Mike Clark: Press

New album inspired by time spent on the porch
31 March 2010 by Tamara Neely - Staff Reporter No Comments 414 views

A collection of songs has sprung forth from afternoons spent on a sun-warmed porch in Turner Valley.
Turner Valley musician Mike Clark is celebrating the release of his third album, "Porch Song" with shows April 2 and 3 at his bar Mikey's Juke Joint and the Black Diamond Hotel on April 10. photo by Tamara Neely

Turner Valley musician Mike Clark is celebrating the release of his third album, "Porch Song" with shows April 2 and 3 at his bar Mikey's Juke Joint and the Black Diamond Hotel on April 11. photo by Tamara Neely

For Turner Valley musician Mike Clark, sitting on the porch with friends, a cold beer and his guitars is a relaxing way to wind down a week. It’s also the time when introspection comes to the surface and his thoughts flow into songs as his fingers pluck the guitar strings.

Clark’s third album, “Porch Songs”, is the culmination of those moments spent reflecting on his porch. He is celebrating the release of the new album in April, with two shows at his own bar, Mikey’s Juke Joint in Calgary, on April 2 and 3, and another show at the Black Diamond Hotel on April 10.

“It’s an important part of my life,” said Clark. “It’s where music happens in my house. Porch music goes back for eons and we have jam sessions out there.”

People around the world have been able to share Clark’s precious porch time. His last album, released in 2005, has had airplay on independent radio stations in Japan, across Europe and Australia.

“It’s neat to take something you made up on your porch and have it played all over the world,” said Clark.

It’s also a pleasant surprise when the royalty cheque arrives in the mail.

“That’s cool, it’s like free money,” said Clark.

Thinking about the people he loves and what is important in life has taken him down a path of writing a collection of songs more introspective than his last album.

“Porch Songs” features 10 original tunes and two cover songs ranging from “swampy” blues to rock to jazz.

“It’s a pretty personal album this time,” said Clark. “The songs are taken from my life, rather than looking at others. Maybe that’s because I’m getting older and seeing changes in my life, there have been lots of changes.”

In the past five years Clark has mourned several friends and family members who have died and he watched as other Canadians cope with the loss of loved ones. The theme of coping with death percolates in a couple of his songs on the new album.

The song “And Counting” is a tribute to the number of Canadian soldiers who have died while serving in Afghanistan while the song “Don’t Lose What You Love” deals with Clark’s observation of friends battling addiction.

“There’s a fine line between pleasure and pain and addictions start with harmless things, but they build,” said Clark.

There are some good-time songs, too.

The song “Drive’r Like You Stole’r” trumpets the charms of a Pontiac Parisienne.

“I always wanted to write a car song,” said Clark. “Fred Eaglesmith has a song about the Pontiac Strato Chief (the car Clark drives) already, so this one is about the Parisienne.”

Playing songs from the new album live is as much a part of his love of music as creating the songs in the first place.

“I love the instant communication you get with other musicians and the feedback from the audience,” said Clark. “I’m lucky I’ve got a good audience in my own place (Mikey’s Juke Joint) that likes my music.”

Mike Clark is celebrating the release of his new album with shows on April 2 and 3 at Mikey’s Juke Joint. The shows start at 9 p.m. and cover is $10. His juke joint is located at 1901 10th Avenue S.W. in Calgary.

Clark is also headlining a concert with Winnipeg musician Chris Carmichael on Sunday, April 11 at the Black Diamond Hotel. The show takes place at 4 p.m. and cover is $20.

tneely@okotoks.greatwest.ca
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Mike Clark
BeatRoute's "A" Player of the Month
By Lindsay Wilson

From high school band teacher to blues bar owner, remaining a musician all the way, Mike Clark can’t visualize what life would be like without music.

Clark, with a Bachelor of Music under his belt, is known as a first-call saxophone player in the Calgary roots and blues scene, although he also plays guitar, keyboard and flute, and is a seasoned vocalist on top of it all.

Clark knows what it takes to be a hired gun, front his own band, host a jam and play with some of North America’s finest musicians.

When he first moved out to Calgary in 1989 from Vancouver, Clark, like so many musicians, stumbled into the King Eddy only to discover the deep-rooted talent that played behind those walls.

“The first time I was there (at the Eddy), I got up to jam with Matt ‘Guitar’ Murphy,” Clark incredulously remembers. Murphy is an American blues player who has played with all the greats, including Etta James, Howlin’ Wolf, James Cotton and Memphis Slim, among others. Murphy was also known for his work in the Blues Brothers, and can be seen in both films, The Blues Brothers and The Blues Brothers 2000, launching his status to become one of the best-known blues guitarists in the U.S.

