BEST OF 2012 - #6 - GARY CLARK JR. "BLAK AND BLU"

Only one artist made my best of lists in 2011 and 2012 and that's Gary Clark Jr., one of the most exciting new artists in music today.  Last year his Bright Lights EP was my #5 album of of the year, and this year Blak And Blu is my #6.

Yeah, Gary Clark Jr. is a great blues guitarist, and there are other great blues guitarists out there. Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Joe Bonamassa, Jonny Lang.  But I think Gary will have a lot of appeal outside of blues circles, and outside of guitar player circles.  This year I saw him at Metallica's Orion Festival (Kirk Hammett introduced him from the stage) and at Jay-Z's Made In America Festival (Jay-Z and Beyonce watched him from the side of the stage).

So clearly, the man goes beyond the blues scene.  That's clear in the song "The Life" which could be a current R&B hit. "Ain't Messin' 'Round" could have been a hit in the '80s (it seems like an odd choice to lead off his major label full length debut) and then there's stuff that guitar fans can really sink their teeth into: full band versions of "Things Are Changin'" and "When My Train Pulls In" (acoustic versions were on The Bright Lights EP) and great songs like "Numb" (my favorite) and "Travis County."

People compare him to Hendrix (and he does in fact throw in a bit of "Third Stone From The Sun" on the album, but the way he reminds me of Hendrix isn't simply that he's a great guitar player that mixes blues with something psychedelic, it's the fact that he can go from genre to genre.  If Jimi started out today, I think he'd still be a killer guitar player, but he'd want to be able to do contemporary R&B; he'd want to be able to work in all different styles.  I think that that's what we're going to see from Gary Clark Jr. in the years to come, and that's why he's exciting.  And he'll always be rooted in the blues.

TOMORROW ON THE MORNING JOLT: NEW YEAR, NEW MUSIC

Tomorrow morning on SiriusXM OutQ's Morning Jolt with Larry Flick, I'm going to be talking about some music that you may not have heard yet.  Of course, most of it sounds like it's old, even though it's new.  Larry is on the air weekdays from 7 am - 11 am ET, and he hosts a music show Feel The Spin Sundays at 2 pm.  If you don't have a SiriusXM subscription (yet), go here and get a free online trial .


First off, Vintage Trouble.  Even though they are from L.A.'s famed Laurel Canyon, their music isn't available here in the U.S. (although it is available in the U.K.).  I don't know why. They are a classic soul band.  I read about them in Mojo magazine, which is where I discover most of my music.  These guys have an amazing video for "Nancy Lee" (shot on iPhones and featuring one of the Pussycat Dolls). I really think that this band will make a lot of noise in 2012, but I don't care if they do or not: I'm buying their album and telling people about it. The singer, Ty Taylor, has a great voice (apparently, he was a contestant on the show Rock Star, which attempted to find a new lead singer for INXS).

Jonathan Wilson is also from Laurel Canyon, and seems to be the center of the new scene there.  Apparently he has built guitars for the likes of Jackson Browne, and has worked as a studio musician for Elvis Costello, Jenny Lewis and Jonathan Rice. He's also produced records for Dawes.  It's not just that the guy is from Laurel Canyon, he sounds like he's from the Laurel Canyon of the late '60s and early '70s: like he could have been jamming with Jackson Brown and Crosby Stills & Nash back in the day.  I "discovered" him in either Mojo or Uncut. 

Michael Kiwanuka is a British singer (but he's from Uganda).  As much as the two artists above don't sound like they're from this era, MK really doesn't sound like he's from the 2010's.  He sounds like the '60s or '70s.  I don't know how to describe him. He sounds like Bill Withers but also like Otis Redding, if they were making an album like Van Morrison's Moondance.  Another Mojo discovery.  I think he's great, but I don't know if he'll catch on here. But Adele loves him: he opened for her in the U.K.

Gary Clark Jr.  Well, if you've been following me, you know of him.  I talked about him last week on Larry's show, his Bright Lights EP was my 5th favorite release of 2011. I am really looking forward to his full length album that comes out this year.

We may also get to some other new(ish) names tomorrow, if we do, I'll write about them at a later time.

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.

COOL NEW ARTIST ALERT: GARY CLARK, JR.

Right now, I'm pretty excited about this Gary Clark, Jr. guy. I was turned onto him by a music exec from VH1 - in fact, she's the same person who turned me on to Charles Bradley a few months back. He is a bluesman who I feel can appeal to people outside of the blues crowd, and even outside of the mainstream rock and jam band scene, and outside of guitar players. I think he may be that type of artist, who comes along once in a generation, who can turn younger kids onto the blues.  The last guy like that was Stevie Ray Vaughan.

The Bright Lights EP is available on iTunes, check him out. I have to give props to Rolling Stone, by the way, who gave him the lead review in their current issue (even though the guy from Pavement has a new solo album).  Check out the review here.