Multi-platinum country icon Clint Black performs at Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe on April 3
From a press release:
Following a national tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of his debut album last year, it was announced today that multi-platinum-selling, chart-topping Nashville country star Clint Black will return to Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe on Friday, April 3 at 8 p.m.
Tickets, which are $46 for regular reserved seats and $52 for premium reserved seats, go on sale this Saturday, Jan. 18 at 10 a.m. at all Ticketmaster outlets, the Penn’s Peak box office (325 Maury Rd., Jim Thorpe), and Roadies Restaurant and Bar (325 Maury Rd., Jim Thorpe). Penn’s Peak box office and Roadies Restaurant ticket sales are walk-up only; no phone orders.
On Nov. 8, 2019, Clint Black released “Still Killin’ Time,” featuring eight live recordings of his hits and two studio recordings of songs that nearly made it onto his 1989 debut album “Killin’ Time.”
“I’ve toyed with the idea of a live album for years. If ever there was a time for a “snapsot” of our live performances, it would be the 30th anniversary of my first album release. To bring more nostalgia to the project, I dug up two songs we never recorded that were ‘in the stack’ of songs we wrote for ‘Killin’ Time,’ ‘This Old House’ and ‘No One Here for Me.’ I thought they would fit in well with ‘Still Killin’ Time,'” Black said.
The special live album holds true to the traditional sound that continues to resonate with classic country fans. Three decades after he altered the landscape of country music, Black remains humble as ever about the massive influence he has had on the genre.
“I don’t really feel like I was leading a change in country music,” he remarked. “It just felt like big success to me. I would hear things like, ‘So-and-so is going to record, and they’re using their own band because you did,’ or, ‘So-and-so wants to write more of their own songs because you did.’ But I don’t feel like I changed anything, other than contributing my work to the big picture. It’s hard to look at myself and see the impact I’ve had. I do know that my songs have touched a lot of people.”
If this multi-million-selling country icon won’t say it outright, his staggering career speaks for itself. His is one of the most storied careers in modern music. Black surged to superstardom as part of the fabled “Class of ’89,” reaching No. 1 with five consecutive singles from his triple-platinum debut, “Killin’ Time.” He followed that with the triple-platinum “Put Yourself in My Shoes,” and then a string of platinum and gold albums throughout the 1990s.
Perhaps most impressively, he wrote or co-wrote every one of his more than three dozen chart hits, including “A Better Man,” “Where Are You Now,” “When My Ship Comes In,” “A Good Run of Bad Luck,” “Summer’s Comin’,” “Like the Rain,” and “Nothin’ But the Taillights,” part of a catalog that produced 22 No. 1 singles and made him one of the most successful singer/songwriters of the modern era. Along the way, he’s earned more than a dozen gold and platinum awards in the U.S. and Canada, landed nearly two dozen major awards and nominations, won a Grammy Award and countless Country Music Association Awards, American Music Awards, and Academy of Country Music Awards, as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Raised in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, Black is the youngest of four brothers. He began performing with brother Kevin at the family’s backyard barbecues. After high school, he spent 10 years on the local nightclub circuit and, in 1989, he led a movement of young talent that transformed country music leading into the ’90s.
In 2004, he scaled the top of the charts by trading lines with Jimmy Buffett, Alan Jackson, George Strait, Toby Keith, and Kenny Chesney on the Hank Williams classic “Hey, Good Lookin’.” He contributed “The Great Mississippi Flood” to the 2005 post-Katrina charity album “Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now” and released albums in 2004, 2005, and 2007.
His interest in releasing new music waned when his record label closed its doors in 2008. “I had interest from major companies to sign deals, but declined,” he explained.
Black has hardly been idle since then. He’s written and produced songs for Hasbro’s children’s shows and in 2010 and 2012 starred in the films “Flicka 2” and “Flicka: Country Pride,” the latter with his wife and daughter.
In 2013, the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain began marketing an album of Black’s hits, which continues to sell strongly, and in early 2015, he collaborated with Joe Nichols on a “Superstar Duets” NBC TV special for the Academy of Country Music.
In 2015 released “On Purpose,” his first studio album of new material in nearly a decade. He dedicated the album to his father, who passed away in 2012.
“My dad was a huge country fan, and he’s the reason I first listened to country music. He is probably the reason I’m a songwriter today. He was my introduction to ‘who’s behind the music.’ I grew up wanting to be the writer behind the song. That really all started with him.”
2018 was a particularly busy year for the Class of ‘89 alum. Always finding ways to challenge himself creatively, he produced his first-ever holiday musical, “Looking for Christmas,” which focuses on family, love, and the magic of Christmas.
“This has been in the works for a while now, and it was great to see the audience reaction. Working with James Sasser has been both a blessing and a learning experience, and I believe that the story is relatable to many Americans, both young and old.”
Now, following the 30th anniversary of “Killin’ Time,” Black has earned the right to sit back and let his body of work speak for itself, receiving a star on the Music City Walk of Fame on Oct. 22, 2019 alongside Lady Antebellum, Mac McAnally, Chet Atkins, and DeFord Bailey.