Within weeks of arriving in Calgary, Clark had hooked up local A cats, such as Brother Ray Lemelin and Steve Pineo, and ended up playing sax in Steve Pineo and the Groovemakers for six years, with whom he toured western Canada.

Clark is one of many King Eddy players who fondly remembers the Eddy as “home away from home,” sharing the stage with and learning from Chicago’s top-rated blues musicians, who would come to town for six-night gigs in those days – guys like Fenton Robinson and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown.

Throughout the nineties, Clark gigged with countless bands around town, until the millennium rolled around and he decided it was time to put together his own band: the Mike Clark Band, which came to be in 2000.

Clark has also produced two full-length albums, Saxman (2002) and Clarkology (2005), both of which received excellent reviews and earned Clark four consecutive Maple Blues Award nominations for Horn Player of the Year.

Clark is currently working on his third album, and a sample demonstrates his eclectic tastes and diverse sound: blues to folk to country to jazz to roots and everything in between. On the album, Clark plays sax, flute and guitar on varying tracks and fills the sound with his hearty voice.

“I’m a professional sax player and a wannabe guitar player, and they have to let me play ‘cause it’s my band,” laughs Clark.

The guitar chair in the Mike Clark Band has rotated between Johnny V and Amos Garrett; both players have been notable sources of inspiration for Clark as a musician.

His musical influences and hefty experience playing with a wide spectrum of musicians comes across in Clark’s original tracks. Although Clark is strongly identified within the musical community as a blues player, he also loves roots music and songwriters. Some of his non-blues influences include: Frank Zappa (rock); Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon and John Coltrain (all jazz cats); and John Prine, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson (as songwriters).

Over the years, Clark has shared the stage, been in bands, recorded tracks and opened up for some of the biggest North American blues players that have come across the radio waves: Albert Collins, Downchild Blues Band, Son Seals, Big Miller, John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, Matt Minglewood, Big Dave McLean, Johnny V, Amos Garrett, Donald Ray Johnson, Brother Ray Lemelin, Tim Williams and Bill Dowey. The list is essentially endless.

“I’ll be playing ‘til I drop dead…it’s what I do,” states Clark matter-of-factly.

In fact, Clark loves music so much, he decided to partner up with Darin Muller and Marc Anderson to purchase the old Jackdaws, located at 1901 10 Ave SW and turn it into Mikey’s Juke Joint in October of 2007.

Mikey’s Juke Joint wasn’t exactly contrived on a whim, jamming in the basement with the boys late into the night. Clark carried around the dream of a viable blues bar for a long time before the right opportunity and partners came about.

He knew it had to be a little bit off the beaten path and that it had to be a destination spot. In short, Mikey’s Juke Joint had to have consistent down-home southern food that was priced fairly, cold beer that poured freely, warm staff and, most importantly, music seven nights a week.

And that’s just what Clark and his team have done. Anyone can step off the sidewalk and enter the Juke Joint to hear hot music every night of the week: Mondays with Steve Pineo, Tuesdays with Tim Williams, Wednesday night open mic hosted by the Pussywillows, Thursday is the night for out-of-town bands, Friday and Saturday nights are varying roots and blues acts and Sunday afternoon is open mic for local jammers. Beginning in February, local blues singer Kirby Sewell will be performing with his band at Mikey’s Juke Joint every Sunday night.

The highlight of the week would have to be Mike Clark’s Saturday afternoon jam. It’s free to get in and the house is alive with all the best players in town.

“It’s the only job where you get applause for doing your job,” remarks Clark, who, like most musicians, feeds off the emotional connection he gets through performing for perfect strangers.

Clark certainly got an auditorium full of applause recently, when he opened up for ZZ Top on December 1 with Tim Williams & the Electrofires, featuring Tim Williams on guitar, Kevin Belzner on drums, “Suitcase” James Stanley on bass, Ron Casat on keys and Mike Clark on saxophone. The band found out the morning of the concert that they were to be the opening act for the rock icons.

“I didn’t have much time to sweat over it; we just had to get up and do it,” laughs Clark.

At the end of the day, when he looks back on a lifetime devoted to getting up on stage after stage and playing show after show, Clark might simply say: “When everything’s cooking…there’s no better feeling.”

For more information, visit www.mikeclarkband.com.

