Clay Blaker

Heartbroken tonight after hearing of the passing of dear friend and Texas music legend Tommy Alverson. He was a great musician, singer, songwriter, entertainer and a wonderful human being. Our deepest condolences to all the Alverson family. Rest in peace Tommy, knowing that your musical legacy and beautiful spirit will live on forever.

Happy Anniversary, Allene. We got married 49 years ago today and not a day goes by without me feeling so grateful and fortunate that we found each other that wonderful day 51 years ago. I’m going to keep this short because it’s almost time to head down to the beach with a bottle of champagne to watch the sunset. After that, we’re gonna chow down on the seafood gumbo I’ve been working on all afternoon. I love you, Babe.
Allene and I send our love and blessings to all of you.

Good evening to everyone. Here is my latest short story I just finished writing today. It’s a fast read so please take a look. If you like this story and were not previously aware of my writing, I hope you will check out some of my other stories. And while you’re there, browse around on my website. It has a lot of info about my life in music. Sending much love to you all.

Encounters of the Heart - Clay Blaker Last September, Allene and I drove over the mountains from where we live in Bocas del Toro, on the Caribbean side of Panama, to David, a large town on the Pacific slope in the province of Chiriqui. Every year since we moved here, we’ve made the annual trek at that time to get our annual […]

Thank you all so much for the heartfelt birthday wishes and also for your comments on my annual "Skin the Cat" video. I want you to know how much I appreciate your love, friendship and support. If the good Lord's willin' and the creek don't rise, I will make another attempt of skinning the cat next year on my 75th. Take care and God bless!

Howdy, everyone. Here’s my annual video of me attempting to do the “Skin the Cat” maneuver that my Dad taught me when I was 5 years old. I do this once a year to test my strength and physical capabilities. I never practice it at all as I want it to be a true test of where I stand. Today I turned 74 but I can’t remember if I mentioned that in the video. I’ve gotten so old, I’m about half
senile now. LOL.

I hope you enjoy this video, and stay tuned. I have a new short story coming out soon. I’d also like to welcome all my new followers, friends and fans to my page.

Sending much love to you all. Thank you for your continued support. God bless.

Clay Blaker's Annual "Skin the Cat" Video 2024 Clay Blaker's Annual "Skin the Cat" Video and 74th Birthday Message, June 27, 2024

My last post about the fresh pineapple that I harvested in our back yard here in Bocas del Toro, Panama, seemed to garner lots of attention. So, I thought it would be appropriate to post the whole background story that led us to the here-and-now. It’s a short story that I published a while back. Don’t let the title throw you. It’s a very entertaining story and an easy read. While you’re there, please check out some of my other stories and the rest of my website. Much love to you all. God bless.

Thoughts on Farming - Clay Blaker Who woulda thunk it? After a successful career in the music business as a singer and songwriter, and touring with my band for close to 30 years, Allene and I decided to cash it all in and move to a remote island in Panama to become farmers. It might seem like I’m being facetious here […]

Not too bad walking out in the backyard to pick a fresh pineapple. We're cutting this one up to eat with breakfast in the morning. Still livin' the dream in Bocas del Toro, Panama, after 21 years. Saludos.

Clay Blaker Welcome to the official Facebook Fan Page of country music writer and singer Clay Blaker.

Here’s a little treat for you this evening. It’s a video from Austin City Limits of George Strait singing my song “The Only Thing I Have Left,” that he recorded on his album Strait From the Heart. I’d never seen this video before and accidentally came across it on YouTube last night. It was the first of my songs to be recorded by a major label artist. Many thanks to George for opening the door for me to become a successful songwriter.

The Only Thing I Have Left - 1982 Austin City Limits George Strait The Only Thing I Have Left. George Strait first appearance on Austin City Limits (1982)Ace in the Hole Band: Mike Daily, Richard Casanova, Ron Cabal, Tommy ...

Allene and I are shocked and heartbroken by the passing of our dear friend Tommy Foote on April 29. We have been friends since early 1975 when a mutual friend Glenn Schalles introduced me to Tommy, who was the drummer in a recently formed band called Ace in the Hole. They would be playing at Cheatham Street Warehouse in San Marcos that night and suggested I come to the gig. I had just relocated my band from California to Houston and was checking out Hill Country venues, including Gruene Hall and other popular Texas dance halls, so of course I went to check it out.
After hearing Ace in the Hole that night, I had a long talk with Tommy, that we kept up by phone for several days. Ace in the Hole wanted access to Houston venues and my band wanted to play in the Hill Country dancehalls. So we agreed to bookings where my band was the opening act for their Central Texas shows and Ace in the Hole was our opening act in the larger venues in the Houston area.
It worked out perfectly, and all the band members became fast friends, on and off the road. We continued to do shows together right up to 2001, when Allene and I decided to retire from touring and move to Panama. In all that time, we never missed a year when we didn’t do at least one show together. Of course, as everyone knows, the lead singer of the Ace in the Hole band, George Strait, went on to become one of the biggest stars ever in country music.
After George’s career took off, he needed someone he could trust to be the road manager and asked Tommy to take the reins. At the time of his passing, Tommy had been with George and Ace in the Hole for 48 years.
To Allene and me, Tommy was part of our family. We did so many things together … rafting, tubing and fishing on the rivers; trying out all the newest BBQ or Mexican-food restaurants (but never missing a chance at Herbert’s); checking out music venues and other bands; going to Astros games; staying at each other’s homes; and of course Allene and Tommy were always up for a game of backgammon, especially Acey-Deucey.
After we moved to Panama in 2003, we stayed in touch with Tommy on a regular basis. I had a call from him recently and we ended up talking for over an hour, reminiscing about old friends and good times and sharing a few laughs. He was so full of life and seemed to be very happy. That’s the way I will always remember him. After the recent passing of George’s manager Erv Woolsey and fiddle player Gene Elders, it’s so hard to believe that Tommy is gone, too.
Allene and I wish to send our love and condolences to Tommy’s sister Jo and the rest of his immediate family, George and Norma, and everyone in the Ace in the Hole family. Tommy’s friends numbered in the thousands and his passing has left big holes in so many hearts. But as he would say, “The show must go on.”
Rest in peace, dear friend. Love you so much.

