Exclusive: Terri Clark Talks Ryman Dreams, Promises Surprise Guests

Terri Clark‘s first Nashville gig was at Tootsies Orchid Lounge when she moved to town in 1987. This week, she’ll play her first headlining show across the alley at Ryman Auditorium.

“That few short steps from the front window playing for tips at Tootsies to the stage at the Ryman, that’s what we all dream about,” Clark told American Songwriter. “It’s been burned in my consciousness since I was a little girl that I wanted to do this.”

Clark has sung on the Ryman stage many times in her career, but on Thursday night, she’ll headline country music’s Mother Church for the first time. Show time is 7:30 p.m.

“We cover a lot of music in this show,” Clark said. “I’m excited for people in Nashville to hear it.”

Clark has had a slew of country radio hits throughout her three-decade career. She celebrated those successes early this summer when she released two new albums – Terri Clark: Take Two and Greatest Hits – at the end of May. Then Clark marked her 20th anniversary as an Opry member in June.

Terri Clark Promises Everyone Will Hear Something They Like

Clark self-produced Take Two and paired some of her hit songs with other artists for fresh collaborative versions.

“It’s reimagined, reinvented, re-hashed versions of my older hits,” Clark said. “It’s a way to honor where I’ve been in my career, remind people of these songs, and also have new people come along who haven’t even heard them because they’re fans of the other artists’ but may not even be familiar with them.”

Artists on the duets project include Cody Johnson on “I Just Wanna Be Mad,” Lainey Wilson on “Poor Poor Pitiful Me,” Ashley McBryde on “Better Things To Do,” Kelly Clarkson on “If I Were You” and Carly Pearce on “Girls Lie Too.”

Clark said fans can expect special guest performers at her Ryman show.

“We’re going to do some new versions on the Take Two album,” she promised. “We’re going to do some of the newer renditions of the arrangements.”

She thinks there will be something for everyone – whether or not they’re a fan of ’90s country.

“If somebody’s dragging you to the show, you’re probably going to hear something you like,” Clark said. “If you’re anywhere between 40 and 60, you’re going to hear something you like. We cover ’90 stuff. We have nods to Dave Matthews, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, and Led Zeppelin.  We do a lot of fun stuff. It’s not necessarily just my music. It’s going to be fun.”

However, Clark has no plans to cover any of the songs she played that first night in the window at Tootsies across the alley. She remembers there was a lot of Reba McEntire, Rosanne Cash, Patsy Cline, and Ricky Skaggs.

“I had quite a repertoire,” she said. “But I didn’t have any of my songs.”

(Photo by Jason Moore/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)