Like her contemporary, Shania Twain, Terri
Clark came storming out of Canada and captured the attention of America's
country music industry in the mid-'90s. Where Twain incorporated more rock
& roll into her music, Clark pretty much stayed close to her country
roots, even if those roots were more new country than hardcore honky tonk.
Raised in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, Terri Clark (born in Montreal,
Canada, August 5, 1968) was born into a musical family. Her grandparents,
Ray and Betty Gauthier, were country stars in Canada, opening shows for
stars like George Jones and Little Jimmy Dickens, while her mother sang
folk songs in local coffeehouses.
As a child, Terri listened to her grandparents' country records and taught herself how to play guitar. Throughout her adolescence, Clark sang, played, and listened to country music; she was particularly inspired by female artists like Reba McEntire, the Judds, and Linda Ronstadt. Following her high-school graduation in 1987, she moved to Nashville. Upon her arrival, she wandered into Tootsie's Orchid Lounge unannounced and asked if she could sing. Surprisingly, she impressed the management and landed a job as the club's house singer. Though her initial arrival in Nashville was successful, it took Clark quite a long time to work her way into the actual industry. For the next seven years, she sang at clubs and worked odd jobs, all the while trying to land a record contract. During this time, she met and married a fiddler named Ted Stevenson. In 1994, she landed an audition for Mercury Records.
