Joy Clark will make her Sundilla debut on Friday, October 11. Showtime at the AUUF (450 E. Thach Avenue in Auburn) is 7:30; advance tickets are just $20 and can be found at Spicer’s Music, Ross House Coffee, Foodie’s, and online at Sundillamusic.com. Admission at the door is $25. Students can pay just $15 at the door. Free coffee, tea, water and food will be available, and the audience is welcome to bring their own favorite food or beverage.
If you can’t get therapy, Joy Clark is the next best thing. Joy has been weaving peaceful compositions embodying all things good since the age of 12. Five minutes with her and you feel covered in the warmth of a bonfire, but don’t let that soft voice fool you. Find her a guitar, and you’ll discover a beast of a musician. Whether you need a song to dance around to in your kitchen, or to help you go to sleep and send the nightmares packing, Joy has gotten feel-good melodies down to a science. When you talk to Joy, she comes across as the old friend that you may not have talked to in a while, but things fall right into place when you connect again.
Joy was slated to appear at Sundilla last May, until the Opelika Songwriter’s Festival announced a change in their dates. We wasted no time in finding another date that would work, AND recommended that the OSF book her. Because Joy Clark is just that good, and we want as many people as possible to hear her music. (And they did; both of her performances at the OSF were standing-room only!)
Joy Clark is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who creates soulful original compositions that celebrate peace and the undeniable power of love. Her intricate rhythms and warm melodies reveal a sweet vulnerability, enchanting audiences around the world. Growing up the daughter of a minister, she learned to create an atmosphere ripe for an emotional experience. So it’s no wonder she believes music is her ministry and intimacy is her superpower.
Her music, like that of Tracy Chapman, draws on folk, blues and Americana, but is uniquely hers. Her voice, like her tidy guitar solos, captures your attention without demanding it, then invites you in. Onstage, her smile is contagious. She can cheerily announce that she wrote “Here” about going to therapy and make it sound like it applies to everyone. Her first album, “Live in Seattle,” was released last year and her first studio album, “Tell It to the Wind,” will be released one week before her Sundilla appearance.
Joy is currently criss-crossing the country alternating between intimate solo dates and soul-stirring jubilees with Grammy nominee and Juno Award winner Allison Russell as a part of her band, The Rainbow Coalition. She’s shared the stage with living-legends including The Indigo Girls, Brandi Carlile, and Cyril Neville. Carlile called Joy, “a supremely talented musician and artist … [who] spreads nothing but joy everywhere she goes.”
Tracy Chapman tribute (Folk Alliance International Awards)