The Good Vibes, Good Times & Groove of Clay Colton

An Interview with One of North County’s Busiest Musicians

In 25 years, Clay Colton has amassed and performed over 6000 professional shows to date. With the goal to reach 10,000 there is no sign of Colton stopping anytime soon. As with any successful endeavor, passion, devotion, and just flat out love for the subject at hand is what drives people to do big things. And this is the kind of discussion to have if we’re gonna talk about Clay Colton.

I’ve known him personally since about 2001. We made our acquaintance through our mutual friend—the beloved Craig Yerkes—who was playing in both Clay’s group and my group.

His work ethic is incredible. While anyone else is bitching about the circumstances, Clay is busy creating or locating the circumstances he needs. He possesses an entrepreneurial mindset, and it shows with the strength of a set list, schedule, and following up. As far as set lists go, he can play you about 600 cover tunes off the top of his head, right now.

He also writes. With a few releases under his belt recorded under the name Clay Colton Band, his songs show his light-hearted, unapologetically lived and decidedly forthright nature. In that light, Colton becomes a triple-threat artist being that he can write, sing his ass off, and throw down some serious guitar. On top of that, his fun nature on stage becomes part of the charisma. he can turn a room full of unassociated members into a full-on raging party.

And, even bigger than all of this… Being a steady-on full-time rocker living the dream as he sees it, Clay Colton is a well-functioning, devoted husband and father. To hear him talk about the progress and talents of his children—in among other things, music is a really cool thing to have him share with you.

Cool.

But today, we’re meeting at In Ocean Beach for breakfast. Mexican breakfast to be specific. It just made sense that we conduct a interview this way, because if there was no interview involved, this is probably what we would do anyway. And thus, with a few coffees under our belts we said, “okay, let’s do this.” Ladies and gentlemen, meet Clay Colton.

Chuck Schiele: Thanks for doing this interview for the San Diego Troubadour today. How are things?

Clay Colton: Fantastic. Thanks for sitting down with me. I appreciate you guys doing this.

CS: You have a pretty extensive career as far as I can tell, being friends with you for so long. I met you in the 2000s, But I’m pretty sure your music career started well before that.

CC: Actually, yes, and no. I played music as a child. I played and tried various instruments—mainly as a drummer in rock bands in high school and college; I picked up the guitar along the way. In my band, they would actually never let me sing because I was so God awful. But I figured that one out along the way. I never had any intention of being a musician after college, though. I always knew I would play music in some form but never thought about it as a career by any means.

CS: When did you realize that you were bound to be a professional?

CC: After college, I ended up in the Navy and was constantly broke, so I would…..

CS: …wait, were you about to tell me that you were broke so you went into the music business?

CC: Yeah, I know that seems ridiculous. I would supplement my crappy navy income by sitting in the smoke pit with a borrowed guitar trying to get some tips so I could buy a beer. On my 21st birthday I didn’t have a dollar to my name because I was in between paychecks. Went down to the barracks smoke pit… borrowed my buddy’s guitar and ended up with $46 in tips. Back then that was enough to get pretty lit for your 21st. This is when I saw the potential.

CS: [laughing] So, when did you put together your first working group or get your first working job? Was it solo or was it with a group?

CC: Solo. When I was discharged from the Navy, I spent my last paycheck on a couple of speakers and a used guitar. I hit the streets to see if I could get paid—to sing anywhere—and ended up working seven nights a week at a sushi bar in Oceanside. My problem was solved, but I honestly thought it would only be a six-month solution until I found a real job or went back to school.

CS: How long did it take before you formed your first group?

CC: My band along the way has always been quite organic. As I’m playing a solo show somebody might show up and say, “can I sit in?” I once showed up for my first night to play at an Irish pub and a kid was sitting there playing some conga. I asked him what he was doing on stage. He said I just show up here and play every Saturday night. We ended being a regular band at Tom Giblin’s Irish Pub (which eventually became “O’Sullivan’s Irish Pub” in Carlsbad) for 20 years, mixing in a ton of Irish music with our standard rock covers. It ended up making us incredibly marketable at a time when those two genres didn’t exist in one band. You were either Irish or Rock. Having a rock band that could also belt out 50 Irish drinking songs was pretty damn cool. He’s been my drummer for 24 years now. BJ Morgan is also involved with NAMM and the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad.

