Clay Rose was born unto a draft-dodging pot farmer on the lam and a country songwriter. What did these two have in common? They both did business with Willie Nelson. Clay's mother, Donna Farer, wrote "Last Thing I Needed" which was recorded by Willie on his 1982 album, Always On My Mind. Clay's Father provided Willie with medicine throughout the 70's until the law sent him skipping to Colorado from Arkansas on a midnight train.

When Donna's song hit number 1 on the Billboard charts, she moved to Tennessee to be closer to Nashville, and Clay began his disjointed childhood, straddled between the Rocky Mountains and the backwoods of Tennessee.

Although his career as a band leader has only spanned a decade, Clay's solo songwriting career began in 1997. Clay's ability to tell stories that seamlessly cross genres from folk, to punk, to klezmer, to country, has won him an array of awards.