Even through a video, it’s easy to feel the energy of some 10,000 people cheering for Joy Clark. The New Orleans singer and guitarist had joined Americana artist Allison Russell for a show during Brandi Carlile’s Girls Just Wanna Weekend in Riviera Maya, Mexico, and they worked a cover of “Landslide” onto the set list. Encouraged by Russell and guitarist Mandy Fer, Clark stepped to the mic, and the crowd roared as she started to sing.
“The love I felt come from that audience — if you watch the video, I sing a line and then it was like, whoa,” Clark says. “I had to stop and just smile. It was such a monumental, joyful and emotional experience for me.”
It’s also just as easy to pick up on Clark’s optimism in her music and charisma both on and offstage. Rooted in Americana and folk pop — and not afraid to let it rock — Clark’s songs are warm, heartfelt, intimate and hopeful. It’s not that hard times and heartache aren’t ahead, but that she’s strong enough to weather it.
New Orleanians can catch that energy live on Wednesday nights in March at d.b.a. The weekly residency on Frenchmen Street comes during a busy time for Clark: After her shows with Allison Russell in January, Clark was a featured act at February’s Folk Alliance International Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, and last Friday, played the Folk Alliance Showcase at South by Southwest (SXSW).
She’s also on the lineup for French Quarter Fest and Jazz Fest, and she’ll open for George Porter Jr. on April 26 at Wednesday at the Square. To top it off, Clark recently released a live acoustic album, “Live! In Seattle,” available on CD at her shows, and she’ll be featured in Rhiannon Giddens’ new PBS series, “My Music,” which premieres May 1.
A busy 2023 follows a breakout 2022 for Clark. She met Russell in Nashville at an event organized by Black Opry — an organization elevating Black artists in country and folk music — and joined her band early last year. It led to Clark playing the Ryman Auditorium, SXSW, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and the pre-show at the Grammy Awards.
“It felt like whatever I showed up to, it just spread like a wildfire,” Clark says.
But none of it happened out of the blue. “New Orleans has cultivated my art so much,” she says. “I’ve been a player here. I’ve played with different projects, and I’ve learned how to support people and do well at it. It’s that New Orleans training of being able to step in and be a part of something and make it shine even more.”
Clark was born in Harvey and, as the daughter of a minister, grew up with music at church. She became obsessed with the guitar at an early age, and as she grew older found musical influences in Tracy Chapman, Lalah Hathaway and Anita
Clark started writing her own music and performing while at the University of New Orleans and joined her first band, Soulkestra, an all-female group started by pianist Monica Dillon. After graduating, Clark continued to build her career in New Orleans, performing with Big Chief Alfred Doucette, Cyril Neville and pianist Lilli Lewis, and she released her first EP in 2020.
Clark and Lewis, both queer Black women, are among a growing number of Black musicians — particularly women — re-claiming Americana, like Russell, Yola, Joy Oladokun and Lizzie No. Country, folk and the larger umbrella of Americana music are genres rooted in African American music traditions, but the industry has been hostile to Black musicians for much of history. Still, Black musicians have always made music in those genres. Clark would like to see the conversation move past the “newness,” she says.
“Our presence isn’t new. We’ve been kept out. We’ve been here, but haven’t been accepted,” Clark says. “What I would like the conversation to be is, yeah, this is our arena. It’s not new. There are so many of us, and there’s always been so many of us. Let’s just normalize and stop being surprised.”