Tony Clarke - It's Like

Tony has played in many bands performing Rock and Roll / Covers / and of course country music. He has played in holiday camps, pubs and clubs all over the U.K. He has been disbanded now for around fifteen years, mainly due to the expense of running a band and the lack of good paying gigs in the U.K.

This was the main reason for the first album Good Morin’ Mr Mornin’ followed by I’m Coming Home then I’m Going to Nashville. After a short break came Christmas in New York followed by Born in 55 then Burning Red with the latest album just released I’m On The Outside. In 2014 he was awarded U.K. Best New Recording Artist.

Tony’s latest album I’m On The Outside is a polished 12 song project of neotraditional Country that captures all the warmth in Tony’s vocals as well as a singular approach to songwriting. As a writer, Tony functions as a storyteller who builds his songs about love, loss, regret and resignation within real-life situations that bypass predictability. A flair for clever wordplay lends the all-original album some genuine lyrical depth.

I’m On The Outside is the latest offering from UK’s leading Country singer-songwriter, Tony Clarke, and is something of an international production. After the sympathetic instrumental support from some of Nashville’s finest had been laid down, the finishing touches to I’m On The Outside were applied in Melbourne, Australia. Guitarist, bandleader, and engineer, Paulie Bignell, recorded all the vocals, added some necessary overdubs and then applied the mixing at his Hailstone Studio in Melbourne’s leafy eastern suburbs with Miss Rita Red on harmonies.

Sonically, I’m On The Outside is hard Country. The pedal steel is pronounced, the guitars bite down hard, and the rhythm section stays right in the pocket. Nonetheless, the big sound never swamps Tony’s heartfelt vocals that can rise to the occasion in the cry-in-your-beer balladry of “Five Days to Live” and “Nancy Blonde and Blue Eyes” plus the Roy Orbisonesque swell of “Four Grey Walls”. Elsewhere there are excursions into Honky Tonk, smart Country Rock and the album’s closer, “Catch The Early Rain” is a charming throwback to Gordon Lightfoot’s earlier work.

For anyone who likes their Country to go straight to the heart, free of frills and compromises, I’m On The Outside is the place to be. With three singles “Hand Apon My Heart” , “I Drink Because I Want To” , and finally “It’s Like “ was first recorded in 2015. Also, in 2022 Tony has re-performed, mixed and mastered, three of his Christmas songs, “Hallelujah It’s Christmas” , “Little Old Christmas Tree” and finally “Walking Home to Christmas”. These Christmas beauties will take to you back to the days of pure story telling!

Quelle: Mustang Radio Services