Because he's a school teacher, Mike Clark doesn't hit the road nearly as often as many of his musical peers.
But when spring break rolls around, the Calgary based horn player, songwriter and bandleader does his best to take advantage of the situation, and this year a short haul up Queen Elizabeth
II brought his band to Blues on Whyte for a six-night stand.
Finishing up the engagemnet today with a short matinee and three evening set, Clark's quintet offers up a varied combination of musical touchstones and lays them all out with authority and conviction.
Like the best of '70s southern
rock band, Clark's outfit can slickly traverse the progressions in a soul-steeped Memphis-born jem, put the sting on a Magic Sam-influenced blues tune, or paste a couple of layers of spot on harmonies onto an original countrified ballad.
Equally impressive is the way Clark and his group, includes guitar ace Johnny V and drummer Thom Moon, who was Ian Tyson's right-hand man for years, present material with such a perfectly paced flow.
Kicking into a Tuesday night set with a New Orleans-basted original titled The Red Mile Strut, Clark's tenor sax barked out lines with the same kind of sway and intensity one hears on recordings from greats like David (Fathead) Newman.
Where the River Meets the Sea suddenly puts patrons on the dance floor in the clutch mode as the dreamy ballad produced a pulse that may have turned the tempo down but kept the heat on high.
Hardcore blues fans weren't shut out either, as renditions of Willie Dixon's Hoochie coochie Man and Little Walter's My Babe locked into the 50's Chess Records sound that defines post-war Chicago blues. Johnny V shone on both numbers with solos that were filled with sonic lightening bolts that creatively combine everything from the sting of Albert King to the chordal complexities first mined by Charlie Christian.
Throw in some fine vocals and the understated purr of Steve Tzachev's keyboards, and you've got a unit that can slide from swampy to soulful in a heartbeat.

Calgary Saxman an Adept Lyricist

Calgary saxman Mike Clark has a lot of fans; he's been hosting a jam in Cowtown for so long that it had to happen. Then again, the longevity is tribute to truly astounding chops. Clark wouldn't seem out of place leading the section behind Albert Collins or B.B. King, although his own tastes obviously tip to the more eclectic side of things.

Clark is joined on this 2005 self-released disc (available, as are many good blues and jazz discs, through CDBaby.com) by Canadian guitar great Amos Garrett and country great Ian Tyson on guest vocals. Getting two session heavyweights to join in is also testimony to Clark's reputation as a nice guy and his likable licks.
Read the Whole Review at the link.

The Mike Clark Band: Clarkology This Albertan saxophonist is unheralded in Central and Eastern Canada, but he knows how to really party. He can also stretch out, checking in also with some serious Blues.

Canadian Blues CD Review
December 6th, 2005
The Mike Clark Band – Clarkology
Indie Release 2005

Alberta based blues saxophonist Mike Clark has created a first-rate CD of original material with his recent release of “Clarkology”, a meaty blend of kick-butt blues and country shuffles, funky zydeco, and soulful roots; all delivered in a high-octane, take it to the bank fashion.

Clark has arranged and played all the horn parts for his latest release, it’s no small wonder he’s been nominated as Saxophonist of the Year for the 2005 Maple Blues Awards… just listen to this guy play and you’ll know why. That’s not the end of his enormous talent, though. Aside from writing all the lyrics and music (with some collaboration by his impressive band members) he has sung all the vocals in a gritty, honest manner.



As for the band, these ten chewy tracks are performed outstandingly by a veritable who’s-who of the finest in Canadian blues. It doesn’t get any better than making music with two-time Juno winner Johnny V, the inimitable Grammy Award winner Amos Garrett, rock-solid bassist Greg Carroll, and one of the funkiest drummers alive, Thom Moon. Add to that the stylistic genius of Ron Casat’s piano, Hammond B3 and accordion, and you’ve got a sure winner. But Clark added icing to this mile-high cake with a featured guest appearance by the legendary Ian Tyson, who lends his distinctive voice to one of the country tracks.

Clark’s sound is supremely Canadian in spite of the swampy grooves heavily influenced by the deep south. Morning After Blues features a stellar slide guitar solo by Johnny V, with Clark’s tenor solo roaring over a driving riff (while Clark’s horn ‘section’ builds tension behind him). Alibies and Lies, a soulful R&B track with a great country lyric, is luminated by Casat’s B3, with the whole crossing easily into a variety of radio formats. Stonehouse, inspired by a rehearsal space Clark used in southern Alberta, features stunning guitar work by Johnny V alongside Garrett’s exquisite acoustic, and is touched by the magic of Tyson’s vocal. Kansas City blues shouter Big Miller is paid homage in the high energy Tribute to Big, with Clark’s vocal transmitting the power of the great man’s spirit.

