Going to See Claybrook Will Be the Best Thing You Do All Week

My friend Stephen Claybrook started his band, under the same moniker, over a year ago. To read all about Claybrook and how the band came to fruition check out his website.

But I want to tell you why you need to go to their show tonight, Feb. 15, at The Pour House.

Claybrook will be singing his new song, “Dreams, Dear”, a song inspired by a musician Sam Baker. “I read an article on NPR last summer that told the story of this guy named Sam Baker. In '86 he was on a train in Peru when a bomb went off in the luggage rack above the head of the row in front of him. A mom, dad and 8-year-old boy all died. Sam suffered major injuries but his life was spared. After recovering, he started writing songs as a way to process the experience. He's now an award winning songwriter. This article highlighted a line that best encapsulates the lessons he's learned, ‘Everyone is at the mercy of another one's dream,’“ Claybrook said.

The idea that one’s dreaming is indebted to another is relatable to Claybrook. “This line has haunted me ever since. It works on every level, from nations and governments all the way down to individual relationships,” Claybrook said.

Through this story, pain and beauty are intertwined, resulting in art. Baker’s pain, anger, and frustration are captured in his own music. Art, to the detriment of the artist and the enjoyment of the recipient, is derived from one’s pain. Claybrook wanted to honor Baker’s story, but not get lost in the retelling of it. Baker’s experience led to incredible empathy as well as art, which then inspired the same in Claybrook, though mostly unconsciously.

Fast-forward a few months. Claybrook was writing a song for his wife, C.C.

“I was in the middle of writing a song for C.C., reflecting on all the times that her dreams have been squeezed out by mine, when that line almost word for word came out. I immediately recognized it. Kept it in as a place marker, at first with the intention of writing something new that got at the sentiment. But after sitting with it for a couple days, I couldn't imagine saying it any better way,” Claybrook said.

The biggest concern for a musician is not to copy or emulate another musician, see the present day conflict between Sam Smith and Tom Petty or to date back a few years, the Vanilla Ice/David Bowie and Queen scandal. Claybrook’s concern was not wanting to lift a lyric from another musician and claim it as his own. “I contacted Sam, explaining the story and offering to rewrite a new lyric, credit him as cowriter, or some other arrangement. He sent back a simple response thanking me for contacting him and giving me his blessing to use the line without asking anything in return, and wishing me ‘all the best in life and music,’” Claybrook said.

In “Dreams, Dear” Claybrook pays homage to Baker, “Here's the thing, every dreamer is at the mercy of another one's dream, that's you, that's me.” And even though Baker is directly referencing the Peruvian bombing, Claybrook is able to take that line and make the listener reflect on one’s own life. Perhaps life is all a series of dreams, some coming to fruition while others fade away. Perhaps one’s dreams can be put on hold for another’s. And because one’s dreams are placed on hold, does the dream die out, or morph over time becoming a new dream? Claybrook’s music is meant to explore and delve into those parts of us, to examine ourselves, our dreams, and our relationships.

So join us tonight as we engage in music that forces us to look at ourselves and perhaps challenges us to walk away reflecting a little bit more.