Terri Clark has revealed why she refused to fix the imperfections on her live album.
The 58-year-old country singer’s show at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on August 29, 2024 has been put on the 17-track album Terri Clark: Live from the Ryman.
Recalling the gig, Terri told People: “I was nervous and excited, but I had no idea what I was walking out to. I’ve played thousands of shows in my career, but that one was the highlight show of my entire life.”
The You’re Easy on the Eyes hitmaker chose to preserve the raw and authentic sound from the night rather than re-record or alter the performances to make them perfect.
She said: “We did not plan to record this to make an album out of it. We didn’t even have more than two crowd mics.
“We basically had to piece this thing together as best we could. A lot of people will go in after they record a live record and they’ll re-sing everything.
“The band will come in and replay parts because they want it to sound perfect. But I didn’t want that.
“This record is exactly as it went down that night. I chose passion over perfection for this.”
Fellow country singer Trisha Yearwood, 62, who performed Poor, Poor Pitiful Me with Terri at the Ryman Auditorium show, backed her decision to preserve the raw, authentic and live sound on the album.
Terri said: “I talked to Trisha about it one night and told them that I was really leaning towards just keeping it really raw and authentic and just the way it was that night.
“Trisha said, ‘I don’t sound perfect on it either, but it’s live. And that’s the whole purpose. And I think we’re just losing so much of that authenticity these days.'”
The Better Things to Do artist gets emotional thinking back to performing at the Ryman Auditorium, which had been on her bucket list.
Terri said: “Before I even strummed the first note, the crowd was so loud and it went on for so long. I was bursting into tears before I even sang the first note. It was so emotional.
“Fans had traveled from all over the world to be at that show. I just can’t put it into words — it was a very magical night.”
The Girls Lie Too performer, who once toured the Ryman Auditorium while feeling “discouraged” about ever getting the chance to perform there, encouraged people not to give up on their dreams.
She said: “That moment was flashing before my eyes when I was standing on the stage headlining that show.
“Dreams come true. They really do. That’s been part of my mantra my entire career is never give up on your dreams. You’re never too old.”