NAME:
JD Clayton
ABOUT
JD’s first instrument wasn’t a guitar; it was a harmonica, a cheap imitation of the real thing. He blew a few notes and threw it in the river. An imitation wouldn’t do. He wanted the real thing. Not much has changed.
Arriving in Nashville an unknown Arkansas boy ready to share his music, he was told to shed his roots, change his style, more Broadway strip less Arkansas river. But it felt inauthentic, like a cheap imitation of the real thing. It wouldn’t do.
In 2018, JD released his first EP, Smoke out the Fire, and was warmly welcomed into the Nashville local music scene as well as venues across the Southwest. And then the pandemic hit: Live music shut down across the country. Working coffee shops, landscaping, and construction to make ends meet, JD sustained himself with true grit, not knowing what to expect. But the unexpected in life doesn’t stop the muse, as JD’s heart began to fill up and flow out with heartfelt words and honed melodies, marinating for flavor, waiting for opportunity, a time to share again.
And share he did, to sold-out venues and a new album in 2021, Long Way from Home. Incensed with a realized sense of home, JD sings lyrics that tell true stories of longing, love, and life, delivering them with the sounds of soul-filling Southern comfort. Shedding compromise, JD went home to his roots of Western Arkansas and delivered them back to Nashville, making a sound all his own, where a Peacemaker gets holstered and an amp plugged-in, where the old West meets the new South. And as he wrote and played new songs he went deeper down, drawing from the rich, Southern traditions of friendship, family, and faith, weaving them into tunes that felt like Hank, rocked like Skynyrd, rolled like Willie, and sounded like truth. The result is a genre-transcending, timeless album that resonates with everyone who longs for home.
JD lives with his wife and daughter in Nashville, but Arkansas is home.
ExpandArriving in Nashville an unknown Arkansas boy ready to share his music, he was told to shed his roots, change his style, more Broadway strip less Arkansas river. But it felt inauthentic, like a cheap imitation of the real thing. It wouldn’t do.
In 2018, JD released his first EP, Smoke out the Fire, and was warmly welcomed into the Nashville local music scene as well as venues across the Southwest. And then the pandemic hit: Live music shut down across the country. Working coffee shops, landscaping, and construction to make ends meet, JD sustained himself with true grit, not knowing what to expect. But the unexpected in life doesn’t stop the muse, as JD’s heart began to fill up and flow out with heartfelt words and honed melodies, marinating for flavor, waiting for opportunity, a time to share again.
And share he did, to sold-out venues and a new album in 2021, Long Way from Home. Incensed with a realized sense of home, JD sings lyrics that tell true stories of longing, love, and life, delivering them with the sounds of soul-filling Southern comfort. Shedding compromise, JD went home to his roots of Western Arkansas and delivered them back to Nashville, making a sound all his own, where a Peacemaker gets holstered and an amp plugged-in, where the old West meets the new South. And as he wrote and played new songs he went deeper down, drawing from the rich, Southern traditions of friendship, family, and faith, weaving them into tunes that felt like Hank, rocked like Skynyrd, rolled like Willie, and sounded like truth. The result is a genre-transcending, timeless album that resonates with everyone who longs for home.
JD lives with his wife and daughter in Nashville, but Arkansas is home.
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