Terri Clark Welcomes Kelly Clarkson, Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson & More For 'Take Two' Collaborative Album: Exclusive

“People called me a honky-tonker in an era of divas,” Canadian-born singer-songwriter Terri Clark recalls. Advertising sign of her music breakthrough in the mid-1990s, which placed her as one of the rare female “caps” at the time.

Clark's jeans and boots, as well as her conversational vocal style and mix of ballads like “If I Were You” and upbeat songs like “You're Easy on the Eyes,” set a ceiling counterpoint. -Scratched vocals and sequined, other female country artists were popular at the time.

But Clarke's independent ethos has proved influential on a new generation of artists. Now, Clark has teamed up with many of the top artists in the country today to repeat her catalog of hits in Terri Clark: Take twoout May 31 via UMe.

The album, which Clark produced, features Clark joining forces with Lainey Wilson on Clark's hit cover of Linda Ronstadt's “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me,” Kelly Clarkson on “If I Were You,” Cody Johnson on “I Just Wanna Be Mad”. Ben Rector on “Now That I Found You”, Carly Pearce on “Girls Lie Too” and Lauren Alaina on “I Wanna Do It All”. The set also includes a recording of a live performance by Clark with Canadian Paul Brandt of “You're Easy on the Eyes”.

The first release from the album features Clark collaborating with Ashley McBryde on the song that launched Clark's career: 1995's “Better Things to Do.”

“At the top of my list was Ashley McBryde,” says Clark Advertising sign for the creation of the album. “We have been friends since 2017 and she is the epitome of a true artist. She's not afraid to be who she is and I've always admired that in people. Ashley has brought up in interviews how my career has inspired her and that's something that really stuck with me. When you're doing what you're doing, you don't think that one day it's going to inspire someone to really be themselves.”

Take two set to further connect Clark's music with a new generation of fans. Clark moved to Nashville in the late 1980s and performed at venerable Nashville venue Tootsie's Orchid Lounge before producer-music manager Keith Stegall signed her to Mercury Nashville Records in 1994. Clark scored nearly a dozen top 10 hits Advertising signCountry Airplay chart, including the top ringers “You're Easy on the Eyes” (which topped the chart for three weeks in 1998) and 2004's “Girls Lie Too.” Along the way, she received nominations from Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association. He was inducted into the all-genre Canadian Music Hall of Fame last year and is also a member of the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.

While some of the new recordings remain largely faithful to the originals, others add a new dimension. At the time of our interview, Clark had yet to enter the studio with Johnson to lay down vocals on 'I Just Wanna Be Mad', but says, 'This song should have been a duet in the first place. And we slowed it down and toughened it up a lot. We have to change the melody in certain areas to get the right key for us both to sing in certain parts of the song. It just sounds like him and has a great rock groove to it.”

She recorded Wilson's duet on “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me” a year ago, recalling, “I'm so glad we recorded it then—I don't know if she'd have the time to do it now, because her career has just taken off since then. She appeared [to the studio] without a single person in an entourage or anyone and he was as polite as anyone. It's still like that.”

Wilson steps outside of country circles to collaborate with pop-rock artist Rector, saying, “He's a brilliant singer-songwriter. He came in and just nailed the recording. The setting is fresh and played a prominent role in this. I wanted it to sound like something he would do, the filtered acoustic piano. We had a blast, and musically, I think it's my favorite of the first four songs we watched. That sounds like it could be a hit today.”

While some collaborations on Terri Clark: Take two were by design, others were created by chance — like the random text message that set Kelly Clarkson's duet on Clark's 1996 hit “If I Were You” into motion.

“She sang one of my songs on the karaoke segment of her show,” says Clark. “I never had her contact information, so I went through my business manager — who was a common contact for both of us — to say, 'Thank you for singing my song.' One day, I got a random text message that sounded very cryptic, and I thought, “Oh, some random guy got my phone number somehow.” I texted, “Who is this?” and he said, “Wait, it's this…” and he named someone else. I said, “No, but who are you?” And he said, “I can't tell you, but I can give you some advice.” The guessing game continued until Clark verified Clarkson's number with mutual artist friend Reba McEntire.

“I hate to put people on the spot, but I saw this as a sign that I should ask Kelly [to sing on the album],” Clark continues. “Thankfully, he said he would. I gave her a list of songs that were still available and she chose 'If I Were You', which moves me. I wrote this song when I was 21, by myself. Well, it means a lot to me that she would choose her.” Of recording with Clarkson, Clark says, “I just wanted him to sing as much as possible. She's such an incredible singer, I just tried to stay out of her way.”

Not only is '90s country music making a resurgence, but so is '90s country fashion—from cowboy hats to fringes to vintage T-shirts—which Clark and her team are capitalizing on in the album's marketing.

“My mother saved all my original merchandise [items]so I have one of almost every T-shirt from the early days,” Clark says, adding that she took some of those vintage shirts to the recording sessions and gave them to artists who were on the album.

“Some of these pictures of these artists that I'm doing duets with, wearing these old t-shirts of mine, are going to come up,” Clark says. “I brought Lainey one that said 'Poor, Poor Pitiful Me' from the album,” says Clark.

Clark believes the reason '90s music is having another moment 30 years later is because “it's honest music. It doesn't feel as manufactured as some of the music these days. I hear this [‘90s country] influence on artists now — I'm a big fan of Cody Johnson, and he's all about meat and substance in songs. And I don't think it's any particular artist — It's an homage to an era, which is cool.”

Clark is also excited by the “second chance” to record some of those hits with today's recording technology. “Soundwise, we've come so far — you hear these [original] big snare drums with all the reverb and vocals and sometimes it sounded like we were in a cave. But the fun part of re-recording these songs is that we can update the way the track sounds.”

Clark says she's grateful for artists like Wilson and Luke Combs — who recently teamed up with country band Shenandoah for a remake of the group's 1990 Country Airplay hit “Two Dozen Roses” — for putting a new spin on older songs that inspired them. and present the music to their fans.

“Fans want to know who Lainey Wilson grew up listening to and who Luke Combs grew up listening to,” Clark says. “It sparks an interest and brings us back into the conversation that we wouldn't otherwise be a part of without them. Thus, we are grateful to the young artists who honor and respect our time.”

Check out the full tracklisting below: