Clancy Wells
Bio
Hi, I’m Clancy Wells
Thank you for visiting my website. I’m very excited to be starting a new musical chapter in my life. Years ago when I was in college, I wrote and recorded an album of my own original songs. I had a manager, and I was performing every weekend, either as a solo act or with a band. I took a year away from college and got a taste of being on the road doing gigs. I loved traveling and performing with other musicians, and I enjoyed the applause and the affirmation from the audiences. However, I returned to college to finish my Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations.
While in my Junior year, I met my future wife, and we became engaged to be married. It was then that I began to think seriously about my career and my desires for our future family. The life we envisioned was one of family togetherness. I wanted to be home with my wife and our children every night for dinner and for bedtime stories and prayers. I wanted to be with my family on Saturdays for the kids’ sports activities and other family fun, and I wanted to take my family to church every Sunday. I knew that if I continued to pursue my music career, I would need to be out on the road performing a lot, and I would often be separated from my family. Eventually, I decided to sell my music equipment, and I focused on getting a conventional job. Some of my friends and bandmates chose the life of being on the road as much as 200-300 days out of each year. A few of them became quite famous and wealthy.
I have never had a great deal of financial wealth, but I have never regretted my decision to get out of the music business in order to be a real partner with my wife in loving and raising our five children. I was home with my wife every night. We enjoyed family dinners and other evening activities together. I was there to give my children baths and brush their teeth and get them in their jammies and tell them bedtime stories and say prayers with them. I was there to support them in their school and sports activities. I coached their soccer teams. I was there for family hikes, camping, bike rides and more. I was there in sickness and in health. One of our children died as a child. I look forward to being reunited with him when this earth life is over. If I were given the opportunity to go back and choose success in a music career or success in raising a family, I wouldn’t hesitate to make the same decision. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.
Now, my wife is gone, and my children are grown, and I have begun to play and write music again. I’m finding that I need to practice a lot in order to play and sing like I did when I was younger. I’m encouraged to see that I can still write new songs. This is very exciting to me. I hope to start posting new songs and music videos on a regular basis.
More about me …
I became interested in music at a very early age. From my earliest recollections, even at the age of five, I enjoyed listening to the radio and my older sister’s vinyl records. I loved to learn the lyrics and sing along. I remember my parents used to ask me to perform for friends and visitors. I would stand on a record album cover (my stage), and I would sing – with a lot of movement and enthusiasm. When I was eight, my dad bought me a baritone ukulele, which I thought was a guitar. I taught myself to play a number of songs. That same year, while in the 3rd grade, I borrowed an actual guitar from a neighbor, and for “show & tell” I sat in front of my class and played an Elvis song called “Poor Boy.” The guitar seemed overwhelmingly huge, and I didn’t really know any real chords. So, I just kind of strummed and tried to play notes that sounded right.
When I was 12, I received an electric guitar for Christmas. It was rather cheap, almost like a toy, but I played it a lot. Though I never took any lessons, I learned a lot on my own. Mostly, I tried to learn the songs that were on the radio. When I was 16, I had a job and some money, and I bought a new Yamaha acoustic guitar at the local music store for $150. This was the first time I ever owned a legitimate guitar. I loved it. At that time, recording artists like James Taylor, Jim Croce and the Eagles were popular, and I liked their styles. I also liked some classic country artists like Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Buck Owens and others. I learned to play pop, soft rock, country & bluegrass music. I wrote my first song when I was 17.
As a Freshman in college, I got a job playing guitar and singing in a restaurant. At the audition, I was terrified, but I got the job. Then, the first few times I performed on stage, I was petrified, but the audiences responded well, and I soon became comfortable performing. I also found that there were a few pianos on campus that I could use after hours for free. So, I started to learn a few songs on the piano. I went on to get gigs playing at bigger and better venues. In my Sophomore year, I wrote a dozen songs or so, and I recorded a record album. I had a manager who worked on a percentage basis, and I was getting booked for shows as a solo artist. Also, my band and I got a regular weekend gig at a steakhouse that had a stage and a dancefloor. That was fun. When we were hired, we didn’t have a name for our band. We told the venue owner that we would get back to him with a name. He had to advertise and put our name on the marquee, and we were slow in getting back to him. So, he just decided to call us the Clancy Wells Band. We were all shocked when we saw the ad in the newspaper, but that name stuck with us.
In recent years, I wrote and recorded a CD of my own original piano instrumental music, which can be found on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, CD Baby, etc. These tunes were not recorded in a professional recording studio. Someday, I hope to do professional recordings of those instrumental tunes. I think they might be good for movie soundtracks. This instrumental music was a phase I went through after losing my wife. I used sit alone for hours in the evenings playing my piano. It was kind of therapeutic. During those months, I composed these instrumental pieces. They came from my heart.
I’m not sure if anyone cares to know any more about me. Like most people, I have faced many difficult challenges in life, and of course I’ve had many good times as well. Ultimately, these life experiences have helped me to develop greater love and compassion for others, and greater love and appreciation for our Savior Jesus Christ who is the center of my life.
Clancy