Birmingham’s Clint Wells takes to the road
Clint Wells. Photo by Leslie Treece
Yesterday we posted an interview with Griffin House, who will play WorkPlay tomorrow night. House’s thoughtful lyrics are enough to demand attention, but this is a hometown stop for his guitarist on this tour. Clint Wells, a Birmingham musician, has been on the road with House for the past couple months. Birmingham Box Set caught up with him a few weeks ago to talk about how he balances music in town and on the road and to find out how a musician gets a touring gig in the first place.
Birmingham Box Set: What is life like as a working musician in Birmingham? How do you split your schedule?
Clint Wells: I think it’s going to depend on who you talk to, but for me personally it’s a lot of different kinds of gigs. There’ll be a couple of rehearsals in the earlier part of the week, and usually Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday are gigs because I play in a couple of cover bands, too. It’s a full week of work because you’re usually getting ready in the early part of week … For me it’s rock shows Thursday, Friday, Saturday and church Sunday mornings and Sunday nights. It’s good, steady work. It can just be brutal when you’re out all night Saturday playing to have to get up and get in that frame of mind to play that kind of music.
BBS: How do you get work on a tour like this?
CW: It’s a lot like any other job, I think. It really is depending on who you know, and the way it works is usually just word of mouth or networking. … It’s really hit or miss. You’ve definitely got to be a good player and dependable, but a lot of that stuff’s an afterthought. Knowing somebody’s what gets you a gig. Being good is what delivers you the gig.
In Birmingham, you just go to a lot of shows and meet a lot of people. If I weren’t as busy as I am, that’s what I would be doing a lot more often. … That’s what I usually tell people when people ask me, how do you get so much work. I tell them go to shows.
… What happened specifically with the Griffin gig is I just knew people in his band and about two years ago, his guitar player couldn’t make it last minute. Jeff [Irwin, bass player] called me and said this is super last minute. … I thought I’d be a shoo in next time he needs somebody. I was actually, just before I got the call to do the tour, thinking to myself, “Man, that was kind of a fruitless gig that I did.” But then sure enough when it came time to do a national headlining tour, he remembered the guy from Birmingham who played the show really well.
The general rule is that all gigs lead to more gigs and you should really take anything you can when you’re first starting, even when it’s free, even when it’s going to cost you money to drive to rehearsal and drive to a show. Then the more experienced you get, the more selective you can be.
BBS: What are the challenges and benefits of touring in someone else’s band?
CW: The benefits are you get to see the country, which we’ve done. We’re doing almost every major city in America, which is awesome. Most of the places I’ve never been to. Being a “hired gun” is a little nice because I don’t have to worry about a lot of the day in, day out stuff that Griffin has to worry about. When we’re done and everyone’s exhausted, I don’t have to meet fans, sell merchandise … I get to hang out in the green room and drink beer. Griffin’s always got to think about his next year … You get a lot of the payout without having to do a lot of that business side of it.
The cons depend on the kind of life you have. If you have a family or a wife, it’s not easy to be away for two months. We talk about this all the time in the band, because the band’s mostly comprised of working musicians. When you go away for two months to do a tour, you’re missing a lot of local gigs. You’re missing a lot of work. For example, the cover band that I’m in in Birmingham is called Loose Stone. It’s by far the most lucrative gig I have. I’ve missed seven of their shows and they’ve had somebody filling in for me. How much of that can I do a year [before they need a replacement]?
BBS: How do you prepare for a tour like this, both emotionally and musically?
CW: With Liz [his wife] and I, I guess with your family, we just really try to maximize the quality of our time because the truth is the few weeks before you leave to go out for several months, you’re not really at home either because you’re rehearsing, you’re packing, tying up loose ends. Liz and I have been doing this for several years now and I think we’re getting better at it. [Liz was able to visit during the band’s break after their Chicago show, and will visit again in NYC.] I think really starting to think about that stuff on the front end is helpful.
A lot of musicians who are younger than me or don’t have a family, they just go. There’s the romanticism of just going and you don’t hear from them for two months.
I had to call all of my gigs that I had coming up and tell everybody that I wasn’t going to be able to make it. I just had to be really amiable and make sure I don’t lose those gigs when I get home. I’ve had a lot of musicians that are five to 10 years older than me that have helped me figure a lot of stuff out, who are still helping me figure this stuff out.
… A guy like Griffin, he plays a different set list every night so I knew I would have to learn every single one of his songs. Our first show was in Boulder, Colo., and it was sold out. So he decided that he wanted to play every song he had. We played three and a half hours. I got all of his records and learned everything.
Griffin House returns to WorkPlay on Feb. 20, with Birmingham guitarist Clint Wells in tow. Tickets are $12 in advance or $15 the day of the show and available at workplay.com. Shelly Colvin and Charlie Mars will open.
