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Gary Clark Jr. Shows Impressive Musical Range On 'This Land'

Gary Clark Jr.
Frank Maddocks
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Courtesy of the artist
Gary Clark Jr.

We're thrilled to have Gary Clark Jr. on World Cafe today. Gary is a guitar prodigy from Austin who showed so much promise that the mayor held a ceremony to declare "Gary Clark Jr. Day" when he was still in high school. Since then, Gary's found fans in Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy, and he's managed to do something really impressive for anyone who is gifted on guitar and is often the subject of celebrity comparisons: He's continued to innovate his own sound, rebelling against the possibility of being pinned down to a genre or style.

On his latest album This Land, which comes out Feb. 22, Gary delivers an impressive musical range that incorporates punk, soul and even hip-hop. And not only is the music impactful, but so is what Gary has to say. We talk about his use of the n-word on the title track, which he uses to address the racism he experienced as a kid growing up in Austin and faced again recently as a parent in front of his own kid. We also talk about the song Gary wrote for his mother "Pearl Cadillac," and hear performances Gary and his band recorded live at the Fonda Theatre in LA. All that and more in the player.

Copyright 2019 XPN

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Talia Schlanger hosts World Cafe, which is distributed by NPR and produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. She got her start in broadcasting at the CBC, Canada's national public broadcaster. She hosted CBC Radio 2 Weekend Mornings on radio and was the on-camera host for two seasons of the television series CBC Music: Backstage, as well as several prime-time music TV specials for CBC, including the Quietest Concert Ever: On Fundy's Ocean Floor. Schlanger also guest hosted various flagship shows on CBC Radio One, including As It Happens, Day 6 and Because News. Schlanger also won a Canadian Screen Award as a producer for CBC Music Presents: The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions, a cross-country rock 'n' roll road trip.
Since 2017, John Myers has been the producer of NPR's World Cafe, which is produced by WXPN at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Previously he spent about eight years working on the other side of Philly at WHYY as a producer on the staff of Fresh Air with Terry Gross. John was also a member of the team of public radio veterans recruited to develop original programming for Audible and has worked extensively as a freelance producer. His portfolio includes work for the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, The Association for Public Art and the radio documentary, Going Black: The Legacy of Philly Soul Radio. He's taught radio production to preschoolers and college students and, in the late 90's, spent a couple of years traveling around the country as a roadie for the rock band Huffamoose.