Clay Fulton is the frontman for the Rochester, Minnesota band, Clay Fulton & The Lost Forty. After selling his family restaurant in 2020, Clay embarked on a musical journey amidst the challenges of a global pandemic. His band tours throughout the Midwest, and last year performed at the coveted SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas. Drawing inspiration from folk traditions and the timeless craft of songwriting, Clay is currently working on his eagerly-awaited third album.
Clay Fulton & The Lost Forty
Experience Rochester, MN
Clay Fulton is the frontman for the Rochester, Minnesota band, Clay Fulton & The Lost Forty. After selling his family restaurant in 2020, Clay embarked on a musical journey amidst the challenges of a global pandemic. His band tours throughout the Midwest, and last year performed at the coveted SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas. Drawing inspiration from folk traditions and the timeless craft of songwriting, Clay is currently working on his eagerly-awaited third album.
Clay Fulton & The Lost Forty
Experience Rochester, MN
The Growing Destinations podcast is brought to you by Experience Rochester. Learn more about Minnesota's third largest city, which is home to Mayo Clinic and features wonderful recreational and entertainment opportunities, by visiting experiencerochestermncom.
Speaker 2:If your heart's on 100% in something like music and you want to pursue it as a career, then you probably shouldn't be doing it, because you're going to face challenges at every corner, because you're not always going to get the big payday and things don't always go your way, you know. But when you get to sit down and perform for people and you kind of pinch yourself and say this is what I get paid to do for a living, I mean that makes it all worth it for me every time.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Growing Destinations podcast, where we take a deep dive into destination development and focus on a wide range of topics, from tourism and entertainment to economic development and entrepreneurism and much more. I'm your host, Bill Vaughn Bank. Clay Fulton is the frontman for the Rochester Minnesota band Clay Fulton and the Los 40. After selling his family restaurant in 2020, Clay embarked on a musical journey amidst the challenges of a global pandemic. His band tours throughout the Midwest. Last year performed at the coveted South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. Drying inspiration from folk traditions and the timeless craft of songwriting, Clay is currently working on his eagerly awaited third album, Clay Fulton. Welcome to the Growing Destinations podcast. Thanks for having me, Clay. Could you take us back to the early days of Clay Fulton and the Los 40? What inspired you to form the band in the middle of a pandemic?
Speaker 2:It was really just the timing of my career shifting in 2020. My mom and I sold our restaurant, which was Brothers Bar and Grill, on South Broadway In Rochester, correct, and leading up to that time of that sale, I had been planning on transitioning to music full time and then a global pandemic hit, which definitely stopped live music from happening, but I was able to still go into the studio at some point in 2020. So I started this project kind of with a singer-songwriter mindset and went in just to kind of record my songs and got into the process and realized I would really like to put a group together to play these songs as a band and kind of started the process while I was making the album and when was that.
Speaker 2:That we so we were track started tracking that in the summer of 2020.
Speaker 1:And then the official band Clay Fulton in the Los 40 debuted when we debuted in April of 2021.
Speaker 2:We did a series of early shows at Thesis Beer Project on Second Street in Rochester here.
Speaker 1:Let's dial back even further. I want to learn more about your interest in music and how that turned into this endeavor.
Speaker 2:Music's been a part of my life since I was really little. For the listeners out there, I wear a prosthetic leg and when I was young my level of like physical capabilities was kind of unsure and mom noticed that I was interested in music as a little guy and I started taking guitar lessons when I was five and started writing songs and I was about nine or 10 and been doing bands and that kind of stuff ever since.
Speaker 1:So it's been part of your life, yeah, as long as I can remember, basically, who are your musical influences?
Speaker 2:That's a really hard question but it's a broad scope for, like me being the picker singer kind of guy that I am, I really love a lot of folk artists, classic songwriters, guys like Guy Clark, john Prine, jj Kale, mark Knopfler those are the ones that probably influenced me as a writer. But I mean, I like punk and I like metal and hip hop and I'm all over the board.
Speaker 1:What's your musical style as a performer?
Speaker 2:I kind of seem to veer two ways. If I'm by myself with an acoustic guitar, I really like the finger style folky vibe and you know, kind of leaning into the story of a song when I'm with the Lost 40, while I still enjoy that, it kind of takes on the element of rock and roll a little bit more and kind of veers down that lane.
Speaker 1:Since selling your restaurant, has music become your full time gig? Yes, it has.
Speaker 2:I supplement it with a little part time job, but most of my income comes from playing guitar now.
Speaker 1:And being based in Rochester, minnesota. How has the local music scene influenced your sound and your career trajectory?
Speaker 2:I mean it's definitely influenced my career trajectory. Having the kind of network of connections that I already had in Rochester being in the restaurant business was super helpful. Transitioning to getting myself booked as a player especially the solo slots and restaurants and bars and the kind of thing I can do a lot of around here it was helpful that I had a lot of names and faces that I already knew. I definitely knew there was a bigger market here for me to do solo shows, so it probably influenced me to maybe focus a little bit more on that folky kind of thing that would fit for where I could get booked.
