06/05/2024
Joy Clark from our Episode 56 just killed it at NOLA's Jazz Fest and has a Kickstarter for her next album. Check her out on our podcast (on all podcast platforms) and support her Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joyclark/joy-clarks-album-tell-it-to-the-wind
When I was a kid I wanted three things: boots, a guitar, and a horse. Seven years ago I found myself playing a show at Foxfire Ranch, an 80-acre ranch owned by the Hollowell family in Holly Springs, Mississippi. I had my boots, my guitar, and there were horses. One day I decided to walk down to the horses to play them a song. I was feeling the gravity of the moment because I had everything I wanted when I was a little girl. As I made my way down the trail, the phrase “Tell it to the wind" came to me. It felt mysterious. By the time I got to the horses, I had the melody and the chorus of what would become the title track to my album, “Tell it to the Wind.”
A couple years after that fateful day I stumbled upon an African proverb saying, “If you want to speak to God, tell it to the wind.” I’ve been telling my dreams to the wind my whole life. Throughout my childhood, I spent windy days in Southeast Louisiana transfixed by the wind. I'd see the clouds roll by and the leaves blow down my street and just wonder about life. I believe I was telling my dreams to the wind, even in my silence.
As the youngest of five children, growing up in a devout household, where we were homeschooled, the only place for my music was my dad’s church. It was there that I first started performing, singing with my sisters while my brother accompanied us on drums. I spent most Sundays in my dad’s church leading the congregation—sometimes mostly composed of our own family members—in worship until just a few years ago when I found the nerve to tell my truth. I told my family about my q***rness and I was told that I couldn’t play in the church that had nurtured me as an artist for three decades. What was left was the wind, my guitar, and the people who fully embraced all of me.
With my newfound liberation of a life lived authentically, I continued writing, and eventually started spending more time in Nashville meeting all sorts of artists who accepted me for me and who energized me with their passion. During a tour with Grammy winner and creative sister, Allison Russell, I met Margaret Becker—a 4x Grammy-nominated artist whose work I’ve admired for most of my life. Margaret’s artistry, friendship, and mentorship have been healing. It’s as if my childhood self somehow conjured up a Fairy God-Margaret. A woman whose songs I sang in the church that ultimately rejected me because of my q***rness has embraced me as a friend and artist. What a turn of events! The wind sent her my way just when I needed her most. Six of the nine tracks on “Tell it to the Wind” are a result of our collaboration.
The wind has brought me this far. It brought me to my true self. It brought me the collaborators of my dreams. And it’s even brought me all across the country to play music for some of you reading this right now. The wind helped me get this project here, nearly complete, just needing a final push so that I can get the album printed and in your hands. Be my cool breeze on a muggy New Orleans day. Be my gust of wind helping to propel me to my dreams. Help me make “Tell it to the Wind” a reality. Help me complete my journey (and maybe get a horse 😉🐴).
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joyclark/joy-clarks-album-tell-it-to-the-wind
photo by Laura Schneider Photo
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