32
Speaker
Well, there was always a guitar in every corner and I remember being really small and just my my grandfather even had an amp in the living room and he would just pick up an electric guitar and he played all the songs that he loved all the time and I would just sit there on the rug you like at his feet and watch him play and just was mesmerized by his fingers and and and the fact that he was so good at it and my grandfather and my grandmother played professionally. They played country music in bars and clubs in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
00:02:00
Speaker
when my mom was a little girl and a teenager, and you know seeing as how there were always instruments laying around, my mom learned three chords on the guitar, and she was ah kind of a hippie. She was a child of the 60s, so she grew up um you know listening to a lot of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, Buffy St. Marie, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles. So um you know she instead of reading me bedtime stories when I was little, she'd sit on the edge of the bed with her harmony sovereign guitar,
00:02:29
Speaker
that her parents gave her for her 15th birthday and she would sing to me. And they included those songs, but they also included you know Loretta Lynn and Merle Haggard because that's what her parents taught her. So I got a really um a really broad palette of music growing up and things that I heard and um it was always music. Like I said, not the bedtime stories that most parents read. She just sat on the edge of my bed with that guitar and would sing me to sleep at night.
00:02:54
Speaker
And when did you know then that you had the music bug too? When did you realize it? Well I went to my mom when I was about nine and I asked her if she would teach me the guitar and she said I'm going to teach you your first three chords and she drew out little lines on a piece of paper and put little dots where my, she drew out the six lines where the strings were and she would draw little dots on the strings where my fingers would go and lines where the frets were.
00:03:18
Speaker
And I learned my first three chords from my mom. It was C.G. and
Discovering Country Music
00:03:22
Speaker
D. 7th. And um from that point on, um I kind of flew by the seat of my own pants and learned the rest on my own. I got one of those little books um and that that showed me chords. my My grandfather showed me a couple of things. There were some local musicians in Medicine Hat, Alberta, where I Really got steeped in country music and started playing in local bands when I was a teenager They showed me a few things too. I have a really weird way of playing guitar. It's not I don't really do bar chords I was not formally trained So I'm very ear motivated so if I heard something on the radio or on something that I was I was learning and I would I would work with my fingers until it sounded right and And that's how I play some of my chords. They're not technically the right way of playing all of them, but it's always worked well for me. yeah um But yeah, i I got into really getting into it when I was about nine or 10 years old. And then as I went into my pre-teen years, it amped up to the obsessive point for me when I started to discover country music artists of that time, that era, which were the early 80s to mid 80s.
Challenges and Triumphs in Nashville
00:04:29
Speaker
Wow, I can only imagine. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall watching you learn and grow up. I'm a crazy horse girl myself. So I understand what it means to pour yourself into something so young. I love that and so in all of that. It's easier to take care of a guitar than a horse. Yeah, I will say that yeah for sure. For sure. I've actually never even tried to play a guitar. I think um when I was like, so I don't even know how old maybe too old to be doing this. I got a Hannah Montana electric guitar because I was going to be Hannah Montana. Never learned a chord. Oh, I love it. oh um But ah anyways, I,
00:04:59
Speaker
I can't help but go back to the time and the stories that I've heard about you in Tootsies. And was it seven years that you worked there until? Well, no, not necessarily. So um in 1987, I i was i had graduated from high school in 86. And the plan, my mom was my biggest cheerleader. and She was my mentor. And my we were so close. And we had a plan. We'd hatched the plan. We were going to take me to Nashville.
00:05:25
Speaker
So in 1987, after high school, um my mom and her one of her very best friends that she had known since before I was born, Pat, we we loaded a Honda Civic and drove down to Nashville and told the border official, the customs guard, that we were going to the Grand Ole Opry.
00:05:43
Speaker
He didn't know that one of us did not intend to come back. So I was a little illegal back then, but I moved and I got to Nashville. Didn't stay that way, but um we were kind of, ah my mom had to go back home. She was there with me for like about a week and a half. yeah My brother was five years old. She had to get back to him. So we had a lot to do in a week and a half. Yeah, you did. With this girl who couldn't get a waitressing job. I had to figure out, I was gonna babysit. We found me a place to live.
00:06:12
Speaker
um You were a nanny, right? In the newspaper, yeah. and In the classified ads, there was a woman looking for a babysitter for her for her son when she was working the factory shift in the middle of the night. She was going a lot at night. and um So we got me ah a deal on rent, renting a room in a townhouse, and before Pat and my mom, Linda, and left and had to go back.
00:06:37
Speaker
now just know that Alberta to Tennessee is about, it's over 2,000 miles. It wasn't like I could go home for Sunday dinner or any of that. It was a very, and I was green and from the prairies of Alberta. So I was i was pretty naive, but always had a ah pretty level head.
00:06:55
Speaker
So they had to leave after about a week and um before they left we went to Tootsie's Orchid Lounge as tourists because I'd read all the history books. I was obsessed with country music. I always had my head in a biography or country music trivia book more than I did in my school books.
00:07:09
Speaker
um So we went into Tootsies and there was a guy in there. There was nobody there. Guy was singing just with his guitar on stage, a solo thing. And so my mom and Pat were like, ask him if he can get up and sing. And I was really shy. And it was like, no, I don't want to do that. So they did. And I wound up on stage. The place started filling up with people.
00:07:29
Speaker
um By that time, it was probably mid to late afternoon, and they had the door open because it was hot, um and they offered me a job. So the the music, the person in charge of music, um his name was Toby Carr, hired me, and he also did a shift as a musician there. Robert, who owns Robert's Western World now, was the owner of Tootsies at the time. So they hired me to play, and I played three days a week, got a bus pass because I didn't have a car.
00:07:57
Speaker
I took the city bus all about 10 miles from where I rented that room all the way down to 2nd Avenue. They dropped me off at the bus stop and I carried my guitar with a shoestring wrapped around my wrist because lower Broadway was not what it is now. It was dangerous. It was seedy. There were bloodstains on the sidewalk. it was There were like adult peep shows and pawn shops. and It was not the you know the neon bars with all the country stars' names on them and the tourists. it was Once in a while you'd get a bus from Florida full of, you know, and their their elderly passengers would come in. and So it was tough. It was tough, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. But that's that was my start at Tootsies. I did three days a week and I did the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift.
00:08:41
Speaker
in the afternoon as I couldn't be standing at a bus stop in the dark. It was too dangerous down there and um I was forbidden by my mother. She said she'd drag me home by the ear if she found out I was going down there at night. That is an incredible story. And to think that you made it playing arguably one of the harder shifts of the day. You know, not a lot of scouts are out during the day, not a lot of anyone. Right. So that's incredible. And I love the story part of it, where the door was open, people flooded. They knew from the very beginning. That had to have been cool, right? It was cool. And I couldn't tell if it was because they let a bus off or if it was me. I didn't know. But for some reason,
00:09:15
Speaker
the the powers that be at the bar that day wanted to hire me. And I knew that something something was clicking with them. And you know back then, there was like a cast of characters living in their cars and hanging out. They all had a business card. I'll make you a star. you know Everybody had some sort of an angle. And it was just so 80s Nashville. I mean, you hear like podcasts in that now about there's one called, I think, Once Upon a Time in Nashville. And then there's another one called, um Oh, cocaine and rhinestones, I think. and it's There's some really good ones that that really depict like what Nashville was like. And there was there was always some shyster with a business card trying to take advantage of some young kid who came to town.
00:09:57
Speaker
and get their parents to mortgage their house and give them money so they could record them and give them a record deal and
From Tootsie's to Record Deals
00:10:02
Speaker
make them a star. And I'm lucky I didn't fall for any of that, but I remember seeing a lot of them around at the time. um But I just really, I had a good keen sensibility about me and in intuition. um So I kind of stayed away from that type of thing. And for some reason, I just always fell in the path of really good people that that weren't those people.
00:10:23
Speaker
And I'm lucky, because I was pretty naive. Wow. Job opening. um And I want to actually live there for a second, just to go back one little bit. I would have died for my horse. We talked about me being a crazy horse girl. You're a crazy musician at the time. When you had the guitar strapped to your wrist, would you have died for your guitar? Yeah, because when I was 16 years old, my dad bought me a 150th anniversary edition Herringbone Martin D28.
