Country music star Clay Walker is ‘Live Until I Die’ with career

Written by CRYSTAL SCHELLE

Country music artist Clay Walker has been a lot of things in his career: singer, songwriter, married father of five and multiple sclerosis advocate. But many wouldn’t know he’s also a TikTok star.

In an industry where radio play and live music venues are becoming scarce, TikTok has opened a new audience for the 53-year-old. Being one of the early country music stars who embraced the trend, he now has a following of more than 1.3 million – and growing.

“I’ve had so much fun and it grew so fast for us,” Walker said during a telephone interview while on the road in California.

TikTok is a place where Walker can not only share his music, but connect with his fans.

“What really amazes me is that we have over 10 million engagements,” he said. “I don’t see very many artists in the genre that have that kind of engagement. So it tells me people are entertained – and more than that – they feel they’re a part of it.”

Walker is hoping fans will feel the same type of engagement when they see him perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, at The Great Frederick Fair. Country artist Kylie Frey is his opener.

His music

The Houston native broke onto the country music scene in 1993 with a self-titled album that spawned top hits: the No. 1 single “What’s It to You,” which he followed with his second No. 1 hit in 1994, “Live Until I Die,” and a third No. 1, “Dreaming with My Eyes Open.”

Since then, he has released 11 studio albums and garnered a total of six No. 1 hits, while racking up several top-10 songs.

His 11th album, “Texas to Tennessee,” was released in July 2021. Two singles have been released from that: “Need a Bar Sometimes,” which was his first chart-topping single since 2012’s “Jesse James.” A second single, “Catching Up with an Old Memory,” was released in March.

Walker said he’s excited about “Texas to Tennessee” because it is the first album featuring his own songwriting credits on every track.

“Throughout my career, I have written the majority of the songs that I have recorded, but I’ve never written an entire album where I was on every song,” he said. “The album is unique in that way.”

Walker and his family moved to Nashville from Texas so he could work on the album. Six of the songs were co-written with Jaron Boyer.

“So I was proximate to the greatest songwriters in the world, and I was able to collaborate with those songwriters,” he said, crediting producer Michal Knox for his help.

On “Texas to Tennessee,” Walker said every song reflects something personal in his life. Many of the songs are inspired by his wife of 14 years, Jessica.

“I can’t say enough good things about her,” he said. “… to have our relationship as a topic for some of our songs was just a wonderful feeling and it was easy to write several of the words in the songs.” It’s been nearly 30 years since he released his first single, and Walker said he’s grown as an artist. “I believe I’ve gotten better and wiser at choosing songs,” he said. “And being able to recognize good songs, whether they’re songs you’ve written or somebody else has. That really is the longevity of an artist.”

An album can reflect what’s going on in an artist’s life, he said.

“Things you go through that help shape who you are, for better or worse, and I think the songs can reflect where you are in your life or where you are at that moment in your life,” he said.

It also gives him time to stop and count his blessings.

“I’m very appreciative of what’s happened in my career and that’s been a blessing to feel that,” he said.

“I believe I’ve gotten

Living with MS

While working on his fourth album, 1996’s “Rumor Has It,” Walker was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. That album gave him his sixth No. 1 hit, the song bearing the record’s title. Through it all, Walker continued to work, but by 2015, the MS was causing long delays between albums.

Walker said taking care of himself is the reason he has been able to continue working, though living with a chronic illness left him with self-doubts. However, he said, “those moments have forged my belief system and showed my determination and fortitude to get better.”

Since his diagnosis, he has seen improvements in the medical community and his health regimen.

“Since I’ve been diagnosed with MS, there have been a lot more wins than losses,” he said. “I am thankful that I am in this life to motivate because I’ve met a lot of people who are devastated by this disease. Some are just devastated by this diagnosis more than the disease, actually, and that does a lot of damage.”

There are a couple of things he encourages others living with MS to do. First, take the medications. He said it’s vital to work with doctors to figure out which medications are tolerable. Second, he suggests building a support system.

“If you have a support system, you’ll do better,” he said. “And that’s probably for everything. Just like in my music world, my mom and dad supported me; therefore, I felt like I was going to succeed. To have a support system through MS, I think you’ll do a lot better.”

“...being able to recognize good songs, whether they’re songs you’ve written or somebody else has. That really is the longevity of an artist.” – Clay Walker

See you at the fair

For those who haven’t seen Walker perform in a while, he promises a strong performance at The Great Frederick Fair. He said he’s vocally stronger than he was in his 20s, and he credits his band and team for giving the fans what they want.

“Our band is just killing it – they are so good. They sound like studio quality,” he said. “So, when (the fans) hear the show, every song is coming to life for them – and it even sounds better than the records that we recorded.”