PHIL CROZIER
You can’t call it a comeback if you never really went away, but '90s country hit-maker Terri Clark knows she’s at a special moment.
After setting the stage for today’s tough-yet-tender female powerhouses, she’s spent thirty years on the road, preaching cowboy-hatted girl power with chart-topping hits like “Girls Lie Too” and “You’re Easy On The Eyes.” But this month, the road leads somewhere new.
On August 29, Clark makes her long-overdue headlining debut at The Mother Church of Country Music – Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium – and that’s just part of an ongoing resurgence. Recently celebrating her 20th anniversary as a Grand Ole Opry member, the Canadian Music Hall of Famer also snagged a slot at Nissan Stadium during this year’s CMA Fest, and back in May, dropped a double shot of new releases.
One was a first-ever vinyl pressing of her 2004 Greatest Hits album, and the other paired Clark with today’s biggest country names, resulting in adventurous, fun-filled duet versions of her most- iconic songs. Dubbed Take Two, the EP features Lainey Wilson, Kelly Clarkson, Carly Pearce, and more, showcasing the enduring impact of a star who mixed gritty and pretty with effortless ease and proving she’s not out of the game yet.
“I don’t know that it’s a comeback moment if you don’t really go away in the first place. I think it’s more of a remembering moment,” Clark says with a laugh.
A remembering moment for fans, and for herself. The Alberta, Canada, native was famously discovered on stage at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, long before the honky-tonk was transformed into a tourist mecca. Back then, the Ryman was a rundown relic of the past that seemed destined for demolition, but even so, Clark dreamed of one day performing there. She eventually did – appearing on shared bills and often as an Opry member – but a headline gig remained elusive. Now, with a wave of renewed interest in ‘90s country from fans and artists alike, the time has finally come.
Speaking with Nashville Lifestyles ahead of the show, Clark explains she would often fantasize about this show – even onstage at Tootsie’s, which is famously located just steps away from the Ryman’s back entrance. For an 18-year-old living 2,000 miles from home and “playing for nobody in front of a tip jar,” it was the Ryman and all the history it contained that sustained her.
“I just counted, and that was 37 years ago,” Clark says of her 1987 arrival. “[The Ryman] looked very different, but if I ever needed inspiration, I’d take my break and pay the $3.75 – probably all I had in my tip jar at the time – and do the tour of the old Ryman back before they did the renovation.”
“I would just look at that case with Patsy Cline’s boots and stand backstage and look at those old ropes that all the greats would brush up next to,” she goes on. “I had this movie going in my head of what it looked like when Hank [Williams] was there, and Loretta [Lynn], and Roy Acuff, and all these people. It would inspire me to get back up on that stool at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge and keep playing. To have such a surreal full-circle moment and be headlining the same stage ... It is a mind-blowing concept to me, and I feel so grateful. I mean, I’m 55 years old doing this!”
Clark went on to score thirteen Top 10 singles and to sell five million albums, weaving a pristine vocal made to carry across the Western prairies with a punchy mix of pure country and classic rock. A seasoned and dedicated live performer, she says her Ryman headline debut will feature fan-favorite hits like “Better Things to Do” and
“Poor, Poor Pitiful Me.” But while Clark also plans a few surprises, she’s staying tight-lipped about what (or who) that might entail, saying only “it’s going to be a big party.”
No matter what, that party will celebrate a groundbreaking artist since Clark’s self- assured femininity helped inspire generations of superstars to come. It was so inspiring that a few took part in Clark’s Take Two project, helping update her catalog with all-new energy.
An eight-song EP featuring duets with Lauren Alaina, Paul Brandt, Kelly Clarkson, Cody Johnson, Ashley McBryde, Carly Pearce, Ben Rector, and Lainey Wilson, there’s an unbridled joy mixed with feel-good ‘90s nostalgia to Terri Clark: Take Two, making it a must-listen for any aficionado of country’s CD-selling, mainstream-breakthrough era.
She put a lot of thought into the guest list, Clark admits, but one artist in particular was a no-brainer – and that was Ashley McBryde. Appearing on a rollicking remake of “Better Things to Do,” Clark says she sees a lot of her own swagger in McBryde’s GRAMMY-winning country rock. Especially that sense that anything guys can do, girls can do better.
“She talked in the press about how when she was a kid in Arkansas growing up, she saw this girl with rolled-up t-shirt sleeves and a cowboy hat on and said, ‘I was looking for a girl that I could identify with, and that was Terri,’” Clarkexplains. “So, it struck me that my debut single should be one that I sang with her.”
After that was settled, the rest of the project fell in line. Mixing classic ‘90s soul with a bit of modern edge, tracks like the heartland-rocking “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me” shine with new vigor – thanks in part to Lainey Wilson. The freshly minted superstar won Clark’s heart by showing up in “the biggest jacked up Ram truck I have ever seen in my life,” and even though the singalong standout was recorded 18 months (and two Entertainer of the Year trophies) ago, Clark says Wilson has remained “sweet and humble and kind.”
“She hasn’t changed at all,” Clark declares. “She’s exactly the same girl I met.”
Elsewhere, Kelly Clarkson puts her customary vocal clinic on the unbelievably astounding “If I Were You,” and Carly Pearce helped update the sassy chart-topper “Girls Lie Too” with some hilarious new ad-libbing. Lauren Alaina re- captured the no-limits essence of “I Wanna Do It All,” and Cody Johnson effortlessly kindled the can’t-help-it-romantic spark behind “I Just Wanna Be Mad.”
Finally, Take Two finishes with a live rendition of the Number One smash “You’re Easy On the Eyes,” taken from Clark’s 2023 tour with fellow Canadian star, Paul Brandt. It’s a showcase of how relevant that grounded, what-you-see-is- what-you-get-style Clark pioneered in the ‘90s still is, and the live-performance mastery fans will see at the Ryman this month. It took a few decades for folks to remember, but this country star is thrilled with how things turned out.
“When you’re starting out, you just don’t know what it’s going to look like 30 years from now,” Clark explains. “Well, guess what? It is 30 years from now, and I know what it looks like. And I’m so, so grateful.”