00:10:51
Speaker
and it was in 1983 and it was the best guitar I ever had. It still sits in my living room in a stand today and it sounded so good and I had a little pickup I'd put in the ah in the sound hole that was removable um and i just it was my prized possession and I would take that thing down to Tootsie's. I can't believe I took that to Tootsie's but um I still have that guitar to this day. It's the same guitar I wrote better things to do on and all the early hits so that the guitars been ah Zach Brown actually has a song called ah Martin and me it's about his guitar his Martin guitar and I i wept when I first heard it
00:11:27
Speaker
So um yeah, that guitar meant a lot to me, but I think that the the biggest sacrifice for me and all of it was leaving my family and my little brother who was five at the time who I adored. He was born when I was 13, so I was like his second mother. ah That was the hardest Goodbye out of all of all of that and ah thank God I made it and things worked out because I you know And you that's a sacrifice. I i didn't see him very often, you know, and we're close to this day He's he's an adult now, but that was the hardest part of it
00:11:58
Speaker
I can only imagine. Family is so important. and Along those same lines, i think I think it's a perfect segue to talk about this next thing. your record Your first record label, who soon became family. Everyone in the industry becomes family at some point, I'm sure. Tell me about the moment when you were in Tootsie's and you got discovered and really just like hearing the first phone call. Did you believe it?
00:12:21
Speaker
Well, Tootsie's discovery was interesting how that happened. And it led to me being on Mercury Records. So I think it was 1989, 80, 80, 89, a producer named George from Apopka, Florida, who did a lot of... ah He had ah a thing called the Synclevator machine in his basement. He had a recording studio and you could make all kinds of sounds with this thing. At the time, it was very cutting edge. You know, he could do bass lines and drums and and keyboards and everything on it. He walked into Tootsie's looking for a hamburger.
00:12:51
Speaker
And I was playing and singing and he sat down and listened to me. He just sat there and observed for two or three hours um and said he wanted to record me. And for whatever reason, I got a good feeling about this guy. So he flew me down to Florida and for about a month we worked together and we we did a demo tape of some of the songs that I had written, and he brought it up to Nashville and pitched it around, took it to ASCAP Music, and it wound up on Tom Long's desk, who was um Artist Relations for ASCAP, which is one of the performing rights organizations in Nashville, like ASCAP, BMI, CSAC. And Tom said, you need a manager. And he said, do you know who Woody Bowles is? And I said, of course I know who Woody Bowles is. He managed the Judds.
00:13:34
Speaker
who back in the day with Ken Stilt. So he said, well, he's working with Bailey and the boys, mo Mo Bandy. I think he would really dig what you're doing. So he sent me ah over Woody's office with my guitar and I played and sang for Woody live. I got everything just singing with my guitar in a room. That's how everything happened. And Woody said his hair parted. and He um wanted to work with me, so we worked together for a while. He helped guide me. And that demo tape wound up in somebody else's hands who took me in, and I did an even better demo tape with Brian Kennedy. um And that demo tape wound up on Keith Steagall's desk years later. So this this took
00:14:11
Speaker
this was This was years of one thing leading to another.
Advice for Aspiring Musicians
00:14:15
Speaker
Meantime, I got married, got my green card, got citizenship, but I was waiting tables and painting houses and bartending um and doing everything I could to to to make a living as well as trying to write songs, working with publishers. And um yeah, so it it was a long it was a long road from that first minute that I walked into Tootsies to Sing to when I actually got a record deal in 1994.
