Clint Alphin
Clint Alphin is a Nashville based singer/songwriter who is originally from the rural town of Dunn, North Carolina. In his youth, Clint would sing in school and at the local church. Although his family ran a successful business, music was always a part of their life. During his early years, he noticed the rich array of musical talent in the south, and took a liking to singer/songwriters such as James Taylor and others. When He saw Randy Travis live, he knew he wanted to play music professionally.
As per his family wishes and personal desire to learn, Clint secured a Business degree at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. He went on to get a second degree at Appalachian State University in Recording and Production. Throughout his school years, Clint continued to hone his music performance and songwriting skills. At the completion of his college years, he made the decision to become a professional musician.
In his musical journey to date, Clint has performed at many top venues and festivals. He took home 1st prize in the 2017 songwriting contest at Telluride Troubadour Bluegrass Festival and has been a finalist in many others. With three full albums and an EP under his belt, he will be releasing a brand new collection of songs titled "Straight to Marrow." About the new album Clint states "I had the idea with Straight to Marrow that some songs can go into our bones and affect us in ways that we can't really explain." I chatted with him about the making of this new album and he shared some insight of the writing process."
R.V.B. - Hello Clint... Robert von Bernewitz here from Long Island, New York. How are you today?
C.A. - I'm doing alright Robert. How are things in Long Island?
R.V.B. - A little cold. They're talking about some snow this weekend. How are things by you? Are you in Nashville today?
C.A. - Yeah I am. It's not too cold down here. It's about 48 degrees. It's cooler for Nashville but I don't think we've got any snow on the way.
R.V.B. - I understand your football team had a better season this year.
C.A. - I think they did. I kind of got out of the habit of following football. It was hard for them not to have a better season this year because last year they were pretty much at the bottom on the barrel.
R.V.B. - That's what I understand. Kind of like the Jets this year. Thanks for taking this time to talk with me. I sampled your new album and I very much like it. One thing that noticed is that it has a nice variety of songs and it flows nicely. You seem to adapt your singing style to the different melodies.
C.A. - I agree with that and I understand where you're coming from there.
R.V.B. - As an example, I detected a little Skip James in the song Ain't That Something.
C.A. - It's definitely a blues song. I wrote that song on a lap steel guitar. That bluezy sound just seemed to be in that guitar. All these songs in one way or another kind of fit the theme of the album, which is called Straight To Marrow. They came from this place where it was really easy to write. I didn't have to think about it too hard. I've written these songs over the 15 or so years that I've been in Nashville. What you're saying about the different vocal styles... and this is a credit to Neilson Hubbard for giving me that leeway... I kind of consider each song as its own character. I've sung a lot of different styles through the years. I'm classically trained and I've also done some musical theater, so I would say that in some ways it's intentional, and in some ways it's just how I approach music and songs. One style of singing might be right for one song and not necessarily right for another. I'm glad that you noticed that because it's encouraging to hear.
R.V.B. - The title track has a wavering falsetto reminiscent of the great A.P. Carter.
C.A. - I grew up on folk and bluegrass music... classical music can lend itself to some vibrato. There are a lot of influences. The Carter Family is a huge influence. Not only in my music but everybody's music... that has ever listened to country music... whether they know it or not.
R.V.B. - I love the songwriting on the Album. One of the songs that I put an asterisk next to was Out to California. It tells a nice story about meeting a girl. I like the line about the sun shining the same in Nashville as it does in California.
C.A. - That was about a girl I met in acting class. I got cast in a scene with her and she had caught my attention. The nature of the scene was a romantic scene and being the songwriter that I am, I kind of knew that this was going to be an Ill fated interest. I knew that her desire was to get out on Nashville and go back to California, where she had grown up. She wanted to pursue acting more than music. It was one of those things where this romance wasn't going to happen but I'll probably get a song out of it. The song has been good to me.
R.V.B. - Another one that I liked was the final track n the CD. I liked the values that were brought up in the Grandfather-Grandmother song.
C.A. - I recorded an interview with my grandparents when they were in their 90's. I have a video with hours of the interview. When they both passed away... like the song says... three weeks to the day my grandmother passed away after my grandfather. It was September of 2014. It took me two years to write that song. I thought about it and thought about it, and tried to write it. It just never happened until I came back from a folk music conference in 2016. I listened to the interview and took some of their quotes and some of their advice and married it with their actual story. Every bit on that song is true.
R.V.B. - One particular line that stuck out to me was in the title track song... "Only God knows where we'll wind up." I guess you can attempt to make your own way but only God knows where you're going to wind up. What's the story behind the title track?
C.A. - I had the idea with Straight to Marrow that some songs can go into our bones and affect us in ways that we can't really explain. As a songwriter, some songs emerge that way. I really had intentions about making an album that had those songs. I didn't have the song for that title for a long time until a friend of mine wrote a screen play and made a short film called "Lemons." It's about two characters that cross each other's path and they're both kind of damaged in some way. They're both kind of working through it. I was actually auditioning for one of the lead roles and I didn't get it. But in familiarizing myself with this script, by reading through it and learning the characters... I started noodling around on the guitar and this song came out. I thought "There's the song I've been looking for." The line about "the sun is a lemon", kind of came from the movie. If the sun was going to be a lemon, what did I want the moon to be? The idea of the moon being an onion was one of the first lyrics that popped into my head. That was the trigger to get into that song. I'm a Christian... I'm a believer... I've always been a person of faith. I think that there's a higher power directing people, whether they know it, or acknowledge it or not. I don't know if it was St. Augustine, but there's a quote about "Man makes his plans and God laughs." In the bible it says that man plans his way but God directs his steps. I think that there's a rhyme and reason to things. It's not easy all the time. We're not God and we don't know the full purpose behind everything. If we did, we might be able to handle it too well.
