About a month ago when I was in Nashville, I had the pleasure of meeting Clayton in person. I will tell you right now he's a guy you want to root for. A class act, professional and an all-around genuine dude. It was cool sitting and talking to him over a beer about this new single and to see how pumped he was to show the world what he's been working hard for. It's cool looking back to that moment and realizing that day is finally here. First time streaming the song - couldn't be more proud of this dude. An absolute masterpiece from start to finish.
Get To Know Clayton
From the cornfields and dirt roads of Illinois, Clayton made the move to Music City to pursue his dreams in 2018. He continues fine tuning his craft and growing as a singer-songwriter. Clayton has been playing music professionally for about 7 years. He started out playing covers and his music has developed into a career. Clayton is realizing his dreams have become more attainable. He got his start playing bars in Central Illinois at 17. After a few years Clayton wanted to keep growing in music and made the decision to pack the bags and move to Nashville. Before his move, a major moment happened for Clayton - he just didn't know it yet. He opened for Blackjack Billy- a rockin' Country band which he recalls as being an incredible experience. After the show, Clayton stayed in contact with guitar player Jeff Coplan. As Clayton was moving down to Nash, he hit Jeff up and asked if he wanted to grab a beer and catch up. Jeff got back to him saying that Blackjack Billy needed a bass player. Even though Clayton didn't know how to play bass, Jeff gave him the opportunity to learn. Clayton jumped on the opportunity and described going out to buy a bass and then locking himself in his room for a month - putting all of his focus and energy into learning bass. Clayton credits Jeff for not only taking a chance on him, but for being the front man that enabled him to be a touring bass player in a month and a half. Within a few months. Clayton went from playing bars in Illinois, to touring and in August 2018 playing to his largest crowd at Boots and Hearts in Canada. Clayton continues playing bass with Blackjack Billy and now in 2020 is making a big push to launch his solo career.
"Girl Like You by Clayton Shay is the beez kneez"- says everyone
Like I said in the beginning, I couldn't be more proud of this man! Y'all need to get ready for Clayton to make some BIG waves in the next few months as he is releasing some heaters. Right off the bat Clayton hits you with the "you've got that beautiful" and you're like OH SHIT... THIS IS GOING TO BE A SMASH. Then he continues with the smooth delivery as his vocals hit your ears like some fireworks on the 4th of July. Like the good peaceful fireworks you hear from a distance - not the ones your dumb ass cousin chases you around with in the middle of June in your backyard. And can we talk about the chorus for a second... What is this prime Shakespeare?
Whatever the cool kids are saying, "heater", "jam", "banger", "jam-orama"... yeah this is all of those combined. 12/10 recommended.
"Girl Like You" Chorus:
"So baby where's a girl like you come from Up there in the clouds or straight outta the sun Lookin' like an angel what has God done, done Baby where's a girl like you come from It's gotta be Heaven It's gotta be heaven It's gotta be Heaven It's gotta be heaven"
Whatever the cool kids are saying, "heater", "jam", "banger", "jam-orama"... yeah this is all of those combined. 12/10 recommended.
Inspiration Behind "Girl Like You"
Written By: Garrett Jacobs, Jon Kraft, Taylor Phillips & Clayton Shay,
Produced By: Colt Capperrune
"For this one we didn't talk about it. Usually you sit down, throw ideas around and wait for one to click. Then when you get to that point, you talk about the idea for at least a half hour and go from there. But for this one, we had just written two songs. Taylor came in for the last one and then we wrapped up with that song. Then Taylor just started messing around with "baby where does a girl like you come from" and we all kind of stopped packing up and were like "that's dope". It came together with this vibe of having a girl that is so beautiful and perfect and there is no way she can be from Earth. We just wrote every line with that mindset and all the lines point to this angelic “too good to be true” attitude. I think it's simple, but so relatable to every guy that has obsessed over a girl. It wasn’t one of those songs we spent a ton of time brainstorming, “Girl Like You” just kind of wrote itself."
Q & A With Clayton
Q: Growing up, what impact did music have on your life and how did it shape your journey this far?
A: "Yeah so, I've always - since I was a little kid - wanted to have the attention on me no matter how big the room. I remember when I was 4, my sister would have her friends over and I would take off my shirt and run around flexing my muscles. That side of me has always been there, not for the same reasons anymore, but I enjoy having people's attention to spread a positive message and attitude. When I was young, I started playing piano. My grandma had this old grand piano that I would mess around on. She was really talented and she showed me some things. I never had any lessons, but I got to the point where I could play a little bit. That progressed into playing trumpet in the school band and I picked up the guitar at the same time. I ended up quitting band to focus on guitar. I’d never had lessons with that either and just learned to strum chords on my own. I started singing probably Freshman year of high school though nobody ever heard me sing until my Senior year. It was in a talent show, which is kind of a gimmick, not taken too seriously. The whole town comes out and I can still place myself in the moment and just remember people staring at me, being shocked. At that point I didn't know if I had anything, but it was the first time that I got some positive reinforcement. After that I started a Funk Rock band, then went on to college in Bloomington where I dove into Country Music and here we are."
Q: Favorite spot for food in Nashville and what's your favorite meal there?
A: "Dude, that's such a hard question... so the first one that comes to my mind is Bakersfield, it's like an upscale Mexican restaurant and you can order by the taco and they are huge. You have so many selections and their Margaritas are awesome too. My go-to meal is the tacos for sure with a Pineapple Margarita. I also like Chicago Style Gyros in East Nashville. Usually just go with the gyros. It's so good."
Q: Who are some of your favorite artists right now and who are some artists that influence your music?
A: "I bounce around so much it's almost day to day with me. I will wake up with a song in my head and be on that all day. I love Morgan Wallen and HARDY's writing style. I have been working on imitating the tone of Chris Young more, like his runs and the slipperiness of his tone, I like that a lot. Kane [Brown] is killing it and most definitely Muscadine [Bloodline] is another one, their songwriting and harmonies are incredible. Those are who stand out for me."
Q: What has been your greatest experience in Nashville?
A: "It's only been 2 and a half years so you would think this would be easy to think of one memorable thing. It's hard to pinpoint one thing, but the overall experience of meeting people and writing with them has been awesome. Some of the Whiskey Jam concert series’ have been mind-blowing. The one that really hit me was seeing Love and Theft and letting them know who I was because of the band I play in and through Jeff. Also, just the aspect of some artists that play Whiskey Jam have had hits on the radio. They have played arenas and to get to see them in this small room, 5 feet away is inspirational. Been some of the coolest experiences of my life."
Head over to Apple Music & Spotify and start following Clayton... big things are coming.