00:14:40
Speaker
And that's kind of so different today. You know, today someone can go viral on TikTok and then get a call maybe the next day. What do you think is your best piece of advice for someone out there that's trying to make it, think back to the time that you were waiting tables doing all the things and maybe they haven't had their break yet. Maybe they are going to be like you or Lainey Wilson that have just tried it for years and years and years. I love that about Lainey too. And Ashley McBride like the van and bar to bar to bar. I just think I think that that that grassroots way, that that the way of making it to where it's just not easy, I think that just adds soul to your to your music. It it yeah gives you song ideas, it the stories you hear from people, the the inspiration um that happens and the hunger that builds in you because it didn't come easy. You want it more and more and you work hard for it. yeah And when you get it,
00:15:34
Speaker
you appreciate it so much. like and I see Laney everywhere and and like we're friends and I'm like, are you taking your vitamins? Big sister calling you, are you okay? And she's like, she just doesn't so she her work ethic is insane and so is Ashley's too and they're they're both doing so well and they're so talented. and um It's just when you really scratch for it and you really struggle for it and you finally get it, you're not you're not going to let go of it very easily and you're going to do what you need to do and you're not going to complain. You're going to be grateful for every opportunity that comes along and you're going to do it. and
00:16:11
Speaker
that to me is the big difference. There's there's just there's just a real sturdy resilience about people who come up that way, who aren't just handed everything on a silver platter because they got a TikTok video that went viral.
00:16:27
Speaker
You're right. And you know what? You're actually describing the words that you used to describe a musician that worked hard as probably also a cowgirl or a cowboy. Absolutely. I remember hearing my dad say my dad and mom both say, well, Taylor, you're just building character whenever I was having to clean a pig pen again or read whatever it was. And I'm so thankful that that's the way that I was raised. Yeah. Well, Reba started out a cowgirl. And look at her. Look at her work ethic. is is I've never seen anything like it. She's she's going to be 70 years old soon. and it's
00:16:57
Speaker
it's I'm like, wow, I'm a hard worker, but i I don't know anybody that works that hard. And she's still asking her team, what can we do more? What can I do? yeah can i I've heard that about her. yeah And that's what I respect her. She's got it going on. So those are three people I just talked about yeah that that came up the hard way and whatever way it is. it's it's just you know You learn early on to work hard. And I grew up with a stepfather who was very, very very strict and very hard on me about work ethic. And if you're not gonna do something right, don't do it at all.
00:17:31
Speaker
Don't do it, you know, do it the right way. Own it, have pride. Have pride and yeah and so ah I, even the the simplest things, like we were digging ditches to to lay foundation for a garage, we added to the the but house when I was, you know, supposed to be in bed because I had school the next day and helping him, you know, dig out the foundation of a basement wall and things like that, like we, he didn't treat me like a girl.
Humor and Anecdotes
00:17:55
Speaker
Yes, definitely not. So, you know, i i I did that kind of stuff too, which I think all plays into it.
00:18:00
Speaker
Oh, it does. I can relate to you. My i might parents have two daughters, me and my sister, and I was raised like the son. So I joke about it all the time. I appreciate that humor about you. But speaking of sons, we got to move on just really quick because there is a story that you've told, and I want to hear the story on the podcast about Blake Shelton getting mistaken for you at some point in time. Tell us that story really fast. Is that bad for him or bad for me? Oh, it's definitely bad for him.
00:18:26
Speaker
ah no he yeah Remember when he had that he had a mullet for the longest time like in the beginning of his career first five years Blake's mullet it's long curly hair and and he was at fanfare he's really tall and people were always talking about how tall I am You're 5'11? I'm 5'11, almost. It's just a hair below. But to I guess he was getting out of a... I did not personally see this, but he's told the story. He was getting out of a golf cart or a car or something, and there were fans lined up by this rope, and everybody would just yell your name, and he got out, and his back was facing the fans. As he was walking into the building, they were going, Terry! Terry!
00:19:04
Speaker
Hey, Jerry, can we get you a picture? And he turned around. And he says, that was it that was it. That hair was gone. And it was. I don't know if that's why he could. I like him better without it. You can claim it. I do too. I don't know. I'm sure Gwen does too. Oh gosh, yeah. Yeah. it's it that was It's a pretty funny story. Oh, yeah. And I'm like, I'm not. I mean, he's like a man. He's huge, tall, like my shoulders are not that broad. Yeah. You're like, wait, what does that say about me? I know. I don't know. What are people thinking? they're They're reading the press that I'm like eight feet tall and, you know, weigh 300 pounds or something. I don't know. This is how rumors get started, too, because if Blake went and did something crazy, they're like, did you see Terry Clarkson at the bar last night? we got girls all around Yeah, and she can grow a beard, too. Great. She has some sideburns on her.
