12/2/2011
By GARY DEMUTH Salina Journal

For country music singer/songwriter Clint Black, writing a good song is not unlike making a good stew.

Like a chef, he said, a songwriter has to take a good idea and make something savory out of it.

"You've got to decide, is there enough here to make a stew out of, or do I just have a potato?" Black said. "It's like being a chef in a kitchen. Can I take a good idea and make a good stew out of it?"

For the past 22 years, Black has been making a lot of good stew. Beginning with his first single, 1989's "A Better Man," and first album "Killin' Time," which spawned five No. 1 singles, Black has become one of the most acclaimed and popular country artists of all time.

During his career, Black has recorded more than 100 songs and sold more than 20 million albums.

"I always knew my songs were good, but success is always a surprise," he said. "I'm lucky to come out the other side of this rocket ship ride."

Black and his band will be in concert Thursday at the Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts, 151 S. Santa Fe.

Black's performance kicks off concert events next week at the Stiefel Theatre. The classical/pop/folk trio from Ireland, The Celtic Tenors, perform Dec. 9. Chris Cornell, a pioneer of the Seattle grunge rock movement of the 1990s with his band Soundgarden, will perform a solo acoustic concert Dec. 10.

I've always been country

Black was raised in the small Texas town of Katy, a suburb of Houston. As a young man, he played guitar and harmonica and was into blues music until his older brothers introduced him to country music.

From then on, Black said, his country music tastes developed through listening to country artists such as Bob Wills, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.

"I've always been country," he said. "Anything else would have been short-lived. When lyrics pour out of me, they're country."

In 1987, Black met guitarist/songwriter Hayden Nicholas, who became Black's lead guitarist and co-wrote many of his hit singles. In 1988, Black signed a record contract with RCA Nashville.

His first album also included the No. 1 hits "A Better Man," "Nobody's Home" and "Walkin' Away." Later that same year, Black won Best Album, Best Single, Best Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music.

By the end of 1990, the album had sold more than 2 million copies in the U.S.

Black's second album also produced a number of hit singles, including "Put Yourself in My Shoes," "One More Payment," "Loving Blind" and "Where Are You Now?"

Secret to his success?

In all, more than 30 of Black's singles were hits on the country music charts, and 13 have reached No. 1. Other hit singles include "One Emotion," "Untanglin' My Mind," "Like the Rain," "Something That We Do," "Nothin' but the Taillights" and "We Tell Ourselves."

The secret of Black's success? He's been trying to figure that out for years.

"I've been told that a particular song described our marriage, or that they loved my guitar or they loved my smile," he said. "What it comes down to is the lyrics have to be solid and the melody has to work."

Family comes first

Yet no matter how big his professional success may be, family comes first for Black. In 2001, he took a three-year break from the music industry to stay at home with his daughter Lily Pearl, and his wife, actress Lisa Hartman.

"To me, it was critical -- I didn't want to be Uncle Dad," Black said. "When thunder strikes outside, will they reach for a nanny or reach for you? I didn't want that to happen."

It was five years before Black made another album. Now he's not only back making music and touring, but he's continuing to develop an acting and directing career and is in the process of writing songs for a stage musical.

"There's a variety of things I do, but it's hard to imagine I'd give up country music in favor of anything else," he said.

For Black, there's no better feeling than being on stage and connecting with an audience.

"Every night is a new chance to make it better," he said. "It's also about giving an audience a good time. It's their night out, it's not my night out. They deserve to have a good time and go away with a good feeling."

Songs that draw us home

For the Celtic Tenors, the holidays are all about home and family.

Home is so important to the three Irish singers that their latest album, "Feels Like Home," includes three songs with "home" in the titles.

"Home is an incredibly important Celtic theme," said high tenor Daryl Simpson, a native of Northern Ireland. "We're drawn to songs that draw us to home. Maybe that's a reflection on us not being at home for that long."

Formed 11 years ago, the Celtic Tenors tour the world throughout the year, performing an eclectic blend of classical, folk, pop, operatic and traditional Irish music sprinkled with "a bit of humor," Simpson said.

The trio previously performed at the Stiefel Theatre in August 2009.

Family and friendship

Their current concert tour includes selections from "Feels Like Home," favorites from their previous five albums and a few Celtic-flavored renditions of classic holiday tunes such as "White Christmas," "Have Yourself a Very Merry Christmas" and "O Holy Night."

"We try to give people a real feeling of friendship and family," Simpson said. "It's kind of a corny thing to say, but if you're not doing this for the right reasons, people will see through it. Our goal is to take people on an emotional journey, while giving them some belly laughs and some tender moments to reflect."

The Celtic Tenors were founded in 2000 by Matthew Gilsenan, James Nelson and Naill Morris. In 2007, Simpson, an operatic-trained tenor from Ormagh in Northern Ireland, replaced Morris.

Inspired by car bombing

Simpson also is the musical director of the Ormagh Community Youth Choir, which he formed in the wake of a 1998 car bombing in a crowded shopping area of Ormagh that killed 31 people.

"The youth choir was set-up as a response to the insanity," Simpson said. "We made it our mission to promote peace and reconciliation."

The choir backs Simpson in a solo he sings on the "Feels Like Home" album, "Better." Although on the surface, the song is about the relationship between a man and a woman, it also serves as an allegory for Northern Ireland, he said.

"Northern Ireland isn't a perfect place, but people are working on peace," Simpson said.

Simpson said each of the three tenors brings their own particular musical experience to the group, which makes for a unique and dynamic mixture. Although all three are classically trained, each are interested in other types of music, ranging from jazz to pop to heavy metal.

"I've always been interested in the American style of music, blues and jazz," he said. "Together, we all bring our musical insights to the group and work to make everything we do sound quite natural."

Architect of grunge

Along with Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell is considered one of the architects of the Seattle grunge rock movement of the early 1990s.

Through his band Soundgarden, Cornell became a rock icon through his dark, edgy but complex songs and his powerful voice, considered one of the best rock voices in music history.

In 1989, Soundgarden became the first Seattle band to sign to a major record label. Their first album, 1991's "Badmotorfinger," included the singles "Jesus Christ Pose," "Outshined" and "Rusty Cage." The latter song was covered by Johnny Cash on his 1996 album "Unchained."

The band's 1994 album, "Superunknown," is considered their breakthrough album. It included several successful singles, including "Spoonman" and "Black Hole Sun."

Concerts selling out

In 1999, Cornell released an acclaimed solo album, "Euphoria Morning." He also embarked on side projects, including joining three members of Rage Against the Machine to form the supergroup Audioslave, which produced three top-selling albums.

As a solo artist, Cornell continued to carve out an eclectic career, contributing to movie soundtracks such as "Great Expectations," "Mission: Impossible II" and "Casino Royale." He also recorded a bluesy reinvention of the Michael Jackson classic "Billie Jean."

This spring, Cornell embarked on a solo acoustic "U.S. Songbook" tour, playing unplugged versions of his song catalog.

Cornell's solo concert has sold-out most performances and is expected to be a sell-out at the Stiefel Theatre, said executive director Jane Gates. As of Wednesday, about 60 tickets were still available.

"He's a big name, if not one of the biggest current names to come to the Stiefel," Gates said. "He's a icon."

-- Reporter Gary Demuth can be reached at 822-1405 or by email at gdemuth@salina.com.

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