We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Clementine Darling a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Clementine, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

In April 2017, I embarked on a 3,000 mile road trip for 3 weeks with no itinerary. I packed up my dog and guitar in my handmade “woodie” teardrop trailer, and hit the road bound for the desert in search of super bloom flowers. I left my partner and our problems in my rear view mirror with no lovely words or promises. Just blank space. After time spent in Joshua Tree, Anza Borrego, Death Valley, and ultimately the Las Vegas Strip camping in the Circus Circus parking lot, I drove back to the place I call home- Sonoma County. At 3 am, in a rented room with no furniture, I sat on the floor and penned my song “Choose Love.” It was a tail of heartbreak and loss, a personal account of my time spent in lonesome cities, and the aching triumph of choosing love over all.

Three days later, I entered that song in a songwriting contest that ended a few short hours after I found the poster on a community billboard in a music shop. A week later, I got a call back saying I had been selected to join a group of musicians at Prairie Sun Recording Studios and workshop my song with the legendary songwriter and producer, Sam Hollander. At the end of that weekend, I was selected to perform my song at Creative Sonoma’s Next Level Music Conference at Luther Burbank Center For The Arts in Santa Rosa, California. It was my first time stepping on a stage, sharing my own music, and seeing my potential as an artist. When the applause faded from the room of 200 industry professionals, I was approached by different folks who have been in my corner ever since- engineers who recorded my music, DJ’s who interviewed me on local stations, tastemakers and leaders who have offered me platforms to elevate my career over the past 7 years. I will never forget those who first believed in me, before I could see what they saw.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve been singing since before I learned to talk. I was raised Southern Baptist and learned to read harmonies from hymnals and by listening to various members of the congregation take their parts. It was fascinating to me. When the service would end, I would sneak over to piano and try to plunk out the melody to “Amazing Grace” by ear. I’d stand on the stage behind the pulpit with the microphone just out of reach, and look back at my audience of empty chairs. As I grew older, my sisters and I performed Hanson songs at the church talent show. Being a musician on stage seemed otherwordly to me, and as I grew, the dream was left with my childhood pastimes.

In 2017, I won a songwriting contest that allowed me to perform and share my original music for the first time. That taste of my dream in reality was all I needed to finally believe I could pursue the music path. I had no idea where it would take me and some days I still don’t It’s a pleasant, lucid dream.

I mostly write and perform songs from my own personal experiences for audiences in darkly lit rooms in moody bars in big cities. Some afternoons, I entertain a crowd of wine connoisseurs in an enchanted patio garden. Every fall for the past 4 years, I’ve met with musicians from around the US/Canada in Mexico to write songs to be pitched for sync for film, television, and commercials. Its been a really fun and inspiring experience to write outside of my genre with music makers who do not share the same background as me. It’s exciting to have these songs in the pocket, with the hope that eventually they’ll land somewhere totally unexpected.

I like to think of my music as an open door for people who need a place to be. A warm, quiet waiting room full of empathy and understanding. A hand on a shoulder that says, “I get it. I’m here.” I hope my fans feel the same way.

I’m most proud of the album I’ve most recently released, “Bootstraps EP”, as its my most honest work yet. I wrote these songs after a dry spell of writer’s block throughout 2020-2021. I signed up for a songwriting class led by Courtney Marie Andrews with no expectations. Each of her prompts, stories, and songs inspired new ideas and observations about the mad world around me. With every song I wrote, I felt myself coming back. At the end of the series, I had the bones for my next album and started planning my record. I knew I had to record it at Prairie Sun Recording Studios and bring it back full circle. I hired a few studio players who helped me bring the songs to life, along with engineer Kelly McGrew.

The definition of ‘bootstrapping’- “get (oneself or something) into or out of a situation using existing resources”, ‘carried out with minimum resources or advantages”, “to promote or develop by initiative and effort with little or no assistance.”