00:19:54
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Well, speaking of fun memories like that, your career has spanned over several decades now and oh um there are, no, I do not mean to make you feel old. No, no. But what I want to know is the the true um stories that you've lived to tell, some that you have lived not to tell, and that's okay too. What has been some of your fondest memories throughout your entire career? Were they highs, lows? Were they big moments? Were they small moments?
00:20:20
Speaker
Oh, you know, some of my fondest memories honestly involved my road crew and band and hanging out on the bus. We just, you know, we're like-minded people. We're music nerds and lovers and I've made lifelong friends on the road. You know, there there have been people that um that were hired early on and my band and and crew that i'm I'm still in touch with to this day that were out there with me when I was 26, 27 years old um that come over and cook dinner and um have taught me so much. you know I think that that sense of community and having people around you that have experienced things maybe you haven't can really lift you and help you and they've exposed me to music I might not have been.
00:20:57
Speaker
um I love music, I love all kinds of music and and those are some of my good times. i I've got memories of playing Billy Bobs and watching the sun come up the next day. I've got memories of being on tour with Toby Keith, hanging out on his bus after the shows, picking his brain about business and music and um him just treating me like a little sister, you know, you know swapping cans of dip with him. and um God, the parties after the Toby shows were always so much fun um hanging out with Reba McEntire. One story is really fun. When I was um touring with George Strait,
00:21:34
Speaker
um keep I was in one of the bathrooms that were between like the big other locker rooms in these arenas and I was in a locker room in between the stage and when he was coming in and he I didn't realize his whole entourage was coming through the and I was so starstruck by him I went into one of the stalls and stood up on the toilet and just been was really quiet when they were coming through as I didn't want them to see me and somebody saw me and they're like who's in there and and George straight goes Terry what in the hell are you doing in there?
00:22:02
Speaker
It's like, I'm just trying to be a, I'm trying to be, you know, not in your way. And oh man, I was just, I was just, yeah I was such a kid. I almost feel like I've had two lifetimes since that girl, but I'm still the same girl. But i boy, I wish I knew them when I know now. If I'd had the wisdom and I could just talk to her and tell her everything was going to be okay and she'd still be doing this when she was were something years old, she's kind of numb.
00:22:28
Speaker
then she maybe would have calmed down just a little bit because I was very excited back then. It was excitable. I was excited, excited, excitable, grateful, terrified of losing it. I was really worried that my last hit was going to be my last hit and I would disappear into the ether forever and be a one-hit wonder. and Oh, so you know you can have a bigger career, but there isn't a better career than one where I can go to the grocery store and still shop for groceries and nobody see nobody knows I'm even there and I don't wear this. I can
Living Authentically in Music
00:22:58
Speaker
disappear, but I can come to the Golden Nugget during NFR and fill that room and people are are having a good time. That is, to me, the balance, the best of both worlds.
00:23:07
Speaker
Maybe you're actually Hannah Montana. I said I wanted to be, but it sounds like Terry Clark is Hannah Montana. ah That is so, so true. And I think that's the coolest part for you. You've done such a good job over time um maintaining your image, maintaining your brand. And okay, we have to speak about that for a second because so many of our listeners, myself included, are terrified of what's next, what's next. We live in a world where everyone gets served something so fast.
00:23:32
Speaker
So, what do you think is your best piece of advice in terms of taking in every moment and living in the moment? That's that that's advice I wish I could have given myself yeah when I was younger because all you really have is right now, and I'm not going to sound like a bumper sticker, I'm trying not to, but the past is gone and the future hasn't happened yet.
00:23:50
Speaker
um Be the best version of yourself that you can be in the most authentic self that you can be. Don't chase anybody else. Don't try to be anything you're not, because people see through that. yeah And you're going to hear about it on social media. And I didn't have to worry about social media when I was coming up. Thank God. I'm so glad I was able to just write songs. Focus on um quality. And I was able to focus on writing and being creative creativity, not content.
