In an era of Auto-Tune, artificial intelligence and endless opportunities to make music sound perfect, Terri Clark decided to leave well enough alone.
The country music legend released a new live album Friday, Oct. 30, capturing her long-awaited headlining debut at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. But rather than return to the studio to clean up the performance, Clark was determined to preserve the night exactly as it happened — imperfections and all.
Terri Clark performs onstage during the 17th Academy of Country Music Honors at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., on Aug. 21, 2024. (Getty Images for ACM)
And that wasn’t necessarily an easy task.
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“We didn’t even have the proper audience mics,” Clark told OutKick OutDoors in an exclusive interview. “The audience was twice as loud as it sounds on this recording.”
That’s because the August 2024 performance wasn’t originally intended to become a live album. In fact, it wasn’t until roughly a year later that Clark and her team decided to piece together recordings captured by her concert engineers.
But she wasn’t interested in making the show sound like something it wasn’t.
“I decided that I didn’t want to replace any vocals. I didn’t want to replay anything,” Clark said. “In a world of AI and tracks and Auto-Tune and all of the things that people do to sound perfect, I let the recording lie the way it was and stay exactly as it went down that night.”
She concluded: “It’s passion over perfection.”
A ‘full-circle moment’ for Terri Clark
On Aug. 29, 2024, Clark finally checked off a lifelong bucket-list item when she headlined the Ryman Auditorium for the first time.
For the singer who once performed for tips at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, just across the alley from the iconic venue, it was a particularly meaningful milestone.
“This was a full-circle moment,” she said.
Terri Clark performs with Ashley McBryde at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
And even with more than three decades of performing under her belt, Clark wasn’t prepared for the reception she received that evening.
“They came from all over the place, all corners of the world, and Canada, and fans from out west in the United States,” she recalled.
“It was a room full of so much love, and we shared just a moment that I almost never want to headline the Ryman again because it’ll never come close to that show, if that makes any sense.”
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The 17-track album, Terri Clark: Live From The Ryman, includes performances of her hits “Better Things to Do,” “Girls Lie Too” and “I Wanna Do It All,” along with appearances by Ashley McBryde and Trisha Yearwood. McBryde joined Clark for “Better Things to Do,” while Yearwood performed “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me.”
Terri Clark performs at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
Clark said the evening’s excitement is exactly why she refused to go back and polish the recording.
“I don’t think I could duplicate the energy and excitement in my voice that night if I went in and redid anything,” she said.
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So rather than chase perfection in the studio, she decided to let the original performance speak for itself.