Clay Street Unit
Biography
Clay Street Unit
“Whenever we’re onstage, we’re just trying to throw a party,” says Clay Street Unit’s Sam Walker. “Life’s hard enough already. We want to remind people to let loose, love each other, and enjoy themselves.”
Celebration. Catharsis. Friendship. They’re all part of Clay Street Unit’s sound, which mixes the acoustic instrumentation of bluegrass and folk with the amplified energy of Americana and country. The result is a singular interpretation of American roots music that blurs the borders between genre and geography, fusing the influence of the Rocky Mountains with the traditions of the Appalachians. Driven forward by drums, sharp songwriting, and the chemistry of six road warriors who’ve shared countless hours on stage, Clay Street Unit’s music doesn’t just nod to the band’s influences; it reshapes them into something new.
Read More Everything began in Denver, Colorado, where Clay Street Unit formed in 2021. Many of the band’s members — mandolinist Scottie Bolin, banjo player Jack Cline, pedal steel guitarist Brad Larrison, drummer Brendan Lamb, and singer/guitarist/ringleader Sam Walker — had grown up elsewhere, spending their teenage years in cities like Atlanta, Charlottesville and Montgomery. Coming together in Colorado where they added bassist Jack Kotarba, they mixed the southern soundtrack of their youths with the raw, rugged spirit of the West. After building an audience at local venues like Cervantes, the guys hit the road, where the very thing that once made their music so difficult to categorize — the sheer diversity of their sound — became one of their calling cards. “We played bluegrass events, folk festivals, and country venues,” Walker says of those early shows, which the bandmates often booked themselves. “We were able to share our music with so many different demographics and dip our toes into different pools, and what we realized is, it’s all pretty similar. Our music seemed to meet everyone in the middle.” Between their cross-country tours, Clay Street Unit found time to head into the recording studio, too. Harnessing the electricity of the band’s live show felt like a natural goal, but the guys also pushed for something deeper, showcasing the songwriting chops that had evolved since their release of their introductory EP, A Mighty Fine Evening, in 2022. “We recorded A Mighty Fine Evening in three hours on a Wednesday night, with a case of beer,” Walker remembers. “It was a great representation of who we were at the time, but we wanted to capture something deeper, heavier, and emotionally vulnerable with our new material.” Heaviness can’t weigh down Clay Street Unit, though. The guys are still throwing a party with their mix of string-band stomp, southern storytelling, and Newgrass energy. Call it folk-country. Call it western Americana. Clay Street Unit aren’t concerned about the various definitions; they’re just happy that more and more people are listening. With new music on the way, they’re staking their claim as torchbearers of something both fresh and familiar, nodding to the traditions of American roots music while sharpening their own modern edge. Read Less
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