<br />_{Born Clayton Lorne Rains. February 5th, 1971}<br />
Clay Rains is an America Folk/Country Musician originally hailing from Trenton, Missouri, United States.

General

Rains has played and sang for approximately the last seventeen years, mostly in the Midwest and Upper South, as well as Texas. Rains' style ranges from country, to folk, to bluegrass, and even hard rock. Rains began his musical career playing as a solo guest at a lot of little opries and country and bluegrass festivals in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa.

Nashville and Recording Contract

In 1994 Rains began his first studio effort entitled Clay Rains and the Henchmen with drummer Brandon Baxley and guitarist Keith Wilson sitting in on the sessions at Tesco Studios in Omaha, Nebraska. Upon completion of this project, Rains and drummer Brandon Baxley spent some time in Nashville, Tennessee, where the two frequented such places as the Grand Ole Opry, Hard Rock Cafe and Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. Soon, in late 1998, Rains was awarded a recording contract with Circumscope Records, which he remains with to the present.

Missouri Breaks

In 1995, after returning to Missouri from Nashville, Rains joined the Saint Joseph-based classic rock/blues band Missouri Breaks. Rains was lead singer and harmonocist until quitting the band in late 2000 to work as a radio disk jockey at KAAN in Bethany, Missouri. This took Rains out of the music scene for nearly seven years.

Missouri Hiatus

Although during this seven year period, he was no longer actively performing on a full-time basis, Rains did continue to do limited performances. Rains has remained involved in yearly musical productions with the Young Adult Theater League in nearby Hamilton, Missouri, which he'd been involved in regularly since 1994. His most recent performance with the theater league was his part as Johnny Cash in "See You at the Movies II," the 2006 production in which he performed "Ring of Fire" and "Jackson opposite duet partner Mary Hagstrom, who portrayed June Carter. Rains also attended Willie Nelson's Fourth of July Picnic in Fort Worth, Texas in 2005.

Present

At present date, Rains has currently entered into a new joint recording agreement between Circumscope and the major label, Los Angeles/Austin based New West Records, sharing the label with Kris Kristofferson, whom he met while performing at Willie Nelson's Fourth of July Picnic, and who suggested Rains be signed. Currently, Rains is in the studio beginning his first studio project with the label, which includes a duet with country music legend Willie Nelson. A re-release is also planned for his original Clay Rains and the Henchmen. Most recently, Rains launched his Artist Profile on CMT.com, at the same time launching his official website ClayRains.com. Rains' first album is also due to be released for sale via the iTunes Music Store in May of 2007.

Notable Awards and Acheivements

Named to the Missouri Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.<br />
Named Midwest Country's Artist of the Year in 2007.

Other Sites Related to Clay Rains

Official Web Site<br />
CMT Artist Profile<br />
MySpace Web Site<br />