TAKE FIVE: CLINT BLACK

By Jerry Fink

Friday, June 27, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Fans won’t ever confuse country singer/songwriter Clint Black with country singer/comedian Rodney Carrington, but Black might be edging onto Carrington’s side of the stage.

With hits like “Killin’ Time” and “A Better Man” under his belt, Black could be parlaying a successful appearance on an unsuccessful reality show into a comedic sideline.

He performed stand-up comedy for the first time last year on CBS’ “Secret Talents of the Stars.” Apparently Black was the only thing good about the show, because offers have been coming in for him to do more comedy.

Black is making an album that will be released early next year. As a teaser he has released an extended play recording, “Long Cool Woman,” which includes cuts from the upcoming CD (three cuts if you buy on Amazon, four on iTunes).

When he isn’t cracking jokes, touring or working on an album, he likes to spend time at home in Nashville, Tenn., with his wife, Lisa Hartman, and their daughter, Lily Pearl. Black recently talked to the Sun.

New album

The album will be out probably in February. We don’t have a title. That’s the most challenging part. We’re not really finished with it yet. I have lots of ideas for titles but we don’t have a complete song selection together yet so there could be a song title that will inspire the album title.

The EP

The extended play is kind of middle ground between releasing a single and an album. If you were really excited about your music and couldn’t wait to get it out there, you might release that stuff to build fan interest or do something for the fans who are waiting. This gives them a taste of what will be coming. I think in the days of vinyl there were a lot more EPs. Now, with downloads, fans are able to buy one song at a time. With this EP, here’s an opportunity to buy three or four songs in advance of the release and get a sense of what the music is going to be. The idea way back when (was), record companies wanted to create demand.

The tour

This really isn’t about promoting an album or anything, it’s just staying out there, being on tour. The band needs to stay busy. I used to say I’m doing enough dates to keep the band in beans. It’s partly that. A lot of people work for me and depend on me. If I’m not touring at all, it’s hard on them. And we want to get out there and tour over the summer and do this show again because sometime in the fall or early next year I may be really tied up in some TV work.

The stand-up comic

The show lasted one episode and was canceled, but it’s created a lot of opportunities for me. I did this stand-up routine, wrote my own jokes. Gary Shandling showed up and helped. He did a little bit with me, reviewing my material. I went to comedy clubs in Nashville and then I went to the Improv and the Comedy Store in L.A. and worked out, got prepared. Scared myself half to death. Then I went on the television show and did it and then the next day offers started coming in for me to do some comedy stuff. So, who knows?

I wouldn’t make stand-up comedy the focus of my career. That would be tough. If I had other people writing my jokes, I would love it. The amount of work that goes into writing the material and working it out in the clubs and boiling it down to only “A” material — that’s hard.

The family

The first three years of my daughter’s life I pretty much took off. We sold the house in California and put our roots in Nashville. I think I still work as much as I ever have in the last 10 years but there’s an old James Taylor line: “Try to remember that working’s no crime, just don’t let them take and waste your time.” What I do now, the work either matters or it doesn’t matter. If it’s important then I’ll go do it. My managers understand that I really have a No. 1 priority now that’s different. It’s not my career, it’s fatherhood. It’s not hard to turn down things. You get addicted to your kids. It’s not hard to say, “I’m going to be in the back yard with my swing set. If somebody needs me, that’s where I’ll be.”