If you haven’t heard the name Liddy Clark yet – and that’s a big IF – get ready to. The talented singer/songwriter has been paving her musical path since she was very young, hitting several impressive mile markers along the way. Impressive being an understatement as she’s opened for country stars including Scotty McCreery and Joe Nichols, performed for Chris Stapleton and Jake Owen, selected as a Radio Disney Country artist and an iHeart Radio Digital Artist of the Month (performing at the iHeart Radio Live Sessions in New York City). Following her debut EP Testing the Waters last summer, Liddy is back with her latest single “Friendly Fire,” showcasing yet again her maturity in her lyrical craft and powerful vocals.
We caught up with Liddy to talk about the single, songwriting, and more.
CN: For our readers who may not be familiar with you, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
LC: I’m a 21-year-old singer/songwriter born in Texas, raised in Florida, and currently going to college out at USC in California. I write a lot of songs about my feelings and love getting to connect with fans over them. I’m also quite fond of dogs and cooking.
CN: You began playing guitar at the age of 12. How were you introduced to music, and specifically, what as it that drew you to the guitar?
LC: I learned how to play piano first, but it never really stuck with me. I like the woods in guitars, and I like how versatile it can be as an instrument. I think that’s what drew me to guitar. For music, I’ve always loved songs and I did a lot of musical theater growing up, so it kind of evolved into songwriting and learning the guitar just through my interests changing and deciding I wanted to write songs.
CN: Which musicians, country or not, have influenced you both personally and as an artist?
LC: John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, Jon Bellion, Maren Morris, Fleetwood Mac, Tim McGraw, Maggie Rogers, Billy Joel. Honestly, the list just goes on & on.
CN: At the age of 14 you were personally invited to perform at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. What was that like not only for a musician at such an early stage in your career, but also as a fan of country music?
LC: That was such a surreal moment for me, I loved getting to meet her family members as well (who are all insanely talented). It was great because it really pushed me to learn more about the craft and gave me the chance to really explore the roots of country music.
CN: You are currently enrolled at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music. Being on the Dean’s List – congratulations! – you have obviously found a good balance between school and your career. How are you able to keep grounded and keep giving 100% to both without the other falling on the back burner?
LC: Thank you! It’s definitely all about balance, school has always been really important to me. I try and schedule my days to get a little bit of both in so I’m always active in that field.
CN: As a songwriter, you write about issues that are very personal to you. “Painted By Numbers” is about body image issues while “Shot Down (Stand Up)” was in response to the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, which is in your home town of Parkland, FL. Can you take us through your songwriting process?
LC: Yeah, for those two especially it was pretty difficult to find the right words to say. I write these pretty long free writes about the topics, and then I’ll pull words and phrases from there that I think would work for the song. Usually after that, it doesn’t take too long to put the whole thing together.
CN: Does writing about such personally important topics help you in a cathartic way?
LC: It definitely does! It helps me fully understand my feelings about everything and ultimately helps me make peace with it in a way.
CN: Your latest single, “Friendly Fire” was released last month. What was the inspiration behind the song?
LC: I was inspired by someone who had betrayed me, someone I considered myself to be really close with who was spreading lies about me behind my back. I wrote this about the feeling of not wanting to trust anyone ever again and the fact that it’s not just something I’ll have to live with, but something they’ll have to live with too.
CN: Last year you released the highly acclaimed EP Testing the Waters. With the release of “Friendly Fire” do you have another EP in the works?
LC: Possibly! I’m still figuring out what kind of strategy to pursue with my new songs, I think we’re going to release one more single as I try and put together the pieces of what could potentially be a much larger project.
CN: Do you have a dream collaboration in mind?
LC: I’d love to work with Ed Sheeran one day, I think his songwriting is fantastic and having another ginger collaborator would be sick. I think Julia Michaels would also be fantastic to work with as well.
CN: What was the first concert you ever attended?
LC: I can’t remember what my first concert was, but I’m pretty sure it was either Hannah Montana or Cheetah Girls (I was a Disney kid through and through)
CN: If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be and why?
LC: Headstrong, because I always know what I want to do in situations and I won’t hesitate to speak my mind.
CN: What’s next on the horizon?
LC: I’m currently going back and forth between the studio and the writing room, putting together the best songs I can for this next project. I’m hoping that will be out sometime soon, so we’ll have to wait and see 🙂
For more information on Liddy Clark, visit her website at liddyclark.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.