…in other words, lean into hard work and self-reliance to get it done. I feel like this album stands to prove its title. I’m learning how to ask for more help lately. I’m leaning into connection with my fan base and am a forever student of the musicians who inspire me endlessly.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I’ve been on a journey this year that I’ve been pretty quiet about. Sometimes it feels as if my songs are premonitory and that I am bound to really live out the lesson behind each title. In February 2023, I had a bad fall from my horse when he bolted with me in the saddle. I was riding alone and at the end of our ride, not paying much attention, as I was attempting to film content for social media. I still don’t know what set him off. When he bolted, I had mostly dropped my reins and was holding my cell phone taking a video. Its the only evidence I have to piece back together my memories of that moment. When I finally came off of my horse, he was at a full sprint and although I was wearing a helmet, I sustained a fractured spine and mild traumatic brain injury.

When I came to, I cycled through emotions from anger to sadness to disbelief and settled on indifference. I wasn’t going to let a bad fall stop my momentum. So I got up, dusted myself off, drove home, and fell asleep for 17 hours. I woke up and instead of going to a hospital, I drove to San Francisco for a Margo Price concert and sang Janis Joplin’s “Mercedes Benz” alongside of her in the audience at the end of the show completely out of my body. I stayed that way over the next 6 weeks, playing my shows and busking during my few waking hours of the day in a haze.

In March, I finally went to the ER and found out I had sustained a fracture in my spine 6 days before I was set to leave to Austin to play unofficial showcases during SxSW on 6th Street. So I called the airport and booked a wheelchair to take me and my guitar to my gate. Uber drivers and hotel staff helped me carry my load to and from hotel rooms, and strangers at venues kindly obliged to carry my guitar around when I asked. While in Austin, I found out I had won tickets to Margo Price’s Austin City Limits Taping, so I extended my trip and booked hotels to try to find quiet space. There is no quiet space to be found during SxSW and my hotel was having a weekend poolside rave all day and night. My concussion was worsening, so I put in earplugs and wore them everywhere I went. My last days in Austin, I began experiencing frightening memory loss. I invited a stranger into my hotel room to hang out because I thought he was my friend from San Francisco. I completely forgot memories of a road trip I’d taken to the coast with a friend the last time I had visited her in Austin. So when I attended Austin City Limits on my last night in town, I accepted that it was the end of the road for me.

I took in the show without my earplugs and boarded a plane the next morning feeling psychedelic and lost and drove from the airport to my doctor’s office. They prompted me to immediately cancel all of my shows for 3 months. My recommended recovery was to sit in stillness, in silence, in darkness and heal. I think they call that a “dark night of the soul.” During those months of confusion, I didn’t know what life on the other side would look like. And I couldn’t stay away from music. So against my doctor’s best advice, I put in ear plugs and started busking for short periods of time. I felt like I was singing underwater, but after awhile I would surface and feel a semblance of normal again. Singing was healing me. I couldn’t explain it and didn’t know why. Now that I’ve studied more on the vagus nerve, I can see exactly how and why it was helping. There could be work for me ahead to explore that connection as a resource for others. As they say, “everything happens for a reason.”

On May 5, 2023 I released Bootstraps EP and on May 6th, I was cleared to return to music. I returned with a vigor and haven’t slowed down since. I’ve been given a new lease on my dream and I won’t take it for granted.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I am in complete dedication to the muse and in return, I’ve taken a vow of sacrifice. While I plan to see this thing through until my dreams manifest into reality, I know I’m living an outlaw gambler’s life. I’ve watched the mile-markers pass by each year since I started this music journey and wonder what’s in store for me. I never graduated college, I’ve had only casually committed relationships since my music journey started, and I don’t see how I’d ever fit a family life into the picture I’ve painted so far. As I’ve come into maturity and examine the expectations of potential partners, I can see how I may fall short each time because I choose the muse above all. It’s not something I mean to complain about. But I do wonder if folks who don’t pursue the path of creativity see it. I’ve encountered other artists who are on top of their touring game and lonesome every night in hotel rooms because no one knows their real names. I wonder what my fate is. And still, I’m dedicated. I’m committed. It’s required. It’s involuntary. And I believe wholeheartedly, it’s all worth it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.clementinedarlingmusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clementinedarlingmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClementineDarlingMusic/
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/7w3TfQMvBAQ
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7yjaAoQo650uEgATVqgwQj?si=Q4aXTPGsTMC9OYaNvx613Q

Image Credits
Philip Pavliger, Lotus Lou, Trevor Zinn, Boxcar Entertainment Productions