21 Guitar Salute: Gary Clark, Jr. - "Ain't Messin' Round" (Texas-Fried Blues Rock)

I'm not really 100% sure if I'm gonna throw together one of those "Year-End Lists" yet or not. But But there were definitely quite a few strong releases littered throughout 2012, some unveiled pretty recently, too: Handwritten, good kid, m.A.A.d. city, Wasting Light, Blue Chips, Audio Video Disco, Blak & Blu, etc. My 2 current favourites, good kid, m.A.A.d. city and Blak & Blu, were released roughly 2 weeks ago (Oct. 22-23rd). Gary Clark Jr. and Kendrick Lamar are 2 talented men in their mid-late 20's, simply aspiring to make it in their respective genres of Blues Rock/Hip-Hop and are making some pretty bold moves to do so. If you're interested, check out my separate reviews for both albums, which should still be on "The Witzard"'s front page [below].


Gary Clark Jr. liberated the officially-stamped music video for "Ain't Messin' Round" over @ Rolling Stone earlier this Monday morning. It marks the second recorded version of the track, the first one was filmed @ Live Room and sounds a little bit scuzzier/guitar-heavy. "Ain't Messin' Round" (2) is a grainy, vintage-looking clip directed by Nobel Jones and features Clark's backing band, which includes: J.J. Johnson, Mike Elizondo, and Zac Rae along with Danny T. Levin & David Moyer on horns. Gary Clark Jr. & Friends seem to be playing some sort of Funky dance PARTY or micro-show in an apartment, flanked by 2 record shelves. It's the first video-single pulled from Blak & Blu, since "Bright Lights" first appeared on Bright Lights EP (2011). He ripped it up on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last month and now he's headed into South Philly for a show @ The TLA this upcoming Saturday, Nov. 10th. Scored a 9-3 shift Saturday, so I might see if my pops wants to go check out Gary Clark Jr.'s infamous live show!