Joy Clark photo by Steve Rapport.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Joy Clark is No Depression’s Spotlight artist for October 2024. Learn more about her and her new album, Tell it to the Wind, out now on Righteous Babe Records, in our interview. And watch her perform “Lesson” from the album just for ND readers in this video.
It’s 2024 and my debut album ‘Tell it to the Wind’ is out in the world. I say this with a healthy dose of pride because when I started this ride 15 years ago, I would have never dreamed that I would play the stages I’ve played or worked with the legends I’ve worked with in the past few years of my career. In a way, I feel like I sneaked through the backdoor. And although recently it feels like I’m living a charmed life, I remind myself that it’s just that—a feeling. My road has not been smooth nor has it always been clear. I’ve struggled with uncertainty and questioned how to make room for myself and my music.
When I began performing in my hometown New Orleans, I would play anywhere I was needed. Armed with a guitar, a great ear, and an open heart for new opportunities, I became the person you’d call when the main person wasn’t available. If you were a singer, I could learn a lot of your repertoire to accompany and harmonize with you. Your new reggae band has a gig and needs a guitar player? I did it. I played my fair share of hole-in-the-wall venues and late night jam sessions that went until the wee hours. And somewhere in between all of that I’d occasionally take my acoustic guitar to a lightly-attended or off-the-beaten path open mic and share a song I wrote, or a recent cover I fell in love with. I learned so many songs and a variety of styles and was able to do a good job of blending and supporting. I love doing that. It feels good to give space and help someone tell their story. It is an important tool that opened up my world and helped me build a community outside of the walls of the church where I first started making music.
I think about the evangelical brand of Christianity I was brought up in and how it essentially taught me to doubt myself and my intuition. Before I came out, my life felt like it was in separate boxes in different rooms. Nothing was unpacked and nothing had a place. It was just survival.
I learned to practice what I call a quiet rebellion. I knew the rules. I was only permitted to listen to spiritual music in the household, but I made my own choices at a certain point. Don’t be gay was just understood. I went through the pain of rejection from the church after I came out. I was dismissed from leading the congregation in song because I am gay. That was a very difficult place to navigate on top of all the normal feelings that come with figuring out where I fit in the world artistically. Fortunately I found support in my community and began to learn to trust myself again – like I naturally trusted myself as a kid. I knew I needed to place myself in my own story. I needed to unpack it. And it was challenging to find a place for my songs in the rooms I primarily played at that time.
Over the course of my career I have taken pride in creating a musical space for others to share their point of view. In doing so, I have found the courage to stand in my own story and create space for myself. It’s very exciting and feels scary sometimes, but the timing couldn’t be more perfect in my eyes. It has taken me my whole life to write ‘Tell it to the Wind.’ It took a while for life to give me the material, the experience, and courage to explore my own story. It’s also really cool that I wrote a large share with my producer Margaret Becker who happens to be one of my musical heroes. We wrote this album between tour dates playing with Allison Russell and her band affectionately known as Rainbow Coalition of the Loving. At the heart of it, it’s about hope. A hope beyond anything you can see. It’s a whisper that I am on the path and a reassurance that I am where I am supposed to be at this point in my life.
I recently played Sonic Lunch in Ann Arbor and to my surprise, I witnessed several people singing along to “Guest.” I don’t even have words to describe what I felt. I think I just wanted to jump off stage and give them the biggest hug. At Americanafest a gentleman approached me after he missed my set by about 10 minutes and let me know that he came to the event to hear me. I happily signed his vinyl-sized photo of me. Moments like these are happening more and more. It really touches me to know that my songs are out there and having a life all their own. I am really happy for myself. Knowing that one person connects with something I wrote is just so satisfying. My life has truly become my own. It’s a new stage that will come with its own struggles and uncertainty. And I embrace it. I feel fortunate to be able to travel the world from city to city and share songs with new and familiar faces alike.
