Clay’s life has been an amazing musical journey that began when he was 4 years old and his father gave him a Dixie whistle. He would play that whistle all hours of the day and night and his family would encourage him. Music brought joy into the life of Clay’s hard working parents and his nine brothers and sisters. After long days in the cotton field they would gather on their porch to play music and Clay’s skills were encouraged at an early age. Black Man Clay began jamming by belting out the song “Deep River” at the age of 4 and has been on the road of rhythm ever since.
“I had a sugar cane with six holes in it I used as a flute,” he said. “We sang songs, made makeshift guitars out of wood and hay baling wire.” Music has accompanied him through cotton picking in Texas, a San Antonio high school marching band and his U.S. Air Force career, even into the jungles of Vietnam. “My mom sent my saxophone and I’d find other guys to play with,” he said. One in a family of 10 siblings, with nine children of his own, music was also known to shake his home, especially on daylong jam sessions every New Year’s. When asked if the neighbors were ever annoyed by his family’s festivities, Clay was quick to answer. “They’d come jam with us,” he said. “If it was quiet, they would come ask what was wrong.”
In the early 1970’s Clay had a dream that changed his whole life. In his dream a voice came to him and gave him the Seven Principles and told him to call himself Black Man Clay. In 1974 when Clay retired from the air force he transformed himself into Black Man Clay.
In 1980 Clay became one of the founding members of “One Heartbeat” a street band whose “free- form” style allowed Clay to showcase his creativity. Clay has performed with One Heartbeat for 35 years.
By the mid 1980’s Clay’s family had expanded to include three children with his wife Annie (Amber, Ava and Austin) and these children (as with all his others) delighted in Clay’s musical talents and funny performances. Increasingly One Heart Beat was asked to play at schools, rec centers, fairs and festivals and Clay’s trademark (his nose flute playing) always delighted everyone
In 2003 Clay re-connected with friend Eric Heithaus who had become a music producer. A collaboration was born and Eric and Clay produced Clay’s first CD (Tripping through the Universe) in 2004. This was a huge and wonderful accomplishment for Clay as the CD included many of the songs he had in his head for years.
From 2006 to 2008 Clay was a member of a band named for him: “The Black Man Clay show”. The band learned and played songs from Clay’s CD and they created an award winning DVD.
Clay has also hosted radio shows in Colorado, Minneapolis and Tucson and been a frequent guest on Tucson Access TV. In 2012 Clay was inducted into the Tucson ‘s Musician’s Museum and recognized for his life-long musical career.