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

Clint, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

Honestly, every person, especially other artists, who have given my name to venues and organizations, or passed it along to anyone looking to hire a musician or band. I firmly believe that competition with yourself is healthy, but competition with other artists often leads to contempt. I have had plenty of doors opened for me because of the kindness of others, and I love paying it forward and keeping other artists in mind for similar opportunities that I’ve been given.

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 am a singer-songwriter and musician living in San Antonio, Texas. And my favorite follow-up question to this information is “But what do you do for a living? You know, like, a REAL job?” Kidding! That question is right up there with someone shouting “Free Bird” as a request – on behalf of all musicians, you can stop doing both of those things, thanks.

If you want to know how I became one of San Antonio’s top five ginger-bearded songwriters (too specific to not be true, right?) it’s a classic story of meteoric rise, fame, riches, and living life in the fast lane… minus the meteoric rise, fame, and riches. However, I often drive in the fast lane, stuck behind the Texas drivers who don’t understand what “passing” means.

Okay, so I started playing the guitar when I was eleven, back before YouTube made learning fairly accessible, so I would listen to the radio and try to mimic what I would hear. But I had zero ambition to turn it into a career. I was (and still am) obsessed with watching movies, and my dream job was becoming a filmmaker or screenwriter, writing half-finished screenplays and shooting videos of my action figures. But at the age of Sixteen, I had developed my guitar skills to the point where I was hired to be a rhythm guitarist for a local country band – an incredible opportunity that opened my eyes to the idea of making money with music. From there I started writing songs instead of screenplays, adding instruments to my repertoire like Mandolin and Banjo so I would get hired for more shows and more sessions and studio work. And now, sixteen years later, I have played shows all around the world, recorded and released an album of songs written entirely by me, started co-writing with other songwriters, sold some songs to other artists, and shared the stage with incredible musicians. I have also had to learn how to be my own booking agent, website developer, manager, tax expert, and everything else that comes with running your own business. Hey, good thing the music industry drastically changes every five years, right? *insert fake smile here*

I often hear that what I do is a “Dream job” – but that doesn’t mean it’s not still a job. There have been really difficult times in my career, where betting on myself seemed like the wrong move. Honestly, if you can’t find some kind of support from friends, peers, or family, whatever that looks like for you, it can make it nigh impossible to keep going. Discipline, talent, and determination are all great, but I would not be where I am today without the people who have encouraged, supported, and shown up for me in my career. Not to go full hippie Americana artist on y’all, but I believe one of the biggest purposes in life is to love people and love them well, to have a net-positive impact on your community, and if you’re an artist, to use your art to connect with others in a way that makes them feel seen, or to encourage them to take action against the ills of society. And art itself can be made and shared by anyone, anywhere. You don’t have to have a career in the arts for that, just the desire to create.

The reality is, more than music, my true love is creating. Whether that takes the form of writing songs and stories, creating melodies and riffs, or creating using a sophisticated system of interlocking bricks (I believe they are also called LEGO) – if I am not creating something, I genuinely feel something is missing in my life. It’s often the first thing my wife thinks to ask when I am feeling depressed or off. And if I had to switch careers tomorrow, I would still be creating, I’d still be writing music… who knows, maybe I would circle back to filmmaking. And if I ended up working outside of the arts, at a non-profit, or a marketing job, whatever, I would still create, still make art.

As of today, I am currently working on my next album, playing shows in Texas, and writing a book (everyone else has one, so I figured I’d join in) – and I am looking forward to seeing whoever is reading this interview down the road, at a festival or house concert or who knows where.

I am also still watching movies obsessively (seriously, hit me up on LetterBoxd)

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

This isn’t a specific story, but if you have a job where you have to generate and create most of your work – in my specific case, booking shows, which is essentially a constant stream of mini-job interviews – you are going to hear the word “no” quite a bit. It takes resilience to push past rejection. And then, another layer of resiliency takes the shape of knowing when YOU need to say “no” and stick up for your worth and your vision. And when saying “no” means simply not working, whew, that’s difficult. But if you’re going to keep pushing, to keep forging the path that YOU are on and not living into someone else’s vision of it, you will have to be able to accept “no” in its many forms.

Keep betting on yourself. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and support, and if you have the means or ability to, therapy goes a long way to keep your resilience tank filled up.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

The more art is seen as necessary and valuable to society and culture, the more it supports artists and creatives themselves. We need to foster creative and artistic people from childhood on up, funding art programs in schools and keeping art equitable, raising the value of art to something worth encouraging in our society. Putting resources into programs that help artists when they are working, whether that’s providing insurance or having grants that help artists create while still being able to afford to live, all of that is a part of nurturing the creative ecosystem.

When COVID hit, we saw how important art and creation are to keeping our spirits going in harsh and uncertain times. The value of art and artists went up as we read books and poetry by artists, watched movies by artists, heard songs by artists, and found ways to express our humanity through it all. Post-lockdown, I saw how hungry and thirsty folks were for music and live entertainment, with some of my most financially successful years being the past few, driven by the desire for those shared experiences.

I also think we need to encourage companies that have creatives on their team to let them be creative, and to encourage creativity in all spaces, not just the arts. There are creative problem solvers, there are creative teachers, there are creative leaders, and creative types in a myriad of roles – that should be encouraged and fostered, as well.

If the big ideas are overwhelming, start at the same place everyone has to – start with yourself. You can do something encouraging or helpful in this space, even if it’s as small as a kind word to an artist you meet, or maybe you can go to a show, buy an album, buy a craft at a local farmer’s market, spread the word about an artist on social media, or do a google search for non-profits in the art and art education space and learn. Whatever it is, there’s always something we can do.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.clinttomerlin.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clinttomerlin/
• Other: https://letterboxd.com/ClintT/ https://open.spotify.com/artist/0dn2qKb73kczJX6jFTj14I

Image Credits
Kayla Mundon Photography Javier Cazares