Photo by: Breonny Lee
BY Taylor Adams Cogan
The right guitar riff paired with a powerful voice, especially from women, has the power to be incendiary. It’s a feeling Dallas audiences experience when they hear King Clam, a band fueled by this combination.
Just a few years ago, Skyler Chilton and Scarlett McPherson were both servers at the same restaurant, when a colleague saw a match beyond the restaurant floor.
“They knew she would sing around town, and I was a guitar player who wrote songs, and they kind of paired us together,” Skyler says.
The two dabbled with the idea for years, and then, the pandemic struck. While artists and venues braced themselves for precarious states and unknown futures, creatives who were hunkering down were also able to dive into their craft, which for these two would give rise to King Clam.
“We write about experiences we’ve had together,” Scarlett says.
“I started to know and understand her voice – this raspier, rock-and-roll voice – and I started writing for it,” Skyler says.
The music of King Clam defies easy classification. As KXT said in 2022, “Their genre-blurring music has notes of grunge, psych, blues, classic rock and metal, but is not conformed to any particular style. It’s more of an amalgamation of pure creativity without limits, writing from a place of emotion.”
That sound took shape as the two tested songs at open mic nights, including at the Free Man in Deep Ellum. That testing went well, and soon they were playing Dada, Three Links, Double Wide, and Trees.
“I feel like Deep Ellum has been the most welcoming community,” Skyler says. “It feels quite like a home in Dallas, of a community of people who know and enjoy music. It’s been great.”
Anyone who knows the neighborhood – or who has walked down Elm Street on a Saturday night – can understand this entertainment district boasts venues varying in size, style, and crowds. And they come together to make a vibrant music scene within these few streets of Dallas.
“We love playing Deep Ellum,” Scarlett says. “It is a little tricking parking and getting people out because it’s pretty busy. We always have fun – usually our friends are playing down the street, so we’ll play, then go see them, go back and forth.”
While you’re looking through upcoming shows and come across a band name like “King Clam,” it could be hard not to pause and wonder what you’re in for.
“I was watching Bizarre Foods, and and they were having an episode about the geoduck,” Scarlett says. “I looked up another name for it, and I was like, ‘Wow this is a good name, it has a ring, you know?”
The phallic clam of the North Pacific Ocean is a fitting touch of irony for the woman-led band that freely writes about sex and empowered women.
Looking ahead, Skyler and Scarlett are determined to take King Clam on tour and build careers on music. But to make that dream a reality, they – and any musicians you like, by the way – need people to show up for live music, not just soak it in over Spotify.
“A live show is very intimate, and if you don’t go see your favorite bands play, you’re missing out.” Scarlett says.
“For other local musicians, going to shows and making friends with people in the scene has gotten us to where we are and created the community that we have.” Skyler adds. “I’d say also that it doesn’t seem like we have enough non-musicians come out to support music.” It’s like everybody wonders where the local fans are. There are a few solid ones that everyone knows, but there’s not many, so it would be nice for our community, outside of musicians, to support what we do.”
There’s incredible energy at single-release shows King Clam does, as well as the bigger ones with multiple artists, like the Deep Ellum Block Party.
“We can create a supportive and beautiful scene when we try really pointedly,” Skyler says. “Overall, we’re really thankful for where Deep Ellum has put us. It means a lot to hear the work and time we’ve put in, people noticed we’re trying to do something and create a scene.”