Speaker 1:How did you go about selecting your band members, especially when we were in lockdown and we had to social distance, and that makes it even harder.
Speaker 2:It was definitely tough, and patience was the name of the game there for sure. When I tracked my first record some players were people I just hired to come help me work on the project as studio musicians. And two of those guys were Alan Palmer and Peter Locke. Alan plays bass and Peter plays keys and I've been friends with Alan for years and had kind of known Peter. And once those guys got involved I actually asked them right away if they wanted to start a band with me and they tracked on the first record.
Speaker 2:And then from there it was Carly Hornstein who was in a group called my Grammarist Cardigan and other great band in Rochester, absolutely. Then Carly came in and did a little bit of harmony work on the first record, but her and I clicked really well and started doing some gigs during the pandemic, because you could kind of do that duo trio stuff here and there. And then Mike Bentley's, my lead guitar player, and then Nick Novotny was the last guy to join the band. He was drumming for loudmouth brass at the time. I knew that I wanted Nick and Mike in the band, so kind of took a little bit of time to put the pieces together, but it ended up working out.
Speaker 1:Are there any particular challenges or advantages to being part of a smaller music community which is growing?
Speaker 2:I might add. I totally agree. I think one of the biggest advantages of our kind of smaller music community in Rochester is that sense of community. Not that you don't find that in bigger music scenes, but there's just way more people. Like, if you take Minneapolis and St Paul versus Rochester, you know here it's got more of this sense of community where you kind of help each other out with your contact lists or you know hey, I played a gig here contact so and so and they'll set you up with a show. And I don't think you get as much of that in the big scenes, the little colder, little more competitive, where here it feels like everyone really kind of wants everyone to do better overall for each other, which is super cool, and the evolution of the music scene in Rochester.
Speaker 1:Can you talk a little bit more about that? Because you just mentioned my Grandma's Cartigan, which is another great band that I've followed, Luke Hendrickson, a great country crooner. I mean there's something here that's really starting to bubble up.
Speaker 2:There's no lack of creativity and talented folks around Rochester and I feel like since the pandemic I've been a little more calling for live music around here and maybe more people are just kind of popping up and getting themselves out there.
Speaker 1:Being a musician often involves a lot of grit and determination. Can you share some insight into the daily grind of pursuing a career in music?
Speaker 2:I think the real grind comes from the desk side of things. Honestly, I've found the really fun part is being on stage and performing, but it's the work getting to that point that I found and that's something you can't really take your foot off the gas pedal, especially if you want to play full time. Basically every day you should be chasing down leads, working on your contacts, following up on emails. Sometimes even the amount of time you respond to something is the difference between getting a gig and not getting a gig. So you do it all, All yeah, and it's kind of needs your attention around the clock.
Speaker 1:Touring is a significant part of many musicians' careers. I'm sure you do a lot of it Can also be physically and emotionally demanding. Can you describe some of the challenges and some of the rewards of life on the road?
Speaker 2:Well, I think the most challenging part is for anyone who travels for work. It's what you're leaving at home. I have a girlfriend and she's got two boys, so you know, anytime I'm not around, that's what I'm missing the most is family and also just being away from home at extended time. It's just things you're not taking care of in your own home and stuff like that when you're living out of hotel rooms or crashing on buddy's couches and that kind of stuff. So you kind of have this feeling when you come back like there's a lot of things you put off that you need to get back to. But it is extremely rewarding. You meet so many wonderful people and make connections with folks sharing your music and you get to see beautiful places. I mean driving around even just this part of the state in the summertime as a treat, going to shows and going by the river and down to the driftless how far out do?
Speaker 2:you tour. It just depends. If something's financially viable, I'm kind of willing to go where the shows will take me. I'm not going super far this summer but I'll be in Milwaukee, I'll be over in Illinois and head in that direction, Probably down in Iowa at some point. You know the Midwest is pretty much up for grabs and then I think the band eventually will probably plan some short runs this fall or winter, maybe further out, but we'll see where that takes us.
Speaker 1:Last year you played the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, texas. South by Southwest is known for its vibrant atmosphere and diverse lineup of artists. What was that experience like?
Speaker 2:It was pretty incredible, both on stage and just as a festival goer. Just like speaking to my performing experience, we got to play right in the hardest six street. I mean they blocked the streets off. There's just thousands of people everywhere and there's it's mind boggling how many venues there are that people can pop in and out of. But it was really cool. You kind of felt like you were in the heart of something really special. I've done smaller format festivals like that, where you can walk around with a ticket and go into multiple venues, but I mean it's almost overwhelming when you start looking at the festival map in Austin. So on the flip side you can see every genre of music you can imagine and everything from big rooms down to dive bars and I mean all of it was just super fun, was that?
Speaker 1:your first time there? Yeah, it was Any key takeaways for you?
Speaker 2:Austin is an incredible city for sure, and I think whether, without South by, that's a place any band would put on their map to play shows In today's music industry there's a lot of competition and uncertainty.
Speaker 1:How do you maintain motivation and resilience in the face of challenges and setbacks?
Speaker 2:I think the motivation comes from the passion for what you do. And if you don't have, if your heart's on 100% in something like music and you want to pursue it as a career, then you probably shouldn't be doing it, because you're going to face challenges at every corner, because you're not always going to get the big payday and things don't always go your way, you know. But when you get to sit down and perform for people and you kind of pinch yourself and say this is what I get paid to do for a living, I mean that makes it all worth it for me every time.
Speaker 1:And you have two albums out. I do, yeah. Can you tell us about those?
Speaker 2:The first one was the one we recorded in 2020 and that one's called when Trouble Comes and that one's a collection of some older songs, and that's what I said before. I kind of came into that record with a little more of this solo singer-songwriter mindset, so it's very acoustic driven. It's got a lot more of Americana vibe to it. And then the second record was recorded by the lineup, that is, the Lost 40, which was really special. So that's a seven song EP and that's when the band really started to get what I would call our sound, because the lineup got solidified. Never every instrument has their own voice. So that's one I would call what we call more of a Roots Rock record Influenced by country rock and blues, and it's kind of got a little bit of that flavor all over the record, great sounding record.
Speaker 1:You also have some videos, music videos to go with that EP.
Speaker 2:Yes, we did. We worked with a group out of Minneapolis called Tenderbox Promotions and created some lyric videos and stuff like that, to kind of go after our YouTube page, which is a huge part of being a performer these days. Youtube channels.
Speaker 1:Can you share some of the most rewarding experiences you've had on your journey as a musician?
Speaker 2:With the band, it's pretty easy. We got to open for Charlie Parr not long into being a group, which was, for me, huge because I love Charlie's music and that kind of gig following our lap was incredible. From the venue side of things, there's a kid growing up in Minnesota playing at 7th Street Entry at First Avenue, playing the Turf Club, which is another First Avenue venue, playing some beautiful rooms like the Sheldon Theater and Red Wing, and then playing festivals and stuff around this area are all things that are very important to me and really cool moments.
Speaker 1:In Minnesota festival season is huge because summers can be short here. What are some of the festivals you've played?
Speaker 2:We've done Midwest Music Festival a few times. That's in Winona, and then they also do one in La Crosse, and the Winona one's in the spring. La Crosse is in the end of the summertime. We just played Big Turn Music Festival in Red Wing, which we've done the last couple years, which is a winter festival but still very fun. Last year we got to play the Rochester Thaw which our drummer, nick, is the festival director of. Of course we did South by Southwest and one of my other favorite ones we've gotten to do a couple of times is Lumberjack Days and Stillwater, which is a really fun festival and you're right on the St Croix River and it's beautiful, beautiful.
Speaker 1:I've seen your videos on YouTube.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that one's great, Great production. They really kind of that's a big one.
Speaker 1:Looking ahead to the future, what exciting things can fans expect from Clay Fulton in the last 40?
Speaker 2:I would say first, we've loosely made plans to record a 30p, which we'll probably start Fantastic. Probably start tracking that this summer. We recently went on a writing retreat as a band and came out with some new songs, so we'll be recording at Carpabooth Studios again, which we're really excited to work with Zack Zern.
Speaker 1:And he's local.
Speaker 2:He's a local guy. He made a studio called Carpabooth, which is the old church of Marion in Marion, and they made it into a beautiful studio complex.
Speaker 1:I've been there. It is beautiful, it's incredible.
Speaker 2:So that's, I mean we're very excited about the new music and I think we'll just continue to try to keep putting good shows on for people and do what we do.
Speaker 1:What advice would you give to aspiring musicians who are just starting their journey in the music industry?
Speaker 2:A couple things First, I would say networking, like I said earlier, is just as important as, like putting on a good performance, and how you handle your networking and market yourself is a very big part of it If you want to pursue music on a full-time, like active level. Another thing I've learned, too, is that you never know who's listening to you in a room. I've played for rooms with five people and walked out with some of the highest paying gigs I've ever found, and I've played in front of rooms full of people and not sold a single t-shirt. So like you just don't know, and I think that's kind of thing you got to keep in your mind Like don't let anything get you down. You just you never know and the next opportunity will knock for you.
Speaker 1:Clay, if you could play with anyone today, who would it be?
Speaker 2:Jimmy Page what's up? And would be up there for sure John Prine would be another one for me. That I would. I would die a happy man if I could play with John Prine.
Speaker 1:Clay Fulton. Great conversation today. Best of luck with your music career and new album and thanks for being our guest on the Growing Destinations podcast. Thank you, I appreciate you. Thank you for tuning in to the Growing Destinations podcast and don't forget to subscribe. This podcast is brought to you by Experience Rochester. Find out more about Rochester, minnesota, and its growing arts and culture scene Its international culinary flavors and award-winning craft beer by visiting ExperienceRochesterMNcom.
Speaker 2:Now I'm the only one to play Little by little.