The following story was originally included in the Tega Cay Sun Special Edition of the Best Dam Food Festival. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors for making the print edition possible: Jackson Orthodontics, The Hot Dog N Too, PuckerButt Pepper Company, Kids R Kids, Macaluso Golf Carts, Eye Spy Carolina, Donut NV and Cousins Maine Lobster.
Before American Idol, The Voice or America’s Got Talent, there was Star Search. The show originally aired from 1983-1995 and was hosted by Ed McMahon, the venerable sidekick of Johnny Carson. Similar to the talent shows of today, many singers and musicians got their start playing in front of a captive TV audience.
LeAnn Rimes is probably the most well known winner of Star Search, but plenty of other bands competed and gained notoriety as well. One of those bands was Sugar Creek, contestants in the second year of the show in 1984. The band was led by a singer who was small in stature but more than held his own on the national stage. The singer’s name was Tim Clark.
Tim Clark hails from Frankfurt, a small town in Kentucky. A self proclaimed jock in his youth, the direction of his life changed when he decided to step away from a football scholarship at Morehead State University after his freshman year. With no plan B, Tim had to start moving in a direction, any direction.
Having played in a country band during his youth, he figured it made sense to “try this singing thing.” He proceeded to take singing lessons at Kentucky State University and began to learn the basics.
Along with signing, he decided to open a local talent agency with Jim Parrish, a local buddy. As Tim puts it, the office consisted of “one room, a couple of desks, two phones and no clients.” Not exactly a recipe for success. The business did afford an opportunity to be listed in the Yellow Pages, the 1980s equivalent of Facebook. This simple listing changed the course of Tim’s life.
On a dreary day within that one room office, the duo received a call from Dave Fisher, owner of East Coast Management in Charlotte, NC. He was looking for a guitar player and singer to join an established band called Sugar Creek. Jim responded that he “knows a guy, he’s young, but he has something.” The young guy Jim mentioned was sitting right beside him in the person of Tim Clark.
Tim ended up joining the band and eventually became the lead singer. He played with Sugar Creek for ten years, initially finding success in the south and then expanding to the north once Star Search aired. According to Tim, they played “all over New York state” and pretty much every other state across the eastern seaboard and panhandle of America. “I got paid to have a good time.” says Tim.
The band even recorded an album in Europe, finding a new group of Non-American fans who were just as loyal and excited to hear them play.
Although there was success, everything has a way of running its course. At the age of 30, Tim decided it was time to move on, “if I’m going to do something, now’s the time.” He went solo and founded the Tim Clark Band, playing in clubs and venues across North and South Carolina and beyond.
“I love great music. I live a very charmed life, I’m not complaining. I’m much more grateful now for what I’ve accomplished than I ever was before.”
Retiring from the business in 2022 due to burnout, Tim and his wife Marsha split their time between Mt. Airy and North Myrtle Beach where Tim sells commercial real estate. Although he has retired from regular touring, he hasn’t retired from music altogether.
He and his son Brandon are working on an album together. The collaboration will include all original songs and should be available next year.
Asked why he’s excited to play the Tega Cay Best Dam Food Festival, Tim was very complimentary of Caroline Hasty, Tega Cay City Event Manager. “She gets it. She’s all about the experience. She’s very good at her job and she goes all out for people. You can’t ask for more than that.”
As is the case with most of us, Tim has a few things that he’d change in life. Finishing college and gaining a degree is one of them. This would have allowed him to coach sports, which is a passion that he loves. However, when pressed, he went on to say, “One little change, changes a lot. I’d be scared to say that I’d change anything.”
With a set that will include originals and covers from the Little River Band to Miley Cyrus, Tim and his band are sure to keep you entertained. “I love to see people smile. I pride myself on making the audience part of the whole experience.”
“I’m going to give them a night to remember.”