00:24:15
Speaker
I mean, a lot of these younger artists, and I have to do it too, are so focused on getting content for social media now, that's that's become the job. So ah don't get too caught up in it, I guess, and just really appreciate your mo you the now. That is such solid advice, and actually it goes back to one of the questions. I um asked our listeners, they don't know who's gonna be on the podcast, but I said, anyone that was a famous 90s country artist, what would you like to ask them? One of the questions, since you brought it up, I'll ask you, is what's it like then um singing out to a crowd of phones? That didn't used to have to happen. It's strange, it's really strange. I'm okay with it if people are taking a picture with it, but when somebody's watching the entire show through their screen, I'm like,
00:24:59
Speaker
Why did you buy a ticket to come and see somebody live?
Musical Collaborations
00:25:02
Speaker
And the one piece of advice I can offer and and you know is go buy the ticket, be present, and watch the show. yes Because you don't know, especially if it's an ah artist that's been around for a while, you don't know if you're ever gonna get a chance to see that person again. um People get sick, people die, yeah I mean, like how many people watched their last Toby Keith show through a phone and wish they had had been more present to watch him do his last show, um or the last show that they didn't know they were gonna see him do. So I think it's important to remember to really just take it all in.
00:25:37
Speaker
That is so good, and i actually that reminds me of um Cody Johnson's song, Tell You Can't. If you have a chance, take it, because the ch the dream won't chase you back. yeah So we got to talk about Cody Johnson a little bit then, because your guys' this song together that you did on Terry Clark Take Two, I just want to be mad. I felt like that song was supposed to be a duet. I felt like I heard that for the first time.
00:25:57
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. You took the words out of my mouth. it's ah we We went back and forth about what song we were going to do and I kind of left it up to him um and he circled back to that one and I said, I'm so glad you said that because this can really be a conversation between two people. We talked about the melody. Cody's got an amazing range. Heck yes. He's just one of the best singers out there and and he we we altered the melody enough that We had one key change, but we were able to trade off lines through the entire song. And I didn't even notice that. the key I'm deaf, tone deaf. Oh, that's OK. I know plenty of people that are. yeah they like They're still trying to make it. I didn't even notice. I'll have to go back and listen to that. It's the biggest streaming song off the Take Two project. It's the one that's streamed the most. And I think it's a testament to the arrangement and and the the fresh
00:26:44
Speaker
take that we did on it. It's really like some of those songs are what they are. It's hard to take Girls Lie 2 and turn it into anything but what it is, you know what I mean? And Better Things is rocking. Sonically they're updated, they're freshened up, but that one really took on a life of its own, as did the Kelly Clarkson, If I Were You, that one too.
00:27:01
Speaker
and please tell that story because I was just like going through your social media and I heard her story of of how she got to be on the album with you which she was starstruck by the way but what is your what is your take on how Kelly Clarkson got to be on the album with you Well, I I went to my managers when we were discussing who was going to be, you know, who who was I was going to ask to finish out the album with. And I said, Kelly Clarkson would be amazing. She's always name checking 90s ladies in her interviews and how much she loves it. She even individually talked about me one time and did better things to do on her Kelly Oki portion of her show, which I was like, oh, my God, she's doing my
00:27:38
Speaker
Yeah, you were the fangirl. I'm so excited. oh just She's an otherworldly singer. It's crazy. um And so my manager was like, well, the writer strikes over, and she's going back to where it's going to be almost impossible to get her to commit to doing this. She's just really busy. She does a lot of charity where I'm like, I know. I know. also So I'll move on. And he was like, yeah, i wouldn't we can try. But so I kind of put it out of my mind. And two weeks later, I get a random text.
00:28:03
Speaker
a number's not in my phone and it's somebody asking somebody else a question and name someone else's name and it was Tricia and I'm like, I don't know who this is. um No idea. And I thought, who could this possibly be? And then she's she's like, wait, is this Terry Clark?
00:28:21
Speaker
And then like some random person's got my number and I'm like, i can't I can't answer this text. So i I did this, I tried to act like it was an auto response and I went driving right now. I'll i'll text you back when I get to where I'm going. um And so then she starts sending, she's like going,
00:28:38
Speaker
I it says it's terry clark i looked it up and it says it's your number and i'm still not knowing who this is i said.
Friendships and Fashion
00:28:44
Speaker
I said well who is this and she said well i can't tell you who this because she didn't know if it was me for sure not so we're both like playing this game and she's sending hints that i would only know that it would be her hints and pictures of betting lines and things that she's you know got brands everywhere.
00:29:00
Speaker
And then she said something that only she did when I was hosting a radio show. And I said, this has got to be Kelly, but I still wasn't buying it. So I texted Reba. Like anyone would do. I just texted Reba back. I said, is this Kelly's number? She said, yep, that's Kelly's number. You can go ahead and text her back to rat. So I texted her back. She said that in text. That's how she said it. No, actually I called her. So I called Reba. Reba said that. She said, yeah, be sure to And then Riva said, you can text Kelly back, you're all right, so I texted Kelly, blah, blah, blah, we go back and forth. and So I cornered Kelly, and I'm like, rather than talk to five million people that are between me and her, I asked her if she would do me the honor, and asked her what song she would wanna do, and she said she wanted to do If I Were You. So that's how that happened, and it's a little bit of a long and drawn out story. I'm trying to shorten it during my show, because I tell it, but oh um yeah, it's it it's
00:29:52
Speaker
it that was what that's fate. happening, falling in my lap right there. It was meant to happen. It truly was and honestly, mad respect for you because I would have probably given up and blocked the number immediately or something that could have almost not happened, you know? There are so many scammers and people calling it random, not even if you're an artist, just like I get calls from Dubai or something and I'm just like, who is this person? So they definitely don't know me. Yeah. So I didn't believe it was her until Reba told me it was her. And then I was like, OK, well, if you say so, friba says if Reba says says, yeah.
00:30:24
Speaker
Well, another artist that I want to talk about is Ashley. You mentioned her and you guys are very close. Were you close before the album? Yeah, I met Ashley in 2017 at a CMA after party. She just got her deal with Warner Brothers. She didn't have ah she really didn't have much out yet. Nobody really knew who she was and she walked up to me and at the after party and was so sweet and so She's just she so actually so whip-smart, polite, just well-spoken, and she was so respectful and sweet. She walked up and introduced herself and said, ma'am i she mammed me. yeah i just I just want to let you know how much your record's meant to me and and you've really influenced me growing up and and it's meant what it's meant to me. and
00:31:08
Speaker
I hadn't had a lot of that up to that point happen and it blew me away and so we ended up exchanging numbers and got getting together to co-write and we wrote a song. We haven't written anything since but we are scheduled for one January 6th. But um we we if we've had a lot of dinners, we've had a lot of a lot of sing songs with the guitars and playing old songs and covers and she's gotten up on stage with me and I've gotten up on stage with her and um We're just really close, yeah. She's like a little sister to me at this point, and I adore her, everything about her, and she's so talented, so talented. And that comes through whenever you guys are singing together, truly. Some of the videos that I've seen, I'm like, wow, this is an awesome boss babe duo, you know? It's so much fun. Supporting each other, and kind of going back to that a little bit, 90s fashion is so big right now. I know. And you're like, I made that. Everybody's wearing a hat. I mean, Shania's wearing a hat. That was my thing. I'm like, wait a minute. Weren't you the one in that cutoff denim midriff showing? I'm not doing that though. It's not gonna happen. You won't, come on.
00:32:13
Speaker
ah Maybe some like camo fishing gear. Maybe bring you could make that more. Yeah, the hat. Well, you're a cowgirl. Yes. But yeah, and yeah we're in ah everyone's wearing a cowgirl hat now, which which is cool. Well, the one question, like I said, I asked some of the fans or the some of the listeners what they would ask a 90s artist. And so I have to ask you this question while we're here. How did you fit into those Wrangler jeans?
