Country star Clay Walker’s Oct. 7 Greensburg concert moves to April 29
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UPDATE: On Oct. 6, the Westmoreland Cultural Trust shared this statement from Clay Walker’s team: “Please be advised, Clay Walker at The Palace Theatre, originally scheduled for October 7th, 2021, has now been rescheduled to April 29th, 2022. Please hang on to your tickets; all tickets purchased for the original date will be honored. If you have purchased a ticket, there is nothing else you need to do at this time. For any questions regarding your tickets or the event or if you are unable to attend the new event date, please contact the original point of purchase BY NOVEMBER 5, 2021, for more information.”
The Trust adds that The Palace Theatre Box Office is available 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays, by email at boxoffice@wctrust.net or by phone at 724-836-8000. If ticket-holders do not respond by Nov. 5, their tickets will remain valid for the amended show date.
Occasionally, you hear a story about a performer giving a shout-out from the stage to the wrong city.
Country singer/songwriter Clay Walker wants people to know that won’t happen when he plays The Palace Theatre in Greensburg.
“I approve all my shows, so I just want people to know it’s no accident that we’re coming to Greensburg,” he said from his home in Tennessee.
“I really love coming to Pennsylvania,” he said. “The shows I’ve done there have always been well-attended, and the crowds are enthusiastic.”
Show time is 7:30 p.m.
In Greensburg, Walker will be playing favorites from his extensive catalog — including 31 charted singles and four platinum albums — along with tunes from his latest studio effort, “Texas to Tennessee,” released July 30 as his first album on the Show Dog Nashville label.
The first single, “Need a Bar Sometimes,” was released in August.
No rough spots
Walker said he was pleased with both the process of making the album and with the final result.
“In the recording, there was not even the slightest rough spot,” he said, giving credit to producer Michael Knox. “This album had some vision to it, and that started with us finding a producer who was a good fit for me; and the musicians were spot on.”
On his website, Walker says making the album was truly a team effort: “I saw something with this album I’ve not experienced: what it takes to make a championship happen. The songs are your deep-threat wide receivers. The full support of your record label is the offensive line. … Everyone has done their part and it’s impressive. You can have talent, be famous or have a few hits, but you can’t win the Super Bowl without champions around you. Man, I’ve got ’em.”
The album clocks in at under 30 minutes, with half the songs — all written or co-written by Walker — in the 3-minute range.
He and his wife listened to it together for the first time while driving in their truck.
“I turned it off and I turned to her and said, ‘It’s crazy, I’m not getting tired of any of these songs,’” he said. “That’s the first time I’ve been able to say that.”
The title of the album refers to both Walker’s personal history and his history in music.
“The name is our journey for the last 16 years,” he said. “We go back and forth, taking care of business, so it’s true to our life — Texas to Tennessee and Tennessee to Texas.”
A native of the small East Texas town of Vidor, Walker began singing in area clubs at age 19 and soon was hired as the house singer at a bar in nearby Beaumont.
In 1992, he was discovered by record producer James Stroud, also president of the Warner Music Group subsidiary Giant Records. Walker’s self-titled debut album, produced by Stroud, came out in 1993. Its first single, “What’s It to You,” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts and number 73 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Now Walker and his family split their time between Nashville and homes in Mineola and Galveston, Texas.
Great to be back
The pandemic gave Walker the luxury of being able to spend a long stretch of time at home.
“That’s something I haven’t done for 25 years,” said Walker, 52. “On the ranch, we could get out and play with the animals and spend time around the pond. That time together was priceless.”
But it’s good to get back to work, he added.
“Most of us were forced to be sidelined (during the pandemic), so now it’s great to be back out there, but we just want to do it safely,” he said.
Walker said he is gratified when he sees people of all ages in the audience at his shows.
“I’ll see a 16-year-old singing at the top of his lungs, and I’ll think, ‘That song is older than that kid,’ ” he said. “I think people tend to grow up with my songs, singing along with my hits and playing them for their children.
“I think that’s especially true of country music.”
When he’s not on the road or in the studio, Walker is involved in fundraising and advocacy for people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease in 1996.
In 2003, he founded the nonprofit, Band Against MS, to fund research and programs that help those living with MS.
“There’s no rhyme or reason for who gets MS,” he said. “I’ve definitely had my moments in life when I struggled, and I just want to provide hope to other people.”
Since it can be difficult to find a treatment that works, he said, he likes to advocate for those with MS “to be active in finding a medication you can tolerate and that works, and not giving up.”
He wants his own story to provide inspiration, too. Since beginning a once-every-six-months dose of the medication Ocrevus, he said, “I have not had a relapse, and that’s a really big deal.”