R.V.B. - Were any of these songs road tested or where they contrived in the studio?
C.A. - Most of them were road tested. In between the three years when I had made the last album, I performed a lot of these songs out. In 2017, I sent the California song to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and that got me into the Telluride Troubadour contest. That was the year that I won. I had played the Grandfather - Grandmother song on the road, so yeah, most of them were completely road tested. The only one that was never played out was Patchwork Journey. I wrote that in Telluride, Colorado this year. I had the final recording session scheduled for the album. I thought I was going to record one song but I wrote the song Patchwork Journey and I just knew it had to be on the album. I literally recorded it a week later. I had never played it out in public.
R.V.B. - That's another one that I put an asterisk on. I like the word cliché's as they relate to the title. How they're "sewn together." It was very clever. We're all of these songs recorded in the same studio?
C.A. - Yes. It they were all recorded in the same studio as Postmodern Man album. As luck would have it, in 2016 I moved to East Nashville about a mile and a half from the studio.
R.V.B. - Who are some noteworthy artists where you may have shared a bill with?
C.A. - Since I've been in Nashville I have been on some nice bills. One that comes to mind is when I played at the Bluebird Cafe, a few years ago with Ron Block. He is the banjo player for Allison Krauss. He has a nice solo career also. I was on a bill with him for an IBMA event at the Bluebird. That's the international Bluegrass Music Association. The very first time that I played an early show at the Bluebird Cafe... the late show was a benefit for a hospice in Nashville... a few of the artists that were on that show were Amy Grant and Vince Gill. I've got a table sheet from the Bluebird that has my name along with Vince Gill and Amy Grant... and my name is on top. Their font was bigger though (haha). I like to joke that I got top billing... if you don't count the font size.
R.V.B. - Haha. I've been to the Bluebird. I still find it Amazing that such a small place holds such a big aura.
C.A. - Yeah it really does. I've got a couple of shows coming up there this year... in February and March. It's my favorite place in Nashville to play. They treat the songwriters very well there. People come there to listen. It was great even before it got all that attention on the Nashville TV show. It doesn't even matter who's playing... your show will sell out in a few minutes. It's a great place.
R.V.B. - You've played at a few folk festivals. Do you enjoy the larger atmosphere as well?
C.A. - Yeah, I really do. The Kerrville Folk and Telluride Bluegrass Festivals have been my two favorites. They have a great vibe. I've made a lot of connections with other musicians. I've been fortunate enough to be in the finals of Kerrville New Folk Festival twice. I've been in the Telluride Bluegrass Troubadour Festival three times. The whole idea of a songwriting and performing contest can be kind of daunting. There's a subjective nature to it. If you go there with the right attitude... it's an honor to be in the finals of these contests. I look forward to meeting other artists and make some connections. That's the right attitude to have. I was fortunate enough to win the Telluride Troubadour contest in 2017.
R.V.B. - What was the prize for wining?
C.A. - I won a handmade Shanti guitar from Michael Hornick. It has inlays of the Telluride Troubadour 44th contest. It's a really nice guitar.
R.V.B. - What kind of guitars do you use today?
C.A. - I've got several acoustic guitars. Right now my main guitar is a Bourgeois. It's made out of Maine. I also have a Santa Cruz guitar. That's a dreadnought... mahogany with a spruce top. I have the Shanti that I use in the studio and play at home. I try not to take it out on the road too much. It's got a lot of sentimental value and I don't want anything to happen to it. My first really nice acoustic guitar was a Taylor 814. I'll use that on standard songwriter nights because it's got a really nice pickup system in it. It's just a good gig guitar. The Bourgeois is the one I use most often.
R.V.B. - What are your plans to support the new album. I know you mentioned a few places...
C.A. - I'm working through IVPR and Maria Ivey. She's helping me to get some appearances. I was on a couple of different radio shows in Nashville. I was on a program called "The Vinyl Lunch" on Monday. I'm going out to the Sundance Film Festival in a couple of weeks. I'm going to play in a few access film music showcases. I'm actually volunteering for the festival so I'll be out there for a couple of weeks. I'll try to network and meet some people out there. When I come back from Sundance, I've got some shows in Knoxville and of course the Bluebird shows. I'll be going to some more festivals and entering more songwriting contests. I want to concentrate on some more club dates and small listening room venues. I'll probably go to a couple of folk alliance conferences this year. I might take a trip up to NERFA, so I might be visiting Long Island before the end of the year.
R.V.B. - I hope to help you on my end for promotion. I look forward to sharing your story on my online music magazine.
C.A. - That's great.
R.V.B. - Thanks for chatting with me and good luck with the new album.
C.A. - I appreciate it Robert and I'm glad you liked the album.
Interview conducted by Robert von Bernewitz
This interview may not be reproduced in any part or form without permission from this site.
For more information on Clint Alphin visit his website www.clintalphin.com
Special thanks to Madison Kendrick of IVPR
For more information on this site contact Robvonb247(at)gmail(dot)com
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