The guest
Gary Clark Jr.: Grammy-winning blues/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter from Austin, Texas, just finishing a new album
What this episode covers
Gary Clark Jr. joins Joe Rogan after locking himself in his studio to finish his new album, which drops the day the episode airs. They talk about his addictive personality, his swerve into nature photography, fly fishing, and learning new skills, and how flow-state activities like music and archery quiet the mind. The conversation roams through Austin's explosive growth and comedy scene, the Mothership club, the music business and TikTok pressure, fame's toll on child stars like Michael Jackson, and a shared obsession with the forgotten 1969 song 'I'm Alive' by Johnny Thunder. It closes with Joe gifting Gary a mammoth-ivory guitar pick and Gary teaching Joe an E chord while performing an acoustic version of his song 'Habits' for the first time.
Recommended on this episode
MediaRecommended
I'm Alive (Johnny Thunder)
Johnny Thunder
“it was one of the most powerful records I've ever heard; that's like hearing Hendrix for the first time”
“there's this song that we play all the time this dude Johnny Thunder he wrote this song I'm alive from 1969 you heard this song bro”— Joe Rogan
MediaRecommended
Go With Him
Arthur Alexander
“that song's a flex; one of my favorite artists who I think doesn't get the light that they deserve”
“this song called Anna there a song called go with him try go with him let's try that one that song's a flex think about what he's saying total Flex”— Gary Clark Jr.
MediaRecommended
Inspiration Information
Shuggie Otis
“great artist; psychedelic ahead of its time”
“he put out a record called inspiration in Inspiration information and it's just like you know maybe a chocolate couple bowls sit back”— Gary Clark Jr.
MediaRecommended
Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
Jimi Hendrix
“was so fucking good”
“Voodoo Child Slight Return Hendrick 6768 was so fucking good man it's like anybody covering that is like what are you doing”— Gary Clark Jr.
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
ProductReferenced
Mountain Dew
PepsiCo
“it's also on a like Mountain Dew commercial right now wow 1968 it was released it's in a Mountain Dew commercial”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
American Animals
Bart Layton
“it was also used in the soundtrack the 2018 film American animals”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
American Spirit cigarettes
American Spirit
“one of those natural Spirits is that what they're called American Spirits yeah it's just tobacco but even those”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
Bud Light
Anheuser-Busch
“that's the dude that shot up Bud Light and cost him $26 billion he shot the fuck out of that beer”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
The Marshall Mathers LP
Eminem
“I think one puff too many and listening to that Slim Shady Marshal matters album got him bro”— Gary Clark Jr.
Big reveals from this episode
- Gary credits guitar at age 14 with keeping him out of serious trouble, paralleling Joe crediting martial arts.
- Joe and Gary geek out over Johnny Thunder's obscure 1969 song 'I'm Alive', calling it transcendent and one of the most powerful records ever.
- Joe recounts Tommy Lee asking him to help train to fight Kid Rock over Pamela Anderson.
- Gary explains he avoided the music business until his late 20s out of fear of being exploited, with his mom managing him early on.
- Gary reveals he's touring South America with Eric Clapton in front of 60,000-70,000 crowds.
- Joe describes how Ron White, then Gary, post Malone and comedians all fled LA for Austin, seeding the Austin comedy scene.
- Joe gifts Gary a guitar pick made from roughly 10,000-year-old mammoth ivory from his friend John Reeves' Alaska boneyard.
- Gary performs an acoustic version of his new song 'Habits' for the first time live on the show.
Worth remembering
- Gary says he was advised to avoid falsetto and singing to please his core fans, and ignored it during the album made in COVID.
- Gary has gotten obsessed with photographing crested caracaras (Mexican eagles) in his backyard with expensive camera gear.
- Gary owns bagpipes 'just in case' he gets bored and wants a new skill to learn.
- Joe notes Google built a giant tower on Cesar Chavez in Austin then laid off ~15,000 people, leaving it mostly vacant.
- Pat from The Black Keys told Gary a late-night TV appearance can cost an artist around $50,000 to do.
- A Bob Dylan quote praising 'I'm Alive' to Rolling Stone's Jann Wenner is referenced; Johnny Thunder (Gil Hamilton) is said to be 91 and still touring cruise ships.
- Joe watched Francis Ngannou knock out Stipe Miocic at the empty UFC Apex during the pandemic with only ~20 people present.
- Gary says he's never taken acid because an uncle of his dad's 'never came back' from it, but is fine with psilocybin.
- Joe relays that drug-testing partiers found tabs sold as acid were actually mescaline with zero LSD in them.
- Joe and Gary recall a near-decade-old midnight Midnight Rider cover Gary did with Suzanne Santo (honey honey) at an LA bar.
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