Another cool story about a “sit-in guest turned band member” is when Gary Piro hired me to play his birthday party. Afterward he said we should play together. I said, “how about a ’50s rock ‘n’ roll group?” We then started the Jukebox Kings and played tons of shows every year for the past 15 years.

CS: Oh yes. I think I first met you guys up at the Monterey Bay canners in Oceanside. It was through our mutual friend Craig Yerkes that we became friends at this venue.

CC: Yep. Good old Craig. This is how I met him because I was playing a gig at a resort he was visiting, and he just walked up and asked if he could play guitar with me in the middle of the gig. A year later, he introduced me to my wife.

CS: Interesting, isn’t it? How a music path can bring things into your life the way it does. Because of music, I know you guys… And because of music when we all sort of became friends throughout this time, we all sort of facilitated each other in our personal lives alongside casual music involvement. This has always been one of my favorite aspects about being a musician.

CC: Yeah, the real reward has not only been in the relationships. I’ve made through music, but also by seeing relationships formed in other people who would show up to my shows—either alone or with their spouses. And, nowadays, they all show up in groups because they’ve met each other through me and the music.

CS: We both know that the great stories we collect along the way are part of what makes this all so worthwhile. Got any fun stories that you can share with us? Or highlights along your career path?

CC: A real highlight has been the travel and the experiences I’ve been able to create for my friends and my family through playing music. I’ve done this a couple dozen times in Catalina; numerous gigs up at Mammoth, Mexico, and Colorado; and weddings all over the place. I often get to turn my gigs into awesome vacations; and it’s been a great way to be able to see the world and share time with my family.

CS: I know you know around 600 cover songs off the top of your head, which is amazing in itself, but you’re also a songwriter. Please tell us a little bit about your songwriting process or how you go about it and where your inspirations come from.

CC: It’s actually been a rough battle to be both a working cover musician and a songwriter at the same time. They’ve always seemed to be two different groups of people and so crossing the lines into one or the other constantly has been interesting. I always try to separate my songwriting and original music from my daily work of playing cover songs. It’s hard to blend the two. But, I’ve found awesome satisfaction in doing both of them separately.

CS: I know you’ve been busy writing these days as I had the privilege of listening to some of your tracks. They sound great.

CC: Thanks, Chuck. I’ve really become more relaxed as a songwriter as I get older. I used to focus way too much on writing universal themes trying to please everybody. With the songs I’ve been writing lately, I realize that sometimes you can just write a song for one specific person; and let everybody else enjoy it if they want to.

I’ve had some fun writing like songs about my boating experiences over the years, but lately it’s been fun to touch upon what might be at the end of this life. My kids have also been a huge inspiration and my songwriting because they are pretty damn impressive in themselves. My youngest daughter won the Songwriting Competition for Southern California when she was in fourth grade. And, I just got out of the studio, recording guitar for my oldest daughter’s new track, “Snow.” It’s because of them that I wanna continue to be as artistic and creative as I can.

CS: That’s pretty cool. I don’t hear too many musicians put it quite that way. So, you’ve been working mostly North County, yes?. Now… You have an extremely strong foothold in the North County music community, and you’ve had that for quite some time. Seems like you have three gigs a day from where I stand. I know you come down to San Diego now and then for things. Please share with us a little bit about that.

CC: Yeah, it’s awesome that I’ve been able to make a comfortable living within 20 minutes of my house in Vista, but it’s nice to get out once in a while and try something down in the big city. I play a lot of private or corporate functions and weddings in San Diego, but the real fun is when I come to sit in with friends who are playing their own songs, or when I get a headbang and work up a sweat on stage with my Pearl Jam tribute band, Oceans, or if I’m down in this area with my George Harrison tribute band, By George. Other than that, it’s nice to have a short commute home on a regular basis. I don’t know about three gigs a day, maybe when I was a little younger. But yeah, I have played over 6000 gigs in the past 25 years and I hope I can make it to 10,000 when I’m all done with this.

