Clay's
father tells a story of how, on the day his son was born, he snuck a walkman
into the hospital and played Hank Williams through the headphones for the
newborn's ears. There's no way of knowing if this tale is true, and some people
have a hard time believing that Clay's dad even had a walkman in 1985. But
regardless, the fact is that music was a constant presence in Clay's early years
because his father was a member of the Desert Riders, a Tucson band, so
musicians were always visiting his home. Clay received his first guitar at the
age of two, and since the instrument's size dwarfed him slightly, he played it
like an upright bass. That same guitar has since been passed down to Clay's
younger brother and sister.
At age four, he moved with his dad and sister near the town of Canelo, Arizona, about eighty miles south of Tucson, and a mere seven miles from the Mexican-American border. At the time they didn't have much to do other than work, play outside, or learn. His father encouraged both he and his sister to learn to play guitar and bass as well. The first song Clay ever learned was "Long Tall Sally" which he says is by far the most 'rock and roll' song he'd ever heard, or has heard since, his father play. They were raised listening to old country and bluegrass records, or the occasional oldies radio station that found its way down from Tucson or the Mexican AM stations.
When he was seven, Clay was given a Yamaha dreadnaught and once he learned to play it a little better with a pick, his dad taught him how to play "The Wildwood Flower" and was led to an interest in flat-picking. Clay was set up with a lesson with amazing guitar player Greg Morton and maybe the nicest guy in the world and Greg taught him a little more about flat-picking. At the time, they didn't really have the money to pay for lessons, so they filled a cardboard box with homegrown apples, and some home-made jelly and apple butter and brought them to Greg as compensation for his time.
In 1995 Clay saved $300 and bought himself a new Mexican-made Fender Telecaster. At middle school Clay had a long haired science teacher named Mr. Allen who, in addition to a severe deodorant allergy and only one of his eyes, managed to write a grant and received the funding to buy the required equipment for a small garage orchestra. He then started a class called "middle school rock band." A force to be reckoned with, there were generally two guitarist, two bass players, two drummers, two keyboard players, a half dozen adolescent girls with microphones, and a whole slew of strange percussionist. In the class, they played almost exclusively 60s rock songs like "Love Potion #9" and "Hang on Sloopy."
Mr. Allen was quite a musician as well, and taught all the instruments, but his first priority was guitar, so from him Clay learned a great deal of cheap rock licks that he still shamelessly uses today. At this time he was also playing gigs with his father and sister as the Koweek Family Band, so many nights were spent at home practicing all together. The next year, middle school rock band was replaced by a concert band class, and he had to learn to play the trumpet, which he did for a year, and enjoyed it, but once in high school played guitar in Jazz band and later electric and upright bass. Nonetheless, Clay claims he still can't read music.
Also during that time, he started playing with his father's band, the Busted Cowboy Band, with Slim and Rocky Harper, two brothers who will tell you they are from "East" Virginia. Slim plays pedal steel and has played with acts like Lefty Frizzell and George Jones. Rocky, the younger brother, plays everything, and played with Charlie Monroe. He is someone who was there when bluegrass was born. In addition, he was playing in a cover band with my best friend, his father, and their government teacher called the Koweek-Finley Continuum.
After graduating high school Clay's mother gifted him a beautiful, professional guitar, and he went to college. Eventually he met Will, but nothing much came out of that first meeting.
In March of 2005 the two met up again, and after playing together for a few hours in a living room, Clay was invited to play with Will at La Mission in Patagonia.
They've continued to play together since.
More Bio Pages: Will Elliott | Sasha Lawton | Other Musicians
