Terri Clark – Terri Clark: Take Two | 365 Days Of Inspiring Media

UMG Recordings

Release Date: May 31st 2024

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Terri Clark– Terri Clark: Take Two (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

I Just Wanna Be Mad (feat. Cody Johnson)
Poor, Poor Pitiful Me (feat. Lainey Wilson)
Better Things To Do (feat. Ashley McBryde)
Now That I Found You (feat. Ben Rector)
I Wanna Do It All (feat. Lauren Alaina)
If I Were You (feat. Kelly Clarkson)
Girls Lie Too (feat. Carly Pearce)
You’re Easy On The Eyes (feat. Paul Brandt)

Ever since 2019 when my brother Jon and I branched out into different types of music (because of this still-on-hiatus-but-still-ongoing blog series about influential artists); I’ve been always on the lookout for new music. The ongoing blog series has pushed me out of my comfort zone musically; but more than that, it’s made me realise that I’m really limiting what kind of music speaks to my soul and my spirit if I just listen to CCM. Fast forward to 2024, and these days, I listen to all kinds of music (aside from the metal genre, and most mainstream rap!), and I have many playlists on Spotify- some curated by Spotify and some created by myself. Anyway, it was through one of these playlists that I found out about 90’s country legend Terri Clark, though one of her songs from her latest album Take Two, a reimagining of her biggest hit, now sung as duets. Now personally, I haven’t really listened all that much to Terri and her music (from the 90’s I was much more resonating with Faith Hill, Martina McBride and Shania Twain!); but from Wikipedia, I know that she was a big deal, and probably still is. And so, as I’ve since sat down and listened to this 8-track EP and love letter to the fans, I’ve realised how much good music is out there, and how little I know and how much I’ve still yet to learn.

I wanted some current artists that I had not ever worked with before to be a part of this, if I could get them. So I started just making a list of people and started asking people. Out of everybody I asked, there were maybe only two that had scheduling conflicts that couldn’t do it. So I was just blown away by some of the names that I got on this.

I’m just humbled and grateful and blown away with the names that I’m seeing beside mine on this thing and these songs that have meant so much to my life and my career.

When Cody Johnson says to me, ‘I had your poster on my wall’ and Lainey Wilson’s getting a T-shirt…I gave her a vintage T-shirt with ‘Poor, Poor Pitiful Me’ on the back from the ‘90s…My mom kept bins of these T-shirts and I gave it to her and she said, ‘well, if I could tell five-year old Lainey that this was going to be happening…,’ Clark shared before adding, “At the time, you’re just on your fast track and you’re trying to make a name for yourself, but you don’t have that scope to be able to look ahead in that lens and see someday that this is going to be happening of what you’re doing right now. It’s the coolest thing when you’re able to just sit back and really reflect and see a full circle moment like that happen when these people that are having success, you had some little small bit of influence on what they’re doing now is a tremendous feeling and it’s a lot of blood, sweat, tears, hard work.

Is review even necessary, in the traditional sense? Terri is a powerhouse of a vocalist and her discography stacks up against other 90’s country heavyweights; but I personally don’t know much of her songs, if any at all, and only dived in deep into this release because of the sheer gravitas of the guest vocalists. As such, I’m listening to this EP as if these songs are brand new- and the consensus is that these are brilliant, and are typical 90’s country music… but that’s a good thing, as country music now is probably more commercialised, and music just maybe needs to get back to the basics of storytelling and a good message. And as such, Terri has done that in this EP, and has reintroduced her songs to a whole new generation and audience. Cody Johnson, Kelly Clarkson, Carly Pearce, Lauren Alaina, Ashley McBryde, Lainey Wilson and Ben Rector all feature, and all enhance these songs to perfection. Terri’s music probably isn’t that popular (even in the 90’s when other artists dominated the charts!), but this EP should garner some interest amongst fans of country music from yesteryear, and fans of country music from now. There’s enough here for everyone, and Terri undoubtedly should be proud of this effort and from each one of her collaborations and collaborators. And as I leave this ‘review’ (and leave it up to all of you, who are probably more of a fan than myself!) to listen and ‘review’ and ‘assess’ as well; I hope that you are blessed by this EP like I was. Terri Clark isn’t the most recognisable name in country music. But her music hits hard and these lyrics are still relatable today. Well done Terri for breathing new life into an industry that is still good, but maybe more ‘pop’ than needs to be.

It feels like yesterday that I was invited to be an Opry member, and that’s all going to slap me in the face when Lainey Wilson’s becoming the newest member the same night. It’s definitely a full-circle thing to be a member of the Opry, I think is anybody’s goal or milestone who sings country music. It’s such an important piece of the country music fabric and story and to be a part of that family is something that I never take for granted. I just still can’t believe it. I still get nervous every single time.