A few weeks ago, I wrote about how my buddy Alejandro and I met this Aussie singer named Clint Crighton and his manager Anita Heilig at a pizza joint called Zano's. They invited us to a gig on Tuesday night at the popular neighborhood bar Pick Wick in Woodland Hills. Alejandro was out of town but I attended and was blown away by Clint's music. He plays guitar, has a strong voice that suits both rock and ballads and, get this, he writes his own songs - lyrics and melody. Two of my favorite originals of Clint's were "Afraid to Love" and "Walk On" but I don't think there was a dud the entire night. He also did covers of Bob Dylan, U2 and a wonderful rendition of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody." Clint had to explain to two young girls sitting up front exactly WHO the Bee Gees are. Clint might only be 22, but he knows his music history and has been touring since he was 14 - mostly in his native Australia where he's released two CDs that have gotten airplay. He's also played in New York and toured in Beijing and Hong Kong.
Clint sat with me between sets and we had a nice gab about music and what his ambitions are. He wants to establish himself in America which would be great for us! What I didn't know was that Anita met Clint and his brother a year or so ago backstage at a Toto concert. She was managing the band at the time (and now manages Leann Rhimes!) and Clint had managed to get backstage where he charmed everyone (he is very charming in that wonderful Aussie way) and eventually sent Anita a demo. He took awhile because he wanted her to have some of his newer material. So now they go about getting Clint signed. He is doing a five-song set at House of Blues in West Hollywood on Monday night and, get this: Clint is featured as The Artist of the Week on XM Satellite Radio this week on XM rock Channel 43, The Radar Report. The station features the best up and coming unsigned artists and Clint was one of only 13 bands that were chosen to be featured for the week.
His segment began airing tonight on Ch 43 at 7pm PST. Since I'm tardy with this post, don't worry, you can also catch it Friday at 11am and again on Saturday at 3am. If you dont have XM you can go to XM Radio Online for a free trial and listen online.
Trust me, this guy is good! I'll be very happy to be able to say I knew him when.
For more info on Clint, visit his HOMEPAGE and his MYSPACE site.