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Terri Clark keeps Ryman Auditorium live album raw, refusing Auto-Tune and AI
Country singer Terri Clark released a live album from her Ryman Auditorium headlining debut, leaving the recording unedited and rejecting Auto-Tune and artificial intelligence.
Country music veteran Terri Clark released a new live album on Friday, Oct. 30, documenting her long-awaited headlining debut at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. In an industry where Auto-Tune and artificial intelligence make it easy to polish a performance, Clark chose to leave the recording as it was, imperfections included.
Rather than return to the studio to clean up the show, Clark said she was determined to preserve the night exactly as it happened. That was not an easy task. "We didn't even have the proper audience mics," Clark told OutKick OutDoors in an exclusive interview. "The audience was twice as loud as it sounds on this recording."
The August 2024 concert was not originally meant to become a live album. It was roughly a year later that Clark and her team decided to assemble recordings captured by her concert engineers. Clark said she refused to replace any vocals or replay any parts. "In a world of AI and tracks and Auto-Tune and all of the things that people do to sound perfect, I let the recording lie the way it was and stay exactly as it went down that night," she said. She summed up her approach this way: "It's passion over perfection."
The performance marked a milestone in Clark's career. On Aug. 29, 2024, she headlined the Ryman Auditorium for the first time, checking off a long-held goal. She had once performed for tips at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, just across the alley from the venue, which made the moment especially meaningful. "This was a full-circle moment," she said.
Even after more than three decades in music, Clark said she was unprepared for the reception she received that evening. She recalled fans arriving from across the country and beyond, including Canada and the western United States. "It was a room full of so much love, and we shared just a moment that I almost never want to headline the Ryman again because it'll never come close to that show, if that makes any sense," she said.
The 17-track album, titled Terri Clark: Live From The Ryman, includes performances of her hits "Better Things to Do," "Girls Lie Too" and "I Wanna Do It All." It also features guest appearances by Ashley McBryde, who joined Clark on "Better Things to Do," and Trisha Yearwood, who performed "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me."
Clark said the energy of that night is the reason she would not change the recording. "I don't think I could duplicate the energy and excitement in my voice that night if I went in and redid anything," she said. Instead of chasing studio perfection, she let the original performance stand on its own.
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