The Fort Smith Arkansas native, JD Clayton, released his debut album Long Way FromHome,early last year which has received overwhelming critical acclaim. There’s no artifice surroundingthe Arkansas-born singer and songwriter. No glitz. No pretension or mythology. JD Clayton’ssound, and where he chooses to make it—Arkansas, the most western of the southern states—isa bridge between the southern rock on which he was raised, and the truth telling tradition from the70s era of country music that he most favors.

As a result, the songs on his thrilling new album Blue Sky Sundays, feel both lived in andcompletely free. Like any great songwriter, Clayton is both leader and follower, telling his ownstory but reveling in how it unfolds in live time and relates to listeners individually. “The album isabout clarity. It’s about leaving the things that let us down behind,” Clayton says. “It’s about loveand family and joy. It took me about four months of being sober to have a clear enough head toprocess this. I think I finally understand that piece of the puzzle at least.