.:about cletis carr:.

Cletis Carr - a brief bio

Singer-songwriter Cletis Carr has one mantra: Play the song, rather than just the instrument. The American born roots rocker has been a careful student of the human condition and has developed a keen eye for a good story.

The success of his 70’s band Sneakers gave him the experience and confidence to launch a solo career that’s taken him all over the planet and has seen the release of five solo albums and numerous band projects.

Over the years, he’s toured and shared stages with the likes of Tom Petty, John Mellencamp, Chuck Berry, Elvis Costello, Joan Jett, Nick Lowe and Huey Lewis.

An intended brief vacation in Australia has now lasted over two decades as Carr found himself touring with members of AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, the Easybeats and the Saints. His bands Big Whiskey and Hillbilly Moon (with Paul Norton and the late Rose Tattoo legend, Peter Wells) were critical and (nearly) commercial successes worldwide.

In the mid-90’s he started working behind the scenes first with an independent label, as a staff writer for Warner/Chappell, then as a producer of new artists for ABC/EMI. He moved to Nashville in the late 90’s and worked with Virgin and Capitol Records on various marketing campaigns as well as playing the usual songwriter haunts. He returned to Sydney and finished 2001 with a stint at Liberation Records.

Cletis Carr lives in the historic Blue Mountains, just west of Sydney Australia, where he's co-owner of a gourmet cafe / acoustic music venue, the Mt. Vic Cafe. He was a contributing writer to the great, late Rockrgrl Magazine, is an obsessive cook, and knows some great jokes. He can occasionally be found at the Gladesville Guitar Factory, pontificating endlessly about resonator guitars. He tries to collect Australian wines, but they never seem to stay in the rack very long.

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These are a handful of the most-asked questions from recent interviews:

What was your first instrument?
probably a mickey mouse guitar (there's a photo on the gallery page). my dad & his brothers all played, so I grew up with keyboards and guitars around the house.

And where was your first public performance?
the ripe old age of seven, singing "cotton fields back home" at a family reunion in missourri.

How did you begin playing professionally?
just school friends with bands, then we started to get paid high school and club gigs. I was playing in bars and clubs well before I was legally old enough to. I had a special permit from the city and had to stay in the kitchen between sets. (laughs) I used to hide from the 40-something divorcees, now I am one.

Why did you move to Australia in the mid-80's?
my elder sister was born & raised here, I hadn't seen her since I was a kid. I'd finished a tour and needed a break, so I went over thinking I'd stay for a year or two - that was twenty years ago now.

Who/what were your biggest musical influences?
my dad & his brothers. they played music all the time, mostly country. so I grew up with a lot of hank williams. in school days, my bandmates were always older than me and were into everything from blues to jazz fusion. then I got an fm radio which was stuck on one frequency, used to be the john birch society or something, but was then the hip underground fm station. so I was getting into the doors, the dead, lou reed, zeppelin, while also being drenched in country. then I discovered gram parsons, and it all made sense.

Who are your favourite:
Singers?
john lennon - he reportedly hated his own voice, but few people can move me like lennon. gram parsons, joni mitchell, lucinda williams, emmylou harris's voice turns me to jello. I adore the way that graham nash, david crosby and stephen stills harmonize - nobody's ever been able to touch them.

Songwriters?
rock stuff, neil young, dylan (of course), lennon, chuck berry, joni, tom petty, carole king. then there's townes van zandt, steve earle, john hiatt, guy clark, john prine, lyle lovett, willis alan ramsey, all those texas guys. I also admire the classic writers - hoagy carmichael, bacharach, hal david, gilbert & sullivan, cole porter.

Songs?
sheesh - far too many to name.

Guitarists?
stephen stills, django reinhardt, norman blake, hendrix, michael hedges, johannes linstead, snuffy walden, tommy emmanuel.

Aussie singer/songwriters?
kevin bennett, paul kelly, neil finn (yeah, I know he's a kiwi), richard clapton, jackie bristow, steve hoy, simon bruce, christina amphlett & mark mcentee.

Authors?
jack keruoac, charles bukowski, arthur c. clarke, henry lawson.

Films?
"it's a wonderful life", "2001 a space odyssey", "almost famous", "spinal tap", "manhattan" "the rutles".

Do you write about real people?
sometimes. most of my song characters are composites of people I've known, observed or heard about. my latest writing seems to be more personal though - definitely a real person or two lies at the heart of a couple of them.

What's your favourite song that you've written?
the one I've just finished - isn't that the usual answer? "footsteps in the hall" (from both "wooden nails" and "hillbilly moon vol. one") is probably my favourite bit of wordsmithing.

What guitars do you use?
I always have a handful of guitars kicking around the house, my usual fave is a prototype washburn d11, made out of ash. I was a washburn artist endorsee for several years, I still use them onstage. my favourite is an old j28 jumbo body. I use a couple of resonators by martinez, tuned to d, e and g. my latest fave is the new 3/4 scale mini maton from aussie guitar makers maton.

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