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ClAy FrAnKliN
Singer/Songwriter
maverick Clay Franklin is cut from that rare cloth that has given us
the
likes of Willis Alan Ramsey, Steve Earle, Bruce Robison and Robert Earl
Keen. Born in Gurdon, Arkansas and raised hunting and fishing on the
banks
of the Little Missouri River in Southwest Arkansas, Franklin grew up
around
local characters and situations that flavor his songs. "Gurdon’s a town
of about two thousand people, but it’s not some podunk town,” Franklin
says with a smile. "There's a lot of real dudes there, all of whom I
had
the pleasure of learning something from, maybe not something good, but
something." If you've ever been to Arkansas, you can't help but feel
the
powerful pull of the wilderness.At age 13, Franklin began playing with Doyle Marshall and the Bluegrass Express, a popular regional bluegrass band, gaining respect from his older counterparts for his bright lead vocals and creative harmonies. Marshall added this, "Clay's voice has a real clarity and brightness to it that is refreshing beyond words". Realizing that country, bluegrass and rock were not exclusive to their own genre, he began to mix them in his bands and, after a stint at Henderson State University, he moved to Texarkana and began playing with the local Lawton Brooks Band and later Mesa with Arkansas guitar legend Billy Burns Jr. before paving his own musical path in 1992 with Ridin’ High, an all-star ensemble of Arkansas players that critics called "the best redneck jam band in the south."
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