Hat Trick Top ‘Hat Acts’ George Strait And Terri Clark Join Forces For Tour

Terri Clark didn’t intend to become country music’s first female hat, it just turned out that way.

“I wore hats off and on when I was a kid,” the rangy singer said last week in a cell-phone conversation from Westbridge, Alberta. “I started wearing one again when I was working at a western-wear store in Nashville.”

Clark, who opens for George Strait tonight at the Arena, was another aspiring singer making contacts on Music Row when she met up with a record company exec named Don Cook.

“When he met me I was wearing a hat and it knocked him out; he wanted to make that part of the deal. I was all for that - I don’t have to do my hair, plus it feels natural; I feel good in a hat.”

People don’t recognize her without her hat, she said, and when it’s on, people notice.

“I don’t care who you are, when you see a 6-foot woman wearing a cowboy hat, it gets your attention.”

Terri Clark is a native of Medicine Hat, Alberta, where cowboy hats are part of the landscape. It’s cattle-ranching territory and country music rules.

“I listen to rock ‘n’ roll more now than when I was a kid,” Clark said.

Of course, she has country music in her blood. Her maternal grandparents, Ray and Betty Gauthier, nearly cracked the big time, playing the country music circuit across Canada. They opened for Little Jimmy Dickens, George Jones and Johnny Cash.

Her grandma is her hero, Clark said, but her own mother wasn’t so sure she wanted her daughter banging around on the club scene - after all, she’d seen the effects firsthand growing up.

“It was hard on my grandmother,” Clark said. “She had five kids and she’d play ‘til three and have to get up in the morning to take care of them and get them to school. She had a heart attack in her 30s.

“My mother didn’t want me to play in the honky tonks.”

Still, when it was time for Clark to set out on her own, it was her mother who drove her all the way to Nashville.

Although she landed a singing job three days after arriving, it took Clark seven years to land a label deal. It came through a friend, freelance producer Keith Stegall.

“Keith always sent me words of encouragement through other people. He’d say, ‘Tell her not to give up; somebody’s going to sign her one of these days.’ “

That somebody turned out to be Stegall himself, who was pulled from the ranks of Nashville’s producers to become an executive at Mercury Records. One of his first official acts was calling Clark in for an audition.

“I always say you should never burn a bridge in Nashville,” Clark said, “because you never know who’s going to be able to sign you or produce you or write your next hit song.”

Clark has not done poorly in the hit song category. Her debut CD, “Terri Clark,” was released last year and immediately spun off a Top 5 hit, the upbeat “Better Things To Do,” and “If I Were You” is currently No. 28 with a bullet on the Radio & Records chart.

Though she’s not a true traditionalist, Clark wants her music to reflect the best elements of the past.

“I think there are ways to weave the traditional influence in and still have enough hip, rocking stuff to keep the teenagers interested.”

But fiddles and pedal steel guitars figure strongly in Clark’s music, as does the acoustic guitar.

“Acoustic guitar is a real prominent part of the music: we write on acoustic, so it’s gonna have those acoustic licks. It’s something I’ve always played and to make the music sound like me, the acoustic guitar has to be in there.”

Besides, acoustic guitar is a trademark of the Judds, one of Clark’s early idols.

“There’s a lot of Judds influence in me, and so there’s an acoustic influence there. We got Don Potter, the Judds’ acoustic player, to play on our record, which was a real thrill.”

Patsy Cline was another big influence, and when she gets a chance, Clark loves to cover Cline’s “Three Cigarettes In An Ashtray.” Bob Wills’ “San Antonio Rose” gets an occasional workout, too.

Working with George Strait on her first national tour is a thrill, Clark said.

“George is awesome. He’s wonderful. He gives us everything we need to do the show we want to do - he lets us use the video screens and everything. You don’t often get that when you’re an opening act.”

Clark also respects Strait’s way with a song.

“I always thought he did great music. He tends to stick with traditional music, which he likes, and he knows how to pick songs.”

That he does. In the 15 years since Strait released his first major-label record, he has cut 33 No. 1 singles. Thirteen of his 19 albums have gone platinum and the rest are all gold.

The advent of the so-called New Country scene has barely fazed the traditionalist Strait - he still cranks out hits, although it’s been a couple years since “You Can’t Make A Heart Love Somebody” went to the top.

Still in a world where thudding bass drums and screaming guitars sometimes drown out the country in country music, Strait and his Ace in the Hole Band are refreshing - and successful - throwbacks.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color photos

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CONCERT George Strait, with Terri Clark opening, performs tonight at 8 at the Spokane Arena. Sold out.