BEST OF 2011 - #5 - GARY CLARK JR. "THE BRIGHT LIGHTS EP"

One thing that the Grammys got wrong this year, in my mind, was their nominees for Best New Artist. No disrespect to anyone else, but for me, Gary Clark Jr. is the rookie of the year, hands down.  There's only four songs on The Bright Lights EP, but to me he blows any of the other nominees out of the water.

I was in the studio when he performed at SiriusXM earlier this year.  Amazing.  He's a blues artist, but he transcends the genre, the way Stevie Ray Vaughan did. To me, he makes blues sound menacing, the way PJ Harvey did on her first few albums.  And he makes blues sound fresh, the way The White Stripes did.

I wrote about him this summer, when the EP was just available on iTunes.  You can get the CD now, and his full length is coming out next year. I can't wait to hear it.  He does solo acoustic stuff, solo electric stuff, full band stuff.  He doesn't just do blues, he can also sing R&B.  I know that Questlove from The Roots is a big fan, hopefully that will get him some exposure, because he's an artist that people need to hear.