Gary Clark Jr.

Hailed as "the future of Texas Blues", Gary Clark Jr. has earned high praise for his guitar playing and soulful vocals from the likes of B.B. King, Keith Richards, and John Mayer. Born on 15 February 1984 in Austin, Texas, after picking up the guitar as a 12-year-old he started out jamming at open mic nights in his teens before cutting his teeth at the legendary Antone's blues club in Austin, from which Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan rose to fame. Early albums 110 (2004) and Worry No More (2008) made him a star within his home state's music scene, but his role as a travelling musician in 1950s Alabama in the acclaimed movie Honeydripper brought him to wider attention. His reputation grew again when he was selected by Eric Clapton to play at the 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago and a storming performance of his breakthrough track "Bright Lights" led to a performance at the White House alongside Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck and Buddy. He later supported and appeared with The Rolling Stones as well as collaborating with Sheryl Crow, Alicia Keys and Stevie Wonder, while his album Blak and Blu (2012) reached number six in the US charts and was named by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the top 50 records of the year. He released The Story of Sonny Boy Slim in 2015 followed by This Land in 2019. In between solo releases he also collaborated with Tech N9ne, Childish Gambino, ZZ Ward and Tom Morello. For his fourth album, JPEG Raw, he rounded up an all-star cast of contributors: Valerie June ("Don't Start"), George Clinton ("Funk Witch U"), Stevie Wonder ("What About the Children"), and Keyon Harrold ("Alone Together"). Released in March 2024, JPEG Raw cycled through a genre-spanning palette of sounds from jazz and R&B to blues and traditional African styles.