As another year enters Spring, so does the return of the annual Craic Session. With a line-up of Irish talent ready to bring their voices to New York City, including Stefan Murphy and Saarloos, this year’s assembly will also see an appearance from Scottish-born singer Natalie Clark. As the Craic Session approaches, I talked with the West Coast-based Clark about her adjustments to California living.
“The difference in lifestyle is that you can be outside,” Clark said. Raised in rainy Glasgow, she uprooted for the sunny hills of Los Angeles in pursuit of her music career. “A few of the gigs I had when I first got out here were outside. Of course that is quite a rare thing in Scotland,” she said. “I don’t take it for granted even for one day, the sunshine and the warmth. I still delight in it and I’ve been here a few years.”
While the weather is an advantage, it hasn’t been all rainbows either. Moving from West Glasgow to Los Angeles is no cake-walk, and the traffic is a testament to that. “You can travel from where I live, Silver Lake, which is technically not that far from the West side and the beach, but depending on the time of day it can take you 30 minutes or 2 hours,” she said. “It is kind of a different life I suppose, we spend a lot of our time in cars over here.
“The music can be inspired by wherever I am in the world, the people I’m meeting, the different cultures, but then also my foundation and who I am,” Clark said of her many themes and muses. Despite a change of scenery, she hasn’t forgotten her roots, and even credits a certain background as an inspiration of hers. “I have Irish family, I come from that Celtic background and that’s just who I am,” she said. “I feel like it naturally comes through in my music and my writing and even in my singing and my voice.”
While her Scottish upbringing informs her music, Clark has a lot of grá for her Irish side. “It’s a very Celtic mixture - Donegal, Sligo, I have a lot of family in Dublin now. Both my mum and my dad went to university in Dublin at Trinity College,” she said. “The Irish connection is very strong.”It’s an approach that has won attention from folks like leading American country singer Blake Shelton and Nick Grimshaw on BBC Radio.
Clark’s profound and poppy punch of positivity comes out in her songwriting. She opened up about her lyrics acting as a remedy for mixed emotions. “It’s kind of like a release, it can be therapeutic,” she said. “Whenever I’m writing music, whether it’s to lift myself up or to inspire others, it does usually come from a natural place.”
The Scots singer sees music as a sonic pick-me-up, and she aims to give her listeners a sense of optimism. “I hope that it inspires the listener, but the truth is that it helps me during the writing process,” she said.
Clark is not a first-time Craic Session guest, and said she’s excited to return to New York once again. “I’m so grateful for Terence [Mulligan], he’s great,” Clark said about Craic Session founder. “The fact that different cultures are being celebrated in New York, in America, is just a wonderful thing that Terence is organizing. The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs is also supporting Craic Session and it’s just incredible work that they’re doing.”
And next month will be a big one, too, for Clark as her debut album is being released on the 16th.
“I’m going to be performing some of the songs from the album for the first time at the Craic Session,” she said. “And so, I’m very excited about that.”
Natalie Clark will take the stage in New York on Friday, April 25, at The Wolfhound in Astoria, as part of Craic Session, with additional performances from Stefan Murphy and Saarloos. See thecraicfest.com for more details.