Photo: Tommy and Clay at Gruene Hall a few years ago.

My last video post with the song “Journey of the Heart,” written by Luke Reed and me, and featuring my two grand nephews, Dylan and Diego, reminded me of another good song that Luke and I wrote.
We were at his home outside of Nashville for a co-writing session, trying to come up with ideas. At one point, we got to talking about our early influences in music and realized that Buddy Holly, being from Texas, had a huge impact on both of us. And that triggered a song idea.
This is the final product called “In the Name of Love,” featuring my and Allene’s two dogs, Wh**ey and Junior. You’ll hear the Buddy Holly influence right away.
As was “Journey of the Heart,” this song is from the Texas Trilogy of EPs I released in 2015. Check them out on any of your favorite music sites.
Thanks for listening and God bless.

CLAY BLAKER – “In the Name of Love,” featuring Wh**ey and Junior CLAY BLAKER - “In the Name of Love,” from the 2015 EP “Still Rockin’,” featuring Clay and Allene’s dogs Wh**ey and Junior.

Many of you saw the post I made recently about the passing of my Dad, Mack Blaker, on February 28.
In his honor, I’d like to re-post a video that I made a while back. I wrote this song with my good friend and great songwriting buddy, Luke Reed. Luke and I wrote a lot of good songs together over the years , but I feel this is one of our best. It’s about a father passing his love and knowledge on to his son. My Dad passed that to me and I’ve tried hard my whole life to live up to that legacy. While I don’t have any sons of my own, I have two incredible grandnephews who are starring in this video.
Thank you, Dad, for the wonderful gift. I’ll love you forever and know I will see you and Mom again one of these days.

CLAY BLAKER – “JOURNEY OF THE HEART,” featuring Dylan and Diego CLAY BLAKER – “Journey of the Heart,” from the 2015 EP Still Country, featuring Clay and Allene’s grandnephews Dylan and Diego

On behalf of all our family, I want to thank everyone for all your wonderful comments on my post about our Dad, Mack Blaker’s, passing on February 28. We all appreciate very much the outpouring of love through your kind and thoughtful words. They have helped us so much in navigating through the grief and lifting our spirts in this difficult time. Sending much love and big hugs back to all of you. God bless.

With much sorrow, I want to let everyone know that the patriarch of our family, Mack Blaker, passed away on February 28, with loved ones at his side, at his home in Maui, Hawaii. He died peacefully in his sleep, from natural causes.
We had recently celebrated his 96th birthday on January 16.
Dad was a wonderful husband for more than 75 years to our beloved mother Rose, who passed away in November 2022.
Dad was the epitome of a true waterman. He was a surfer, diver, sailor, champion spearfisherman, and a successful commercial fisherman for 25 years. He didn’t just partake in these endeavors, he excelled in every one of them.
In my mind, I see him sitting at the helm of his boat, the Rosie B, with our mom sitting next to him, heading out on another adventure in a faraway ocean somewhere out there in the universe. Tim and Cindy, Jim and Annie, Ariel, Elaine and Caelum, and Allene and I are all standing on the dock waving goodbye.
Love you, Dad. Thank you for being the incredible and loving father you were to us.
The next time I paddle out, I’ll catch a wave in your honor. And when I see you again on the other side, we’ll catch one together.
Aloha, Dad, and bon voyage.

