The stage was set when Clare was born on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Her father, a Blues singer and arranger led clare's ears in the right direction. Clare’s life changed the day 9-year-old popped a Bessie Smith cassette into her Walkman. She listened to that tape so much; she had to buy a new cassette, and a new Walkman! At age 14, when everyone else was into Guns ‘n’ Roses, Clare was far more at home with the likes of Sam Cooke, Mildred Bailey, Elvis Costello and Dinah Washington. She started writing songs and won a scholarship to the summer program at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. It was here, at age 17,that she realized there was no turning back - she had to pursue music professionally. After high school, Clare returned to Berklee, where she studied jazz arranging and composition. She started her first band, which played around the east coast. Clare recently moved to New York from LA where she co produced her first CD "Sweetheart" with Paul du Gre, featuring some heavy-hitters: Greg Leisz on pedal steel (of Joni Mitchell & Willie Nelson fame), Danny McGough on keys (from Tom Waits’s band) David Jackson (upright bassist with Jennifer Warnes and Peter Case) Lionel Loueke (T. Blanchard and Herbie Hancock) and the sounds of Olivier Manchon's violin flowing through most of the tracks.
