Kerry Patrick Clark's July 15 Concert

Kerry Patrick Clark has been called "A Musical Norman Rockwell" because of the portraits he paints with his music of everyday life. Rockwell gave us an affectionate and humorous look at small town and family life in America in his famous paintings and Saturday Evening Post Magazine covers. Like Rockwell with his art, Clark, in his music, shows us what we as a people have in common. A native of Ohio, Clark's music centers around stories of love, faith, family, friends and the dreams to which we aspire. His music resonated well with the audience when he played in Fiddlers Crossing last year.

This year's concert at Fiddlers Crossing, Friday, July 15, will be a family affair. Clark will be joined by his wife, Amy, and son, Robbie. Amy grew up with a passion for the stage and spent much of her high school and college years acting, dancing, singing, modeling or teaching others the skills that she loved. Amy met Kerry when she was on stage in the play "Lend Me A Tenor." She can be heard singing duets and background vocals on all of her husband's recordings.

Robbie Clark is an (almost) 8th grader at Toledo School For The Arts. He takes after his parents in loving to sing, dance and play his guitar. He enjoys sharing the stage with his parents as well as performing in local and regional theater productions.

Clark's career spans more than three decades, with chart-topping singles in the Country, Americana and folk genres, and seven CDs to his credit. He was a member of the folk group the New Christy Minstrels. His songs have been used in film and TV. His song, "Ground Zero," was included on Wolf Blitzer's CNN special commemorating the six-month milestone after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Other songs Clark wrote in response to the attack were featured in the PBS special, "Reclaiming Hope," and recorded on his CD, "Songs to Heal a Nation."

Clark will also be an instructor this year at Camp Kiya, which will be held July 24-28 in Tehachapi Mountain Park. At the camp, he will hold workshops in songwriting, performing, and contemporary guitar techniques. Robbie will be joining him as a camper.

Clark's take on themes of humility, loving, serving, choosing, healing, and yearning appear like a slice of daily life resonating across the lines that would try to divide us by age, race, gender, and religion. Ultimately his music brings people together under the auspices of all that is good in each of us. What lies behind his music is Clark's belief that, "as we share our stories of loss, love, hope and fear, we connect on a deeper level."

Along with his humor and charm, what comes across to the audience most of all is, like in a Norman Rockwell painting, Kerry Patrick Clark's absolute honesty in his depiction of everyday life. This is a concert for the whole family.

For more about Kerry Patrick Clark, go to http://www.kerrypatrickclark.com.

The concert starts at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $20, available at Tehachapi Treasure Trove, Tehachapi Furniture, Lucky's Barbershop, or at the Fiddler's Crossing Wednesday Open Mics and First Fridays. Tickets are also available online at FiddlersCrossing.

com, and may be reserved by calling (661) 823-9994. Fiddlers Crossing is at 206 East F Street, Downtown Tehachapi at Robinson. Buying tickets early is strongly suggested.

On the horizon at Fiddlers Crossing: The Better Halves, Mike Beck, Steve Spurgin, James Lee Stanley, Chris Proctor, Daniel Boling, Jeni and Billy with Craig Eastman on fiddle, and Molly's Revenge in Winterdance.