Catching up with Clay Riness

We first heard Clay Riness in the Eighties when he released an album of homespun songs from the Heartland like "Down to the Cellar," "Combine Boogie" and "Victoria's Kitchen."

We were particularly smitten by "Victoria's Kitchen, which conjured some warm and inviting images:

Sometimes it sings of fresh bread, sings of whole wheat
Plenty of molasses, raisins and apricot muffins
It's where she makes the cookies and dries the wild chives
Heats up the coffee and keeps it alive on the oven

Click this link to hear "Victoria's Kitchen" from back in the day. To borrow a phrase from Bob Dylan, Riness was so much older then, he's younger than that now -- as you can see watching the embedded video above.

We lost track of the artist from Coon Valley, Wisconsin, and it wasn't all our fault. Riness settled down to raise a family with Victoria, and his music took a back seat for a number of years. We were happy to reconnect with his music recently after doing a simple Google search.  Apparently he never put the guitars in storage.

Clay's website is under construction but you can find out more about him and his music at: http://www.myspace.com/clayriness