There isn’t a single track on this CD that doesn’t deserve mention, this is a recording that will stand the test of time and is already taking Clark to the top of the charts around the globe. If you’re a Canadian, you can bust with pride, for this is another fine example of the exceptional talent our fair nation produces. If not, we’re happy to share. www.mikeclarkband.com

French Review
Michael P. Clark was born in Vancouver. In 1963. A Canadian who has played of the saxophone for more than twenty years, in a style which mixes roots, blues and jazz. Former pupil of University of British Columbia, he became professor very continuously to prevail in the clubs of Vancouver. He then settles in Calgary, in Alberta, where he occurs in company of His Seals, Albert Collins like a whole series of local musicians such as Amos Garrett, Johnny V, Dutch Mason or of Downchild Blues Band. “Clarkology” constitutes its second elpee. It follows upon “Saxman”. The opus S " opens in the middle same of Louisiana, with the country of the zydeco. L " accordion of Ron Casat puts the nose at the window. Good mood is with go. An invitation to take good time with the country of the bayous and fatty Tuesday. What does not prevent the saxophone from appearing with power and talent. Musicalement, the bar is already placed very high! “Forget butt you” involves us in a rock'n'roll " N " roll furious. Mike has a naturally powerful voice. It does not need to force it. It leaves the great play. With the saxophone. Ron Casat passed to the piano. It demene like a beautiful devil to support L " together rhythmic. Brilliant, the guitar also leaves its reserve. What N " is hardly surprising when it is known that Johnny V is appointed there. A powerful riff propelled by the duplicated sax introduced “Morning after blues”. The sound of the guitar is rotted, adulterated to the extreme. The take-off is impressive. It tears off all on its passage. Johnny V - who also produces the disc - is more than probably the person in charge! Composed of Thom Moon to the drums and Greg Carroll to low, the rhythm section is solid, consistent, without the least fault. An ideal base which makes it possible Clark to exempt a monumental solo, extraordinary. These Canadians are terribly effective. Casat hydrates the ballade funky “Alibis and dregs” of its organ Hammond, a compo cordial, dense, characterized by the infallible melody line of the saxophone. The musicians are delayed in in the major south approaching the register country. And in particular “Stone house”, whose it quite pretty melody is impressed of quietude and contagious softness. Guest, Ian Tyson offers the vocal counterpart while Amos Garrett tears off magic notes of his cords. Return to the rate/rhythm for “Red mile strut”, an instrumental beach which makes it possible Mike Clark to develop briskly his sax tenor while dialoguing with the slide of Johnny V, before skidding in the honky style. The occasion is thus beautiful to pass to the jump. One very awaited moment, favourable with the swing. Full with liveliness, the sax is duplicated throughout “Tribute to Big”. How not to have ants in the legs or not to leave frétiller all its muscles with the listening of this homage to the shouter of Kansas City, Clarence “Big” Miller. Irresistible! Personal report on L " evolution of the contemporary world, “Storm brewing” reaches a new point top. The gospel invades the atmosphere. The musicians claquent hands, hammer the boards of their feet. The tambourines resound whereas the guitar of Johnny V conveys delicious accents borrowed from the major South, in homage to Roebuck Staples. Large esthète of the roots music, Mike Clark again surprises us on “Deeper in the blues”, a compo divided between the country swing and the honky tonk, during which Garrett and V S " exchange chorus enchanters, using their six cords. This elpee S " completes by a luminous boogy, firmly built, very clean and convincing. The saxophone made there its exit with an unquestionable class. It's a pity that this opus either so short, even if it constitutes a concentrate of musical richnesses. I recommend it cordially to you!

aventurero es la propuesta del nuevo trabajo del saxofonista y cantante Mike Clark, que nos presenta un disco entretenido, bailable y variado en cuanto a las propuestas musicales que ofrece. Zydeco, blues, rock and roll, pop con mucha energía y, sobre todo, ganas de disfrutar, que al fin y al cabo es lo que busca el consumidor de discos, todo esto es una buena parte de lo que encontramos en este ‘Clarkology’. Grabado y producido con gran profesionalidad, Mike encuentra en las diez canciones que nos propone el ‘sonido’, es decir su sonido mas particular y personal, sin copiar o intentar parecerse a otros artistas coetáneos suyos, como puedan ser Sax Gordon, Greg Piccolo o Doug James por mencionar solamente a tres de sus contemporáneos mas próximos en cuanto a estilo y sonido se refiere. Un disco gratificante y muy sólido. BUENO. Like a shaking cheeky waterfall of rhythm can be defined the new proposal of saxo player and singer Mike Clark, who brings us a danceable varied and enjoyable cd. Zydeco, blues, rock and roll or pop, all performed with great strength but, over all, making the most of what he is doing, which immediately communicates with the audience who also look for joy and good music. And besides ‘Clarkology’ has been carefully and tastefully recorded and produced. I dare say Mike has really found ‘the real sound’ on the ten songs included on the cd, that is to say, the particular personal sound which makes him be completely different from other similar contemporary sax players like Sax Gordon, Greg Piccolo or Doug James. In short, a hard powerful very gratifying cd. VERY GOOD.

