Kentucky John Clay: Down Here Where I Am
“No matter how many songs I write or records I might put out in my lifetime, I can say with certainty that this will most likely be the child I’m most proud of. It’s humbling to have so many amazing artists, players and humans come together to get behind your project. I realize that’s what happens in just about every recording process but this one was mine.” That’s how Kentucky John Clay describes his latest release, a tribute to Blaze Foley. “For me it was about my first honest attempt at producing, arranging and re-imagining. Giving these songs a fresh coat of paint, while also trying to showcase the diversity of my personal tastes and influences. The collaborators were the key. As each song took its shape, it pushed me in a specific musical direction, thus, leading me to the proper guest to showcase. While I definitely had a vision from the jump as to what I wanted this to be, what actually transpired as each song was being built in the studio far surpassed any visionary hopes I held.”
The result is a showcase for the Blaze Foley catalog. Ranging from his most familiar to some of the more obscure, the songs themselves are always at the front of the sparse but oh-so-tasty arrangements. Featuring acoustic instruments with the occasional pedal steel paired with rich harmonies lent from a dazzling assortment of voices, who Clay describes as “incredible Kentucky musicians and a couple of Virginians - one West, one proper.” The record itself is credited to “Kentucky John Clay & Friends” and it is these “Friends” who absolutely make this project a spectacular success.
Aaron Bibelhauser is featured on several cuts playing dobro, pedal steel, banjo, along with providing backing vocals. Clay describes him as “one of Louisville’s highest profile artists in terms of talent and ambassadorship.” He also highly recommends Aaron’s bluegrass tribute to Louisville songwriting legend Mickey Clark. “When I asked him to lay a few things down for this record, I did not know how vast his contribution would be or how much steam it would give the rest of the production.”
Clay says he and Jake Groves have been running in the same friend circles around Louisville for years and he considers him “this generation’s Mickey Raphael.” Groves has been playing harmonica with Colter Wall the last couple years. “There was just no way to make a Blaze record without an appropriate amount of harmonica,” explains Clay.
Both Bibelhauser and Groves, as well as Jason Sturgill’s bowed and fingered bass parts are featured on “The Moonlight Song.” Clay describes the instrumental break in the song as “one of the most beautiful moments of the record.” He plays a “meticulously written acoustic guitar piece as well as a call and response style mandolin piece. When it all lays down in the bed together, it really sings.”
Louisville’s Mike Hood adds his distinctive piano touch to “Christian Lady Talkin’ on a Bus.” Of Mike, Clay says: “When the reimagined swingy groove for the song started to come together, there was no other choice to make.” Mike played in a group called The Boxwine Prophets, who backed Clay up quite a few times, including the 2018 Master Musician’s Festival, where he shared a bill with the late John Prine. He considers that show his most memorable gig.
In the commentary track for his Blaze Foley biopic “Blaze,” director Ethan Hawke describes “Big Cheeseburger and Good French Fries” as Blaze’s attempt at writing a Jimmy Buffett song. The tune is given the proper amount of fun here with a solo section featuring about 30 kazoos layered in, according to Clay. He says, “I needed someone with real personality to take the lead as I just couldn’t do it in earnest.” With that in mind, he called “one of my very favorite humans in all of the world, Chelsea Nolan. I played drums for Chelsea quite a bit through 2018-19, her songs and her voice are so much fun and so damn good.” I completely agree with Clay when he says, “That cut is definitely in the running for best on the record.”
There are two specific songs on the record that have lyrics that really mean a lot to Clay. He says, “The chorus in “Ooh Love” in all its simplicity, is the literal key to the universe. Stuff and things don’t mean a goddamn thing without genuine and honest love”:
“Oooh Love/There’s nothing else like it around/
Oooh Love/There’s nothing else like it I’ve found
He adds, “That song really knocked me over about a decade ago. As I was raised by my mother, I have always been unabashedly in touch with my femininity. I would say I am and have always been very open to the idea of love or connectedness. Yearned for it even.”
The other lyrically important song is “Down Here Where I Am.” Clay says, “the lyrics speak directly to my sensibilities, as there’s nowhere else I would rather be than in the arms of my lover”:
“The miles don’t seem so many / Thinkin’ of your charms / Pleasures unlike any / Wrapped up in your arms”
He is also really happy with the production and performance of the song, adding that “Mike Hood’s piano really kills on that one.”
I, personally, have always considered “Clay Pigeons” the quintessential Blaze Foley song and this version does not disappoint. John Clay wanted to make sure the performance of Rae Monroe was noticed. He says, “While her contribution to this record is only a series of “Ahhhhs” on “Clay Pigeons,” when that moment comes on the listen through, it hits like a hammer, which was exactly what I wanted. Good money says she blows the doors off all of it in the near future and becomes a pop icon/social justice warrior; the likes of which will make Taylor Swift look like Idi Amin. “
Clay says it best himself, “My main gig outside of trying to continue my solo career is playing drums for a man I consider to be arguably the best young songwriter on the planet, John R Miller. When we have to fill a lot of time at a gig, sometimes we pull out “Faded Loves & Memories.” So, it seemed downright silly not to ask him and Chloe Edmonstone to come out and lay it down. Chloe and John singing together is some kind of weird anomalistic thing that doesn’t happen often. Kinda like Gillian (Welch) and Dave (Rawlings). When you put John R’s seasoned right hand, Chloe’s fiddle, and those two voices together, you’re gonna get magic every single time.”
“If I Could Only Fly” is easily the most famous of Blaze Foley’s songs, thanks to no less than Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. However, this version has something that none of the others have: Michael Cleveland. Clay says, “As Aaron laid down his stuff from his home studio, he brought in Michael during those sessions to put all that melted butter all over “If I Could Only Fly.” I can’t even describe the feeling that came over me when Aaron sent that mix over and casually said ‘Oh yeah, I got Michael Cleveland to play fiddle on your record.’ A Grammy winner. Possibly the greatest fiddler in the entire world, literally. What do you say? I cried when I listened to the mix.” You may shed a tear as well. It is THAT good.
Clay also wanted to give props to his engineer John Barrera, “my right and left hand through this entire process. This whole record was made in his home studio. He poured his heart into working on this project for next to nothing, simply because he believed in the vision. I know I nitpicked him to death during the editing process but I will forever be grateful for his patience and willingness to try so many stupid ideas that failed miserably along the way.”
Kentucky John Clay has plans to add a few more songs and collaborators for a “deluxe” vinyl release of the Blaze Foley Tribute, but until then this digital release will more than satisfy.
You can find out more about Kentucky John Clay here: