JD Clayton on Tour Van Tetris and Committing to His Craft

Photo credit: Sean O’Halloran

Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?

We typically use an All-American white 15-passenger church van. We take out the last two rows of seating and can fit five dudes, a drum set, bass rig, 2 pianos, 4 guitars, 3 amps, and all of our merch. Needless to say, my tour manager is talented at Tetris. We haven’t had a van break down on us yet (knock on wood) but the auxiliary ports typically don’t work so we’ve had to get creative with electrical tape while turning the aux cord just right. If you don’t have good tunes in the band van, what are you even doing?

How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?

I love to support local. So, when we come into a new city we quickly find all of the cool coffee shops, bars, and eateries. I’m a quality-over-quantity kind of guy so we don’t really do the fast food thing. We try to do at least one really nice meal each tour run.

How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?

So far, no one in the band has broken a string. It’s gonna happen eventually and when it does you can expect to pick up a pack of strings for $6.99.

Where do you rehearse?

We rehearse anywhere we can. Last week before the Thanksgiving show we played, we set up in my living room. We all gathered around the fire and tried not to make the neighbors mad.

What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?

Carefree. “I’m free, carefree…” HAHA. I’ve come a long way.

Describe your first gig.

It was in the Starbucks on the University of Arkansas’ campus. My grandparents were front and center. It was basically just a family reunion in a school Starbucks.

What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?

I worked at a landscape company installing irrigation and planting trees on commercial job sites. This was probably my favorite day job I ever had.

How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?

I’ve gone from just taking tips in the corner at an oyster bar to being able to pay a five-piece band in the middle of Texas. In 10 years I hope that we can continue to grow and give each of the band members the chance to build a really comfortable life for their families.

What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?

I should have been practicing my instrument a lot more when I was in high school. I think sometimes when we are young we don’t actually believe that we can create a career in music and so we don’t give 100% of ourselves over to our craft. Now it’s real. It’s happening. So I am working each day to get better and grow as much as I can.

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 2023, 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.

Connect with Clayton online and on the road.