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Mother Indigo

Mother Indigo Gadfly Records

Okay, I know this final piece seems quirky. A British reporter based in Texas writing about an English artist who writes songs about his Irish ancestry. But Terry Clarke has long had a great affinity with Austin, tours regularly and has a sizeable local following. His new album, Mother Indigo, is getting good press over here too. 'A lot of people have always wanted a totally solo record, so I hope they dig it,' says Terry.

Along with a number new songs, the album goes back to the Clarke well, featuring three great compositions from his masterful The Heart Sings album, Walk With Me, Bruce Channel in this Town, and Back To The Well. Though recorded in Terry's hometown of Reading, it is actually being put out on a US label, Vermont's Gadfly. As Terry's good buddy Butch Hancock says, 'What a planet.'

Steve Taylor Country Music International 2000

On his last album Clarke was backed up by some of the best musicians in Austin, but on this one he is alone with his 12-string. Clarke's influences seem to be Austin songwriters and early rock 'n' roll, although musically he doesn't imitate either style.
The album is dedicated to Gene Vincent and Buddy Knox, and Clarke refers to this era's music in some of his songs, most notably in "Frankie Murray Sings 'Kansas City'" ...
this is one of those albums that seems to get better with each succeeding song.

Dirty Linen 2000

Terry Clarke has long had a great affinity with Austin, Texas, tours regularly and has a sizeable local following ... his new album 'Mother Indigo' is getting good press over here
too. "A lot of people have always wanted a totally solo record, so I hope they dig it" says Terry.
Along with a number of new songs, the album goes back to the Clarke well, featuring three great compositions from his masterful 'The Heart Sings' album ... 'Walk With Me', 'Bruce Channel In This Town' and 'Back To The Well'.

Country Music International 1999

It's real stripped down, just Clarke and his 12-string guitars ...
Clarke is an admirer, though not imitator, of the Texas school of singer-songwriters, but
his Irish origins have always been the most prominent aspect of his work, or at least provide a reasonable explanation for the pensive, low key melancholy that pervades his songs.
At the same time, just to complicate things, he's also a devotee of Gene Vincent, to whom this album is dedicated and from whose 'Baby Blue' he quotes, in the title track, while 'Bruce Channel In This Town' celebrates Channel and Delbert McClinton playing 'Hey! Baby' on a long ago British tour.
If you don't know Clarke, this is a good place to start.

3rd Coast Music, Texas 2000

This is Clarke's first US release. He's a gifted singer-songwriter.
We like the fact that he pays as much attention to the music as the words. The songs sound effortless and are full of characters that you won't soon forget.

Village Records Kansas

All of the tracks were recorded in one night in 1994, performed live in the studio, just Clarke singing and accompanying himself on 12-string acoustic guitar.
He has a warm, magnetic, passionate voice and strong rhythmic guitar style, and every song crackles with a restless. expectant energy ...beautiful images.
Evocative and compelling.

Victory Review

How best to describe Clarke's music? It's modern folk, singer/songwriter stuff with a dash of Celtic flavouring and some country influences. I'm reminded of other singer/songwriter guitarists such as Gordon Lightfoot, Richard thompson and most especially the Texan Joe Ely.
This is evocative stuff, especially on "Frankie Murray Sings 'Kansas City' " one of the best songs on the CD, about an itinerant wanderer.
Terry Clarke is one of those little-known musicians who take the stage in a club, grab the audience by the scruff of their collective collars and gives them a masterclass in songwriting and performance before wandering off onto the road to the next venue.
Highly recommended.

New Hope International 1999

Modern folk music has a pulse but few of it's acts have the heart AND the brains to make it work artistically ...this is a supreme disc, indeed!
The bare boned songs are filled with passion, poetry and power.
His soundation links directly to the likes of Van Morrison(Astral Weeks), Nick Drake, Richard Thompson, Bob Dylan, the acoustic Bruce Springsteen, and Donovan at his decibel dawn.
The combination of melody and poetry is mastered by few. Terry Clarke has the magic; he is the master of word, rhyme and feel.
If the aforementioned names are found in your collection, by all means check out 'Candyman's Last Night(Coming Home)', the Celtic based 'Back To The Well', the Led Zep 111 influenced 'Two Rivers' and the vastly Van Morrison inspired 'Mother Indigo'.

Soundations 1999

Mother Indigo Gadfly
Terry Clarke

Singer/Songwriter bar none!, August 19, 1999
Reviewer: A music fan from Boston, USA


Terry Clarke does it again! This UK artist, who has been phenomenally huge in Austin, TX for the past decade, has put out yet another excellent recording. Available for the first time on a US label, this disc contains a selection of extraordinarily well-crafted songs, some older, some new, but all reflect the marvellous poetic imagery and soulful vocals of Terry Clarke. His more recent forays into bluesy folk augment his eclectic style that ranges from "Irish Rockabilly Blues" to Ballads to Folk to Jazz. His voice, his melodies, his poetry, his imagery, it's all there on this album. He's much admired by Bruce Springsteen and Johnny Cash, to drop a couple of names, and those Texans he frequently plays with: Butch Hancock, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, et al. With this record I hope he gets to reach more people, and finally earn the wide-spread recognition and attention he deserves for the talents he possesses and thankfully shares with us. I once heard a quote about him that went something like this: "if Springsteen and Joan Armatrading had a kid, he would sound like Terry Clarke."! So, go listen for yourselves! He'll be doing some gigs in the Northeast finally in late September/early October .. do yourself a favor and see what you've been missing!

Amazon.com customer review