Alvarado Road Show
Panelists - Making The Record

Located just 26 miles outside Ft. Worth, Texas, the City of Alvarado has a population of about 3,000…minus three.  The members of the earthy, edgy country band whose name was taken from this sleepy little town have recently relocated to Nashville, but their hearts will always be pure Texan.

For brothers Cleve Clark and AJ Clark, and their nephew Brandon “Trey,” making music together has always been a family affair.  As a boy, oldest brother AJ was given a banjo by his father.   When he realized that the girls were more impressed by the sound of electric guitars he quickly made the switch.  At age 15, AJ convinced the family to start a gospel band.  Little brother Cleve was only 6 years old when he began singing with the band, and legend has it that he was born in a three-piece-suit with a microphone in his hand.

With mom, dad, and sisters performing together, they recorded and toured, eventually even releasing albums on a Gospel record label.  As the kids grew up and moved on, the group was eventually down to the duo of Cleve and AJ.  They continued to record and perform together, steadily spending more and more time in Nashville, where they honed their skills as country artists and songwriters.  A chance meeting with manager Jeff Lysyczyn at Tenacious Entertainment spawned a relationship that led to the Clark brothers’ permanent move to Nashville in early 2005.

In true family fashion, Cleve and AJ’s nephew Trey also caught the music bug.  Now, at the ripe old age of 18 he tours, records, and writes with the band as its drummer.  All the years of hard work began to pay off for the band, now a trio, as they began to gain recognition as top-notch performers and songwriters.  They have built an impressive catalog of songs, co-written with Nashville hit-makers including Kim McLean, Frank Myers, Rick Carnes, Mentor Williams, Bart Allmand, and many other prominent songwriters.

The band met country artist (and producer) Steve Wariner when he saw them at a songwriter’s night on Music Row.  Wariner was so impressed with the seasoned attitude and distinctive sound of Alvarado Road Show that he began writing songs with them.  Before long, he took them into the studio to record.  The results were impressive.  Wariner dove into the project and flawlessly captured the soulful, gutsy vocal blend that only a family of singers can create. 

When Tim DuBois, Senior Partner at Universal South Records, heard rumor that his long-time friend, Wariner, was working with a new band, he called him to make sure he was the first to hear the music and after one listen, Alvarado Road Show was offered a recording contract with Universal South.  Their debut project for the label is slated for release this summer.