When he first burst onto the scene, Gary Clark Jr. was hailed by many as “the savior of blues.” As the Austin guitar slinger has demonstrated time and again, however, he’s not so easily pigeonholed. Clark’s latest LP, The Story of Sonny Boy Slim, saw him touching on everything from hip-hop to funk, garage rock to R&B, all with unassailable skill. In his new video trilogy for “BYOB”, “Can’t Sleep”, and “Shake”, his cross-genre talents are placed side-by-side in a way that confirms he’s nobody’s savior.
Directed by Gus Black, the nearly 10-minute video follows Clark through the all the stages of a party. He and his band walk up to the spot to the soulful sounds of “BYOB”, all smiles and ready for the night. Then they rock the club with the danceable track “Can’t Sleep” while Clark trades gazes with the gorgeous woman across the room. The next morning, the revelers awaken at dawn for the blues groover “Shake”. Along the way, Clark bumps into ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Jeremy Piven (Entourage), Gabriel Luna (True Detective), Dawn Olivieri (House of Lies), and Promise of the Real’s Lukas Nelson (son of Willie Nelson).
Watch how smoothly Clark slides from funky soul to body-moving rock to revivalist blues in the video above.
