The Venue continues to honor Women’s History Month with a double bill of female folk-rock singers – with a twist.
Sarah Clanton, based in Nashville, Tennessee, headlines a show at 8 p.m. March 22 at The Venue in Aurora with opening support from Claire Kelly. This is Clanton’s third time coming to The Venue, she said.
“I love coming back. I’m very excited,” she said.
She met Claire Kelly at a music festival in Nashville.
“She’s incredible. She’s got a record (out) that is doing really well,” Clanton said.
The Venue is a comfortable fit for Clanton’s act and she loves being a part of The Venue’s burgeoning indie-rock community, she said.
“I do think a gift I’ve been given to pass on is the gift of surprise, in that what I do is sort of unexpected,” she said. “I sing and play cello at the same time and I’m a pretty dynamic performer. And beyond performing, I’m an entertainer.
“I love to make people laugh and draw people in and help people feel good. To really be present in the moment – Claire and I both – we’re really about bringing people into the moment and creating an uplifting place where people can feel good and be themselves.”
She travels with a carbon fiber cello, as opposed to the mammoth, 200-year-old version that required its own plane ticket. (True story.)
The daughter of an opera singer and an engineer, one could surmise a career in music was in the stars.
“I’ve always known deep in my bones that I wanted to do music,” she said. “The cello was kind of a surprise to me. My mom would always take us to these productions – like ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ etc. – and I would love when the orchestra in the pit would tune.”
When she was in fifth grade and it was time to pick an instrument for the school band, she sat down with the cello and knew it was the one for her. It’s been her longest relationship, she joked.
In addition to her music career, Clanton founded her own company called Tunedough that helps artists collect their royalties.
“I’ve always been a born entrepreneur,” she said. “When I was a kid, I used to play business. I used to write newsletters and when I would play hospital with my dolls, you had to sign the dolls in and out.”
It was in a college sociology class that she met a fellow who asked her to play at an open mic night. That led to her regularly playing the cello with singers.
“Then I went to Bonnaroo in 2008. I had graduated college and I was trying play guitar and sing because that was what I had seen at open mics. And I would just play my cello on the side,” she said. “This guy (Ben Sollee) gets up onstage and he starts singing and playing the cello. He was doing covers of Fiona Apple and Gnarls Barkley. It was like, ‘What is this, this is amazing.’ My whole world changed in that moment.”
She released her first record in 2013 and has been “doing the thing” ever since. She started her company after being signed to a label.
“The day my album came out in 2018, the FBI raided the offices of the parent company that owned the company I was signed to,” she said. “So my whole career froze in 2018. I had to get all my intellectual property back and in the process of this, I found thousands of dollars in royalties that the team I was signed to did not collect.
“It really inspired me to create a spreadsheet and a checklist. I also coach artists one-on-one and I have a self-guided course on my website that teaches artists what royalties are and how to collect them. I think it’s really important for artists to learn parts of their business and understand that they are entrepreneurs.”
In the meantime, Aurora audiences can expect to hear her songs and a few of the stories behind the music.
“I try not to give away the whole farm, but I love bringing folks in and making people laugh,” she said. “I love playing in listening rooms because I feel like we can all be hanging out. That’s what my goal is. Hopefully, there will be some food for thought. Banter is a huge part of the show. I love being able to connect with my audience in a way that makes it feel like we’re hanging out together.”
She thinks Aurora audiences will enjoy the show.
“You’re going to have a good time. You’re going to feel good when you leave,” she said. “There’s a lot of negativity in the world and I think people need a break and they need to know that they can feel good. I like to say my show is a cello-bration of the unexpected.”
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.
Sarah Clanton and Claire Kelly
When: 8 p.m. March 22
Where: The Venue, 21 S. Broadway Ave., Aurora
Tickets: $15
Information: 331-212-8490; themusicvenue.org
