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In late 2016, Gary Clark Jr. and his wife, model Nicole Trunfio, purchased a 50-acre horse ranch in Kyle, Texas, about twenty miles south of Austin. It was a significant purchase — a working ranch for a family putting down roots in the state where Clark had grown up. It was also the purchase that produced one of the most important songs of his career.
Shortly after acquiring the property, Clark encountered racist questioning from a neighbor about his right to own the land. The specifics don’t need elaboration: a Black man who had performed at the White House, opened for the Rolling Stones, and won Grammy Awards was being questioned about whether he belonged on his own property in Texas. The encounter crystallized into something that had to be said out loud.
This Land
“This Land” was released in January 2019. The song opens with a riff borrowed from the blues tradition and builds into something furious and entirely contemporary. The lyrics are unambiguous: this is my land, I earned it, I’m not leaving. The music video, directed by Savanah Leaf, was shot on the Kyle ranch itself.“This Land” won Gary Clark Jr. the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance at the 2020 Grammy Awards. The album of the same name won Best Contemporary Blues Album. Three Grammys from one encounter on a Texas ranch.
The ranch in Kyle remains the Clark family’s Texas home. The experience that happened there, and the music it produced, is part of what makes Gary Clark Jr.’s story more than a biography of clubs and stages. It’s a story about what this land means — and who gets questioned about owning it.