Leland Clark

Chicago’s Leland Clark is a fresh and engaging roots/folk/punk songwriter with a gritty, poetic style and an amazing band that carries his name. With Clark on guitar and vocals, Ian Pierson on drums, Brendan Carter on bass, and Jimmy Degenerate on guitar, his songs have found their sound and have gotten traction in Chicago’s busy indie scene. The band released its self-titled debut Leland Clark on all streaming platforms in 2018 and the... More

Chicago’s Leland Clark is a fresh and engaging roots/folk/punk songwriter with a gritty, poetic style and an amazing band that carries his name. With Clark on guitar and vocals, Ian Pierson on drums, Brendan Carter on bass, and Jimmy Degenerate on guitar, his songs have found their sound and have gotten traction in Chicago’s busy indie scene. The band released its self-titled debut Leland Clark on all streaming platforms in 2018 and the record has received over 20,000 plays on Spotify, alone. A new record and a tour are in the works for 2020.   Clark’s songs bear the influence of Bob Dylan, Gaslight Anthem, and Social Distortion but articulate his own particular vision and maintain their own creative space. His journey to writing them began in emo/thrash bands in college but he began writing folk songs with a punk twist and playing solo shows after moving into Chicago. Clark’s all-out, participatory live shows that get crowds of five or 500 fans involved and singing started to catch on and led to the formation of the current full band.   These days, Clark has a diverse set list and audiences never know what to expect at a show. He transforms his songs in the moment and they might come out heavier, slower, or altogether different than the recorded versions. He writes about family issues, social problems, love, and its loss in a profound yet off-the-cuff way that people respond to consistently. “I love to see people dance, moving, singing, whatever,” he says, “if they are having a great time, so am I. That's what motivates me to keep going.” Leland Clark is a bright spot on Chicago’s musical horizon that’s going to get a lot brighter in 2020. Start listening now and be a part of it all. Less