Clare Dunn has always had a dream of performing on stage, even while she was working on her family farm in southeast Colorado. She was always looking for her next gig.
“My parents raised us with this attitude of just do what it takes; however you can make something out of nothing, do it. So, I would go buy karaoke tapes, and I would go sing anywhere I could growing up,” says Clare. “I was heavily involved in a dance studio back home, and so I would sing at the dance recitals, and then I would dance. I would sing at pageants and I would sing the national anthem at ballgames when I was in high school, and I played sports. I was always begging my coaches, like, ‘Can I please sing the National Anthem?’ like before my own game.”
Her very first performance was when she was just six-years-old at the Boise City, Oklahoma Hee Haw. “I sang George Strait’s ‘Heartland.’ My mom just asked me, ‘Do you think you want to do this? ‘Cause I was always singing, and I said, ‘Yeah!’ Since then, that was really the defining moment for me that I knew that I wanted to entertain,” she recalls. “I really remember being a little girl, and people clapped and I was surprised at that. I was like [laughs], ‘They like this? You mean I could like singing as much as this and maybe they would like whatever I’m doing?’ I thought that was amazing, and so that was kind of the start for me.”
You can catch the guitar-slinger performing her latest single, “Tuxedo,” on the Next Women of Country show on CMT August 2nd and on the road. Go to claredunn.com for more information.
Audio / As a young girl, Clare Dunn said she was determined to perform whenever and wherever she could.
DownloadClare Dunn (sang everywhere) OC: …productions. :38
“My parents raised us with this attitude of just do what it takes; however you can make something out of nothing, do it. So, I would go buy karaoke tapes, and I would go sing anywhere I could growing up. I was heavily involved in a dance studio back home, and so I would sing at the dance recitals, and then I would dance. I would sing at pageants and I would sing the national anthem at ballgames when I was in high school, and I played sports. I was always begging my coaches, like, ‘Can I please sing the National Anthem?’ like before my own game. So, that was a lot of my performances growing up, and we also did have some local Hee Haw productions.”
Audio / Clare Dunn recalls her first performance on stage.
DownloadClare Dunn (1st performance) OC: …start for me. :39
“My actual first performance was at the Boise City, Oklahoma Hee Haw. I was six-years-old, and I sang George Strait’s ‘The Heartland.’ My mom just asked me, ‘Do you think you want to do this? ‘Cause I was always singing, and I said, ‘Yeah!’ Since then, that was really the defining moment for me that I knew that I wanted to entertain. I really remember being a little girl, and people clapped and I was surprised at that. I was like [laughs], ‘They like this? You mean I could like singing as much as this and maybe they would like whatever I’m doing?’ I thought that was amazing, and so that was kind of the start for me.”