Music is in Clancy’s blood
The Central West boasts a great deal of talented musicians with many of them playing throughout the year in Orange. We thought we would introduce you to one of them, 26-year-old Clancy Pye.
Clancy hails from the small town of Oberon where she grew up in a family where music played a large role in her life, you could say that she was destined to be a musician.
“Music has been in my blood from as far back as I can remember. I was very fortunate to grow up in a musical family who loved listening to music as much as they did performing.
“My grandfather was quite a respected drummer and musician around the area and while I unfortunately never got to meet him, he left behind all of his instruments for me and my siblings. So, I really credit that to gifting me the tools I needed to get started.
“Our music room really became our playground as kids and that’s where we’d spend hours over the years learning every instrument we had. I first picked up a guitar at age 6 after my Mum taught me my first few chords and I soon went on to play bass, piano, mandolin and drums,” said Clancy.
As you can see music plays a pivotal role in Clancy’s life which led her to become a singer, guitarist, songwriter, guitar teacher, and if that wasn’t enough, she is also a part time Physiotherapist.
Clancy grew up on a farm which taught her a lot and inspired her to delve into the music scene, but more so it ignited the storyteller in her.
“I was blessed with a childhood very typical of a rural upbringing; riding horses and motorbikes, camping and being outdoors. For my siblings and I, our love for country music definitely stems back to our rural upbringing and I suppose being out of town, we learned to occupy our time playing music with each other,” Clancy said.
As a kid Clancy busked on the street and performed at a lot of local events around the area. By the time she was thirteen, she was playing most Friday and Saturday nights around Bathurst and the Central West in a country rock band with her older brother, Mickey (Toyota Starmaker 2015).
“Playing the pub scene really toughened me up as a musician and performer. It taught me to read crowds and work hard to entertain them. I could think of no better way to have spent my teenage years and it was a perfect pathway to developing my skills as a musician.
“Since then, I’ve clocked up well over 1000 gigs and played at numerous events and venues across the Central West. With the amount of travelling I continue to do from gigs, the whole Central West really feels like home to me and I’ve been lucky to grow up performing in an area that embraces live music so much,” she said.
Influenced by the likes of Chris Stapleton, Maren Morris, Keith Urban, The Zac Brown Band and Lee Brice. “I’m also a forever a fan of Cold Chisel, Johnny Cash, Bryan Adams and Tom Petty,” Clancy adds.
Clancy is making her mark in the music industry by performing at a number of different festivals across the country and even overseas, but not to worry as she will be making a few appearances in Orange.
“I’ve had the opportunity to perform at many of Australia’s biggest festivals including; CMC Rocks, The Gympie Muster and Tamworth Country Music Festival as a guitarist and backing vocalist for Mickey and other country artists such as Tania Kernaghan, Chelsea Basham and Kaylee Bell.
“I’ve also been fortunate to perform overseas at one of Canada’s biggest country music festivals (Big Valley Jamboree) in Camrose, Alberta alongside my brother in 2012 and 2015 as well as CMA Fest in Nashville, TN.
“I will be playing a number of gigs in Orange and you can catch me playing at The Parkview Hotel on 15th Feb, Orange Ex-Services Club on 9th March and The Greenhouse on 17th March,” she said.
As well as playing a number of gigs Clancy has some big goals this year as she is hard at work on demos and her focus is on recording and releasing her own material, while still writing for other artists. A very talented young lady who is worth keeping an eye on, big things are to come!