The western contingent at the Blues Summit included saxman Mike Clark who made many new friends in Toronto and blew everyone away when he sat in with the house band at the Maple Blues Awards.

Its in Dutch so I'll just lead you to the web site!! Some highlights as far as I can figure...
"Mike's music will help you get rid of your blues"
"More than typically interesting." "Classy!!"
"At the end we are left exhausted but satisfied"

Blues acts on stage tonight

by Dave S. Clark
Wednesday July 13, 2005
Sherwood Park News — Tonight the Qualico Patio Series will continue at Festival Place with two eclectic bluesy acts from Calgary.
Darren Johnson, an acoustic blues act, will hit the stage at the event tonight, which starts at 7:30 p.m.
Also on stage will be the Mike Clark Band, which offers a mix of blues, roots and zydeco, a genre that originates in Louisiana.
Frontman Mike Clark describes the sound as a sometimes swampy mix that will get you dancing.
Clark says the band has “truckloads of experience” including a few notable awards.
Johnny V, the band’s guitarist, has two Juno awards under his belt and was named best Canadian bluesman and slide guitarist in 1995.
The band has two albums, Clarkology being their newest and most successful.
“It’s being played all over the place,” said Clark in a telephone interview.
He said the band hasn’t been up to Edmonton lately, but hopes the radio play that they have been receiving will get some fans out to the concert.
Although the band started playing a lot of covers, they now write all their own music and have developed their own original sound.
Clark, 42, sings and plays sax in the band. He is accompanied by Johnny V on guitar, a keyboard player, a bassist and a drummer.
The event starts after the Farmers Market tonight and will be held outside by Broadmoor Lake if the weather permits it. The shows costs $5.

The Mike Clark Band Clarkology MCSAX2004


Mike Clark is a tenor saxman from Calgary who has turned into a triple threat, adding songwriting and singing to his arsenal. And he has some powerful friends in Amos Garrett & Johnny V on guitars, Ron Casat on keys and Ian Tyson on harmony vocals & rehearsal hall rentals. Greg Carroll on bass and Thom Moon on drums round out the band. Their first CD, Saxman, received good reviews and that may have had something to do with his nomination for Horn Player of the Year. It certainly seems to have resulted in a jump in confidence. It Clark wrote all the songs and generally on topics and styles from the American south. He opens with a tribute to Buckwheat Zydeco and CJ Chenier, "Zydeco Man", with Casat on accordion. "Huggy Drunk" worked as a drinking song on the last one, so here's "Forget About You", equally effective and with great solos from Johnny V & Clark. The swampy "Morning After Blues" needs no explanation except as to how Clark is going to perform this while playing all the parts of the large sax section! It also features a solid slide solo from Johnny and Clark's best vocal turn. The best song here is "Alibis and Lies", a marvelous slab of blue eyed soul that should be a single. The sax/organ lines are perfect. Tyson's farmhouse is the "Stone House", a gentle acoustic country song on which Tyson does the harmony vocal. Another song that deserves mention is "Tribute to Big" for Clarence "Big" Miller, the KC shouter who made Alberta his home. Again, Clark handles all the sax parts and does a creditable job as a shouter. Clark was here for the Summit and guested at the all star jam after the awards. This CD isn't at www.mikeclarkband.com yet but I'm sure he'll get one to you if you contact him.

CLARKOLOGY:(def.)the study of Canadian music legends performing a country-fied hybrid of blues and jazz accompanied by saxophone at a high level of quality.

"Canadian saxophonist and vocalist Mike Clark has once again inspired some of his high-profile Albertan friends to create a unique and wonderful sounding work of musical art"...Ian Tyson, Amos Garrett, and Johnny V....Well,talk about a legendary musical prairie gumbo that's cooked to perfection..and now simmering at your local music store!


Jeff Corbett
Host of Redbeard's Blues
91.3 FM Regina Community Radio

Red-Hot - Blister Raising 10 Song Release.
Clarkology Rocks the House with a Funktified, Groove Fuelled Boogie Blues