Howdy folks, and a big shout out to the Honky-Tonk Nation.
Several years ago, Luke Reed and I were at his home in the countryside near Nashville, Tennessee, just chilling out after arrowhead hunting and finding several nice points. Out of the blue, Luke said, “Hey, Clay, I really want to send my two sons down there to Texas so you can take them to the coast and teach them how to surf. I think that would be really good for them.”
I told him I agreed and to send them on down. As we talked about it further, a song idea germinated, and we grabbed our guitars and went to work on it. Luke and I had written many good songs together, some that he recorded and some that I recorded, but when we finished dialing this one in, we both agreed that it was the best song we had ever collaborated on. I recorded the song in our studio in Texas but never released it until I made the trilogy of EPs in 2015 called Still Country, Still Swingin’, and Still Rockin’.
I wasn’t on social media at that time and the EPs were not promoted very well. So recently I reintroduced them to my new and old fans by releasing a video of the song “In the Name of Love,” from Still Rockin’.
Here is my newest video of “Journey of the Heart,” the song Luke and I wrote that day at his home, and I released on Still Country.
The video features Allene’s and my grandnephews Dylan and Diego. Our niece Jacy, who followed us down here to Bocas del Toro, Panama, has made a great life for herself and brought two beautiful sons into this world. Of course, that led Lynn, who is Allene’s sister and Jacy’s mom, to also move down here to be with us and her grandsons.
I urge you to watch this video if possible on a laptop and enlarge it to full screen if you want to really experience what our family’s lifestyle is all about in this tropical paradise.
I hope you enjoy the video as much as I did making it. Much love to you all and God bless.

CLAY BLAKER – “JOURNEY OF THE HEART,” featuring Dylan and Diego CLAY BLAKER – “Journey of the Heart,” from the 2015 EP Still Country, featuring Clay and Allene’s grandnephews Dylan and Diego

Happy Anniversary Allene! It seems like just a few days ago when we celebrated our last one. I guess that old adage, "Time flies when you're having fun", is certainly true. We've for sure had some serious fun in our 48 years of marriage. But that's easy to do with a love like ours. I'm so thankful and blessed to have you as my partner through all of our many adventures. Today we'll set sail on a new one. Love you so much my darling!

The band we formed in the fall of 1974 in Encinitas, California, was still in its infancy when somehow we got booked as the opening act for the great fiddler Vassar Clements at the University of California San Diego’s popular music venue The Backdoor. The venue held only 250 seats but it was known for having a discerning crowd and we were glad to see we got a favorable response from attendees as was reported in the school’s newspaper the following day.
Shortly after that, UCSD booked us to open for Jimmy Buffett. “Come Monday” had been released earlier in ‘74 and became his first major hit. We were excited to say the least. At the venue, early in the day of the show, we did our sound check and then were surprised when Jimmy did his with no band. At that point in his career, he was still touring solo. After soundcheck we got to hang out for a good while and visit. We talked a little bit about music but mainly, after hearing I lived in Encinitas, he wanted to talk about surfing. He asked all about Swami’s, the world class right-hander right there in downtown Encinitas. It was a night I have never forgotten.
In ’77, Buffett released “Margaritaville,” and his career took off while the “Parrothead” nation was born. Over many years, I bumped into Jimmy various times in Texas and Nashville and our conversations always started with music and ended with oceanic adventures. Jimmy even made it down here where we live in Bocas del Toro, Panama, a couple of times. But ironically, I didn’t have contact with him. I think one time we may have been visiting family in Maui and another time, when he was here with his boat and his plane, I received a message on my phone from my good surfing buddy from Texas, Courtney Parks, who is an owner and manager of the Bocas Marina where Jimmy docked his boat, saying, “Jimmy’s gonna play some songs at the Marina bar tonight. I told him you were here and he said to tell you to come out and play some songs.”
Unfortunately, because of the poor cell signal at that time here in Bocas, the message did not pop up on my phone until the following day. Big disappointment.
A couple of days later, I took my boat out to Isla Carenero to surf the left point break and as I was pulling up to the anchorage area, I saw Courtney, Joe Webb and Jimmy paddling their surfboards back to their boat. As I was dropping my anchor, they were hoisting theirs, and after cranking their motor, we all waved at each other as they passed by heading back to town. That was the last time I saw Jimmy Buffett in person.
Today, on waking, Allene was the first one to look at her phone. She immediately gave me the news about Jimmy’s passing. It hit me extremely hard. His music and lifestyle had set the tone for all of us. He was way too young to leave us. It was hard to go about my daily chores but I plodded on as best as I could. Fittingly, the weather matched my mood with squalls of rain, lightning, and intermittent thunder most of the day. The surf out front of our house was small, wind-blown and crappy but late this afternoon I paddled out and caught a wave for Jimmy. I absolutely had to do it.
Usually at this point of a tribute or eulogy of someone’s life and death you end by saying “Rest in Peace.”
I don’t think that would fit in this situation. I know for sure that in the way Jimmy lived his life, he is out there riding the ultimate wave. The one that walls up all the way down the line, forever and ever, straight on into the universe.

The waves were good this morning out in front of the house. I got my board and walked to the beach stairs and then down to the sand and did some stretching before waxing up and paddling out. I launched myself off the big rock I always use to enter the water and a wave came right then and as it sucked out, my fins hit a big rock just under the surface. I kept paddling till I got in deeper water, then turned my board over to check and saw that two of my fins were missing. I came back in, went up the stairs and back to the house to get my diving mask. Went back down, swam out and it took about twenty minutes to find both fins because the waves were bashing me around and the current was really strong. Back up the 63 stairs with my board and to the house where I got a fin key and re-installed the fins. By this time the wind had come up and I was very tired. Finally, late this evening, the wind died and it glassed off and I went back out. I got several good waves and redeemed myself for the morning fiasco. Just another day in paradise.