CS: Who’s involved with the Pearl Jam project and who is involved with the George Harrison project??

CC: Our Pearl Jam band is called Oceans and it’s a five piece lineup, including Pete Mechalas, Kevin Whelan, Rick Drake Jr., and Andy Hester. The George Harrison band is with Charlie Phillips, Davis Rees, Eric Klein, Ed Been, Ryan Green, Boyce Hartsell, and our celebrity guest guitarist, Greg Douglass.

CS: Pretty killer cover projects. But let’s hear about what’s going on with the Clay Colton Band. Who’s in that and tell us a little bit about this project.

CC: We’re having a lot of fun recording our fourth album now up at big rock Studios with Andy Machin. My lineup for the Clay Colton Band has always been fluid over the years, but I love the group of guys that I’m working with right now and they are the most phenomenal musicians around here. I’ve got Tom Cunningham on fiddle, mandolin, and guitar; Paul Castellanos on fiddle; Skip Matsey and Andrew Peña sharing bass duties; Dustin Koester on drums; BJ Morgan on percussion and additional vocals; Paul Cougill on piano; and Kevin Ryan on pedal steel.

CS: In your own words, how would you qualify or classify your music?

CC: What we’re recording right now is basically what you’re gonna get from a conversation with me. I’m just trying to be honest and share the experiences of a long, fruitful life in my writing these days. You’re gonna hear funny songs about adventures while sailing. You’re gonna hear about the love of my children and family. You’re gonna hear about my thoughts on the impending death of everyone and the journey until we get there. Stuff like that.

CS: Will we be able to hear any of this new project anytime soon?

CC: I really hope so. We have about six or seven songs tracked and hope to record a few more and put the finishing touches on it. Hopefully, in early February we will be done.

CS: What has been the most rewarding aspect of choosing a life of music for you?

CC: I’ve always called this my “accidental career,” because I never thought it was possible to make a living playing music. On a few occasions, I toyed with the idea of going back to school and getting a “real job” but always came back to just going to work and playing gigs every day. The most rewarding part about it is how I was able to spend all day with my girls growing up, actually becoming the PTA president at their school, starting a music club at their elementary, and having an influence of music on the kids.

Since I was working with the kids all of the time, I ended getting involved in a bunch of other charity and community events regularly, preforming at REINS Therapeutic Horsemanship, running talent shows, being a roadie for kids’ bands, running concerts at Mission Vista High School, and just trying to be a good mentor and teacher for inspiring young musicians. It’s been awesome watching little kids turn into amazing adult musicians. There’s still plenty of music for the next generation to write and now my kids’ friends are inspiring me to do more. Actually, I hire one of my daughter’s friends to play bass with my band on a regular basis. Crazy!

CS: Wow!

CC: Outside of that it’s been awesome to have the freedom to determine my own schedule, which has given me flexibility to do backpacking trips in the Sierras with my family, mountain climbing with the kids, sailing trips, vacations with my wife. I owe all of the best memories I have outside of music to my career and playing music. Tons of gigs while I’m in town so that I can leave town with my family often. That’s something you just can’t buy.

CS: It certainly isn’t. Thanks for sharing all that with us. It’s inspiring how you put that all together. Tell us all how we can stay in touch with you and your music as you go forward.

CC: Check the website at claycolton.com or check me out on Instagram or Facebook depending on your age. But the best thing to do is just come into a restaurant or bar when I’m playing on any given night of the week and say “hi.”

CS: Okay, Clay. Well, thank you very much for taking time to have breakfast with me and talk a little bit about your music life. I hope everything continues to go well for you, yours, your music and all the people that come together through it.

CC: Thanks, Chuck. I appreciate you thinking of me for this article. I enjoyed our chat. I’ll see you soon.