Taking up guitar at age twelve, Clark quickly found his way into the fertile Austin scene, taken under the wing of long-time club owner and artists advocate Clifford Antone and such local stalwarts as Jimmie Vaughan. Antone put the youngster on stage with such blues giants as James Cotton and Hubert Sumlin. Vaughan and others taught him about moving beyond the legends, both going back to the originators who influenced them, but also embracing the spirit of innovation that separated such groundbreakers as Cream and the Stones from the crowd. He made the most of the support and became such a shining presence that Austin declared a “Gary Clark Jr. Day” in his honour while he was still in his teens. And by 2007 he was named the city's best blues artist and rock guitarist at the Austin Music Awards. In fact, he's won those same categories every year ever since.

See more info at garyclarkjr.com

Listed on Ents24.com since: Sep 2011