Meet Clay Cutler | Singer-Songwriter/Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Clay Cutler and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Clay, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
So, I’m originally from Auburn, Alabama, and prior to ending up in Colorado, lived in both South Carolina and the DC Metro area. Like most people who grew up in the south, I spent a lot of time active in church, and actually was a youth minister for a period of time in my life. But, my passion for music started well before that. I was “lucky” to basically have the same music teacher for my entire schooling life, and still maintain a friendship with Mr. Thomas today. He was the one who first got me to push myself when it comes to music as a career. I actually intended to become a music educator, until I actually started to try and learn theory, and that then went out the window because it took all of the fun out of music. It’s funny, looking back now, how differently things could have ended up had I stuck with that original career path. But instead, I’m now picking a guitar and singing songs I’ve written for people I’ve never met and don’t know me from any other guy with a guitar.

My upbringing is something I’m still working on finding ways to display and express in the songs I write. I’ve had a habit of often writing songs from the perspective of someone else, because the best stories I remember from the south were never told from a first person point of view, but always someone else’s retelling of a story, so I often leaned into that when writing. Nowadays however, I am starting to tell more of my own stories in life through song, as I realized the songs I like from other songwriters are always ones that come from a deeply personal experience. It’s hard as hell though to put yourself out there like that though. But I’m trying.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
So to get to where I am today, I have made a lot of mistakes. Far too many to list here. But 99% of them, I would gladly make again. I’ve come a long way since I played my first paid gig at the Strutting Duck (RIP) in Auburn, Alabama, on a random Wednesday between Christmas and New Years in 2009 for about $40 for 4 hours of work. I’ve had many days and nights where I didn’t want to keep going, where I wanted to quit music entirely. But no matter what, I always find a way to come back to it.

If I could look back those 16ish years and tell young Clay any advice, I’d tell him 3 things:
#1: Know your worth. And don’t let anyone else define that for you. This is something I’m still struggling with today, but therapy definitely helps.
#2: Music is a passion, but it’s also a job. I’ve had too many times where I didn’t take things seriously, and have definitely missed out on opportunities because of that attitude.
#3: Organize everything. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that I function much better when I have systems in place to help me succeed, and that not only includes how I pack things up after a gig, but also when it comes to the writing process. Forcing myself to sit down in a space, with a timer going for 60 minutes, has yielded greater results when it comes to writing.

Arguably though, the biggest thing that has helped me in regards to my music career has been making the decision to get sober. I recently hit 18 months of sobriety in June, and I have noticed such a huge change in how I approach gigs, how I approach singing, and how I feel and how my voice sounds. I wish I had realized sooner that I had a problem, but I am glad I did eventually. Just because a place offers you a free bar tab, doesn’t mean you should use it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Whenever a friend or family comes to visit me here in Colorado Springs, especially if it’s their first time, I basically have the same itinerary for them: Brunch at Atomic Cowboy/Denver Biscuit Co., followed by a trip to Garden of the Gods (the earlier the better), and then a quick jaunt into Manitou Springs.

Dinner wise, if you love wings, you can’t go wrong with the double-dipped at O’Furry’s. They’re absolutely fantastic and worth the wait (and I’m not just saying this because I’m friends with everyone who works there). Odyssey Gastropub is another nice spot to grab a bite to eat as well.

And, as a southerner, the fact that Colorado Springs has 3 Waffle Houses is just an added bonus.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to shoutout the people who go out of their way to support live music in any form, whether it’s going to a show at Red Rocks, catching an acoustic act at a brewery on a Saturday afternoon, going to a house show in someone’s backyard, or showing up at an open mic. Sharing art is a huge driving factor for any artist, and without people to consume it, it just gets lost in the wind.

Support live music, hire live musicians.

Website: https://claycutlermusic.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claycutler/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClayCutlerOfficial

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ClayCutler

Other: Bandsintown: https://bnds.us/dgz9wp?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAacgFmKvxgSmltNSvkqmwrwROHrnkqGGFNbcAFPuH-dHUFK87knM8aGAp4r4YA_aem_G-hObCHB3MK0MgXjD1v2ug

Linktree: linktr.ee/claycutler