For Esquire's June/July 2015 issue, we asked some of our favorite musicians to take a break from SXSW and play for charities of their choosing. See all the Sidewalk Sessions here.
GARY CLARK JR., FOR THE UNINITIATED: Gary Clark Jr. first stepped onstage at Antone's—Austin's legendary "Home of the Blues"—as a shy fifteen-year-old. Now, at thirty-one, he's a superconfident, jaw-dropping, once-in-a-generation bluesman whom folks like the Rolling Stones, the Foo Fighters, Stevie Wonder, and, most recently, Beyoncé bring out as a guest on special occasions that call for extra firepower. This summer, in a full-circle move, he'll oversee the long-awaited reopening of Antone's as one of the club's new co-owners, and he'll release his equally long-awaited sophomore album.
Here's Gary Clark Jr. performing "Catfish Blues" and "If Trouble Was Money" on the streets of Austin to benefit American YouthWorks. Watch below and please donate, then read his quotes below:
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RESPECT FOR TRADITION: "I think it's important that if you're going to be in a career or a field, you should know the history of it. To me, it's important to show some respect, to know where you came from. I didn't invent this stuff. I couldn't be the black man playing guitar running around doing this thing, if I hadn't seen images of BB King and Buddy Guy, leading up to Hendrix, doing this thing first. I feel like it's important for me to let it be known that there's not a gap, that there's continuity."
ON ROUGH NIGHTS: "Sometimes I'll have moments where my mind and my body aren't vibing together. Sometimes you have to scramble to get back into a flow. That's frustrating and there's also the pressure of people staring at you and listening. You have to try not to show the struggle. When it's good you're floating. Everything just makes sense."
ON THE GUITAR: "No other instrument affected me like guitar. I could play a note, or hear someone else play one, and get goosebumps. And when somebody does something so badass, you're like, 'Damn!' You can't hold back that reaction. That's what I got into this for. It's still a mystery and a challenge."
ON HIS STAGE STYLE: "Jimmie Vaughan said you'll never play better than if you have a nice pair of shoes on. It's a confidence thing. If you look fly, you feel fly."
For more on Gary Clark Jr. and to download his music, go here.
TOP: Linen-twill jacket ($1,495) by Burberry Prorsum; hemp-and-cotton shirt ($1,150) by Hermès; cotton jeans ($250) by Burberry Brit; fur-felt hat ($300) by Borsalino.
BELOW: Cotton-canvas jacket ($395), cotton-twill shirt ($125), and cotton jeans ($90) by Polo Ralph Lauren; vintage leather boots ($358) by the Frye Company; jersey hat ($48) by Gents.
