Clay Shelburn is a singer/songwriter from Ft. Worth, with exceptional songwriting and guitar skills. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I first met Clay back in 2009, as I was hired to help out with some vocal arranging on his last release. Bradley mixed his last record, and since Clay got so many compliments on the amazing quality of his last release, he wanted to come back to Bradley and I to get the job done again this time, but with both of us from the start.

I was thrilled to get the opportunity to work with Clay again. He had already begun making a name for himself playing around town with others, as well as with his own band, the Clay Shelburn Band. I already knew he was a great guitarist – what I didn’t expect was the songs to be so damn good. He and I started pre-production almost exactly a year ago (as I’m writing this, in November of 2015) ay my home studio, and the first few songs he brought in needed very little tweaking (if any). That’s a rare treat for me, as I’ve produced a lot of artists who are at the start of their journey – but Clay Shelburn was not.

I got to co-write a handful of the songs though, and although I’m proud of the entire record, there are a few standout tracks that still give me goose bumps. “This Is Me” was a co-write that started on my front porch and ended up in Mars by the time we were done with it. Such a fun ride!!

Perhaps the most peculiar part of this journey to releasing the record was that Clay somehow managed to become a viral sensation along the way. He and his buddy Zac were hanging around after a gig in Wal-Mart and saw a toy guitar opened up in the toy section. As any guitar player would, Clay began to pick it up and play around on it. He then decided to film it and throw it up on YouTube as a joke. Two years later, just before the release of his record, that video found it’s way to the front page of reddit, and Clay and Zac were dubbed the “Wal-Mart Rock Stars.” Although it’s “only” been viewed 5 million times on the official Clay Shelburn channel, there have been tons of re-posts and Clay estimates it’s had over 70 million views so far. Not bad for a toy guitar performance!

So preview the record below, and go buy it here. Clay’s worth your money, and this will definitely be a record you can live with for a long time to come. Enjoy!