Clay Walker (album) - Background

Background

After hearing about Walker, James Stroud flew down to Beaumont, Texas to meet him and see his show. After being "completely impressed", Stroud brought Walker to Nashville to record demos and then signed him to Giant and they began work on the debut album. Stroud revealed, "Clay is very consistent, and that's pretty rare in such a young act. He's one of those artists who, when he sings and you hear him going down on tape, you just know. I knew it with Clint, and I could hear it with Clay." Walker explained the meeting in SUCCESS by saying, "I finished the last song, chased Stroud to his limousine and asked him if everything was OK. He said yes and that he would see me in a couple of weeks to start recording an album."

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times Walker said, "It was frustrating that I wasn't getting a contract, but I never doubted I'd eventually get one from somebody. That's because my father taught me something else too--to have incredible confidence in myself." Walker told Country Song Roundup, "The songs that I write are normally either a true life experience, or they're things that I've witnessed from other people, friends or family. When you write, you become vulnerable. If you're gonna be true to yourself and write what you really feel, that's what you have to do, you have to put down on paper exactly what you're feeling.... I make myself very vulnerable because I open up my thoughts and they could be criticized, which can be painful, or they can be accepted.

Walker was one of several musicians including Tracy Byrd and Mark Chesnutt who came from Beaumont, Texas when his debut album was released. He told The Spokesman-Review, "Beaumont is a goldmine for talent, I'll guarantee you every label in Nashville could go down there for a couple of months and find at least four or five entertainers." Walker also stated, "I'm a lot more influenced by Haggard than anyone else. I like those powerful ballads and two-steppin music. I love swing too, but it's probably that competition thing again." Walker told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in addition to Merle Haggard, "My influences were Hank Williams Sr., George Jones, and Charley Pride - the kind of country my dad liked, the kind I grew up on. I'm convinced traditional country music will come back more and more. After all it's the real thing. It's honest, and it's not just a sound, it's a way of life."