Today we’d like to introduce you to Josey Clay.
Hi Josey, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Mom had a piano she played in the house quite a bit as I was growing up. Dad pastored a little country baptist church so Mom also played the piano for church service every time the door was open. These are my first fond memories of music.
As a young kid, I remember seeing those fellas on stage at church pickin those guitars and telling myself “Im gonna do that one day”. I started taking guitar lessons at 12 years old and took to the basics pretty fast. My self-taught teacher taught me the chords he first learned and a few other general starter things and said “good job, you’re on your own from here”.
I was the oldest of six kids growing up. Mom home-schooled all six of us until it was time for me to go to high school so I had quite a lot of extra time on my hands from 12 to 14 years old. I remember sitting for hours alone in my room trying to play along to the songs on the radio and eventually thinking to my self “why not try to write your own songs? you’re struggling trying to learn how to play other peoples songs so… why not just create your own”.
I wrote my first song at 14 and I remember being so excited I sat down that same day and wrote another one.
I continued writing songs through High school and even performed an original country song for my high schools talent show. That was the first time I had ever performed an original song or even performed outside of church. There was over 300 people in attendance at that talent show.
Having been born in Nashville, TN. and raised just 35 minutes west of there; I have no idea why, but the idea of pursuing songwriting and performing for a career just never really crossed my mind. I never stopped playing guitar but after heading to college I put songwriting to the side completely and took a stab at a college degree.
I ended up in Chattanooga, TN. in 2018 and after a loss of a Grand-dad in the family I sat down and wrote “BUCK” a song commemorating his life and the stories he told. That was the first song I had written in close to five years but after that they just kept coming.
I began working for a restaurant company in down town Chattanooga because I knew they had a stage and advertised live music on the weekends and I thought it may be a good way to get my foot in the door.
At the time they were only having live music on Friday and Saturday nights so that stage was sitting vacant five nights out of the week. Before very long I got permission to use that stage at Pucketts Restaurant any time it was open and I cut my teeth on that stage as often as I could Monday through Thursday nights between 2019 to 2022.
After marrying the most incredible woman in Jan. of 2022, we decided to move back home to the Nashville area in Oct. 2022.
Today; I tell people, “Im small time living the dream on our little piece of country out here”.
Im still working for Pucketts behind the bar there on Church Street four out of seven mornings of the week while writing songs to play them by the week nights and weekends. Loving and enjoying life writing and playing country songs.
Just trying to make a living.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I cant say its been smooth exactly. I can say however that I love it. Anything you do in life comes with the bumps and struggles. Anything and everything. Im just blessed to have the opportunity to do my favorite thing in the world. I write country songs and go somewhere new every night and play them for people in Music City.
If I had to name a challenge, I would say the hardest part of this music journey was moving back home here to Nashville and getting my self acquainted with the scene. Small pond to the ocean. I never once thought it would be an easy thing to do but I also never thought it would take as long as it did even just to make some friends trying to do the same thing as I was. Its tough, but all part of the story right? And once again, I Love It.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Im a storyteller and I tell my stories through songwriting.
Some of the best storytellers Ive ever heard tell stories to this day are the people I grew up around every weekend.
My grandad Buck the whispering pastor who preached to and counseled Johnny and June Cash.
My uncle Jerry who flys pond hoppers from Florida to an island in Haiti to help orphanages.
My other grandad Tirk, a bank robber who hitch hiked to Tennessee with a bullet hole in his leg after getting out of prison to discover his wife had moved his kids there while he was incarcerated. You get the idea…
I have all these wild stories, things that need to be written down and told. to an extent.. If anything sets me apart I think it would be that. Most of my songs are true stories that come from a very personal place. Im proud to be part of such a unique family history and Im very proud of my songs that tell that history.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Id like some advice on finding a mentor myself!
As far as networking goes… its EVERYTHING. Find the place you like with the people you like and mesh with and make that place your second home. And then do it over again. Go to workshops. Go to other artists shows. Show up and support and make your face known. Smile and be easy to get along with. Be kind… I have bartended for the better part of 10 years now and trust me when I say “You never know who just sat down in front of you”. Also you never know who someone knows! relationships are everything.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/joseyclay
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialjoseyclay
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BTuYCoCiA/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@officialjoseyclay
- Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/kQuw0GyEzEdZEfEHZR
