They Came to Nashville

Terri Clark

112   Terri Clark Until recently I didn’t personally know Terri Clark. But I knew her house. In 2006, Terri bought a house a few doors down from mine. I figured I’d run into her eventually. But I never laid eyes on her. All I knew was that her house was adorable—a renovated bungalow with beautiful stonework and a Swiss chalet feel—and somebody sure did a nice job keeping up her yard. Terri is a bona fide country music star, which means she’s out of town a lot. But even country music stars occasionally have to come in for a landing. I was beginning to wonder if she existed. Then about a year later, I was raking leaves near the sidewalk in front of my house, when a tall, slender brunette jogging down the sidewalk pulled up and took off her headphones. “Hi, Marshall. I’m Terri Clark.” “Oh, hi! I was beginning to wonder if anybody lived in your house.” We had a nice visit. I told her that Matraca Berg and I had knocked on her door only days before, and that I loved her recording of “Nashville Girls,” a song Matraca wrote with Gretchen Peters. We talked about the neighborhood, mutual friends, and, briefly, the dismal state of the music business. I mentioned that I was writing a book and that I’d like to interview her at some point. And now, almost a year later, here we are.    Terri Clark   113 Terri’s house (down the street) Nashville September 25, 2008 So Terri, I’ve googled you. I know you moved here from Canada in 1987. You were eighteen years old. Was that your very first time in Nashville? Well, actually, when I was about seventeen, I was living in Michigan with my dad for a few months, and we drove down to Nashville for a little weekend trip. Where did your dad live in Michigan? The Port Huron area. He was living up there with his wife at the time, and I went to stay with them for a while, because I was trying to find a way into the country. As in United States of America? Yeah. (laughs) Because I was Canadian, you know? And I was trying to get my native Indian band number, because there’s a way for Indians to get across the border. If you have a band number and have enough of that in your bloodline, they’ll let you in. Of course, as it turned out, I didn’t have enough. So my dad says, “We’ll go to Nashville.” ’Course I grew up just dreaming about Nashville! I was fascinated with it. I was raised in Alberta, which is way the hell on the other side of the moon from here. But I had watched shows about Nashville on television growing up. So when did you first hear the word “Nashville”? Oh, gosh, probably my grandparents. My grandparents were a club act in Montreal. What were they called? Her name was Betty Gauthier [pronounced “Go-shay”], and my grandpa’s name was Ray. 114   They Came to Nashville What was their stage name? Betty & Ray. Anyway, they supported five kids playing country music in clubs. They opened shows for Little Jimmy Dickens, Johnny Cash . . . Were you a toddler when they were playing? They had pretty much wound down by the time I was born [1968]. But we sat around and jammed. My grandparents and I had a very special connection. What did Ray play? Fiddle and guitar . . . some bass. And Betty? She played guitar and sang. Anyway, so Nashville was always discussed. I really didn’t get serious about playing and singing until I was about twelve or thirteen, and then I really got into it. By the time I was fourteen, all my ambitions to be a cop went out the window, and I decided I was going to be a singer and move to Nashville. My mom and I were big believers, we just had the dream, and she was like, “You can do it!” Everyone thought we were nuts. But the very first time I came to Nashville was when my dad brought me down on that little weekend trip. Did you guys drive? Yep. Both times I came to Nashville, it was by car. What kind of car? I can’t remember what he drove at the time...