Cory Brandon Clay is a Musician, Filmmaker, Songwriter, Photographer, Poet and Storyteller. A native of Hannibal, Missouri, best known as the hometown of Mark Twain; he has always identified with Mr. Twain’s assessment that “the difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
In 2002 Mr. Clay relocated from Saint Louis to Los Angeles, where he continued to photograph award winning films and television programs. Continuing to pursue his passion for music, he discovered the sounds of Bakersfield Country Music and also West Coast Country Rock; and in 2007 he founded The Twains. The group played their first show to a sold out crowd at The House of Blues on the Sunset Strip; then subsequently played venues such as The Roxy, The Mint and the Cowboy Palace. In 2013 he partnered opened a creative production agency in Nashville, TN; The Jukebox Romeos. The focus being music videos and concert films, and the company slogan is We See Music. Cory and his team worked with many stars of Country and Americana music which lead to one of his first co-writing ventures with Shooter Jennings, son of Country Music icon Waylon Jennings. The band continues to write and record independent original music, currently working on their third release. In 2022 the band signed with a music agent, Laura Kochan, and her agency; La De Da Entertainment.
Whatever the creative means, Cory’s purpose is to contribute a verse to the grand chorus of the human condition. Stories of love, sorrow, joy, pain, freedom, suffering, alchemy, fascination, determination, acceptance, despair and hope. He believes in the wisdom of Woody Guthrie, “about all a human being is, anyway, is just a hoping machine.” “Thunderstorm in your eyes, wiser, on the run. Take all the happy days and ball them into one. There’s a light that shines our way and I’m gonna save you some, to cut through the darkness” from “With Me All the While” by Cory Brandon Clay.
Cory will be appearing at Word of South with the author Melissa Scholes Young.