00:32:35
Speaker
and ones I don't fit into anymore. say god I think the biggest thing was fitting into those Wrangler jeans is how I used to take them to the dry cleaners and order heavy starch, extra heavy starch. Because who didn't? I think I still do sometimes. They could stand up on their own in the corner and I just jumped in. It's worse. Oh yeah, it's it's a lot of starch so I don't know I would have to lay down get a coat hanger and pull up the ah You might literally put your pants on the same way that I do. You know that saying, treat them like they just put their pants on one leg at a time. Well, you don't. That is the old rodeo queen trick. And if you couldn't ever do it, did you ever take a hair tie? Yes, so I did. It was, it was ah interesting. I don't wear the starch anymore. I i wear Wrangler still, but I don't, I don't starch them like I used to. I go for comfort now. That's not comfortable. That's just not comfortable.
00:33:26
Speaker
And you know, everything's baggy nowadays. So you can settle for a little extra bag and it'll be fine. Yeah, absolutely. And okay, I've taken so much of your time. So I appreciate this, but I have one final question because you can't be on a Justin podcast and not talk about some things you have going on with Justin. So I want to compliment your hat. Thank you always for wearing Justin hats. A lot of people didn't even realize we even sold hats. Oh, I didn't realize you sold hats until I went into a store in Colorado looking for hats.
00:33:54
Speaker
And Justin, I put on a hat. you know I just randomly picked a hat. like I'm very picky about my crown height. I don't like two super tall hats. um And I have an oval-shaped head, so I can't really wear a round one without shoving stuff in between it. And having a headache in the front. And having a headache. yeah So I found that the perfect hat. And I looked inside and was like, whoop.
00:34:16
Speaker
Justin's making cowboy hats. I have people there. So now I'm hitting them up for some hats, getting you guys up for hats. But I've always worn Justin boots, too. My whole career. Yeah, that is so cool. We found an ad in our archives of a photo shoot you had done with Justin. Do you remember that? Yes, with my feet up on the day. Yes, and denim on denim. Yeah, I remember that very, very well. But yeah, I've got closet fulls of closet Closets full of Justin boots and I've got the it's just lined but I always I seem to wear the same three pair all the time Do you do you notice that like when you have a lot of boots or whatever? You just end up wearing the same thing every they're broken. Yeah, no your feet Yeah, they're just they go with everything like these ones are 25 years old I guess but I ordered three pairs back then because I figured they eventually stopped making them and they did so I'm glad I have them and And now they're kind of working on something special
Podcast Wrap-Up
00:35:13
Speaker
for you. You get to have your own custom pair of Justin boots. Finally. Yes. It's about time, right? Yeah. They're going to make me some a lot like that. I think that go a little higher. And that'll be so good. Yeah. And there's a lot of functionality with that too. You can maybe if you decide you want to start wearing some denim shorts, you could wear those. Nobody needs to see that.
00:35:32
Speaker
There's an age limit to certain things, ladies. Just saying. Put it away. Put it away. We'll leave it at that, right? Monast is hottest. Age gracefully. Well, Terry, it's been so... No, I'm just kidding. Yes. Sip it, cover it, all the things.
00:35:47
Speaker
um It's been so good getting to talk with you and hear your story, and I wish you the best on your album. Thank you. Terry Clark, take two, you guys. You need to go listen to it. I've been streaming it on repeat since I heard about the opportunity of this, and quite honestly, it feels like, and I mean this in no disrespect, this is a good way. It feels like it's even better than before. Awesome. Your energy is there. Your passion, I can hear it in your voice, and you've done such a good job of um keeping that momentum going. So I'm so excited to hear and see what you have in 2025. Thank you, Taylor. You're welcome. me on the podcast. And I wish you the best. Thank you again. And if you guys are out there listening, don't forget, as always, you can use code KYBU15 at JustinBoots dot.com to ensure you get an extra 15% off your purchase. And if you have any questions or if you have any comments about this episode, anything you'd like to ask Terry, feel free to comment below and like, subscribe and share this with your friends. Get notified when we have another episode and we will see you down the road the next time we kick your boots up.
00:36:44
Speaker
Thanks for joining us on Kick Your Boots Up. I'm your host, Taylor McAdams, and we can't wait to share the next story of the West. Until then, feel free to like, subscribe, and leave us a review. Follow us on social media at Justin Boots to keep up with our next episode, and we'll see you the next time you kick your boots up.