Steve Kilcrease grew up in the Grand Valley, played with and formed a number of local bands in the 2000s and early 2010s. Back then he could often be found on Main Street shredding guitar or banjo and belting out folk and punk songs for spare-change. Now playing under the moniker Clyde McGee he is an integral part of Flail Records, based in Portland Oregon. His project Clyde and the Milltailers has found a home there, and he also a member of Bridge City Sinners and plays electric guitar with Yes Ma’am. We are thrilled that Clyde took some time out of his busy touring schedule to answer some of our questions.
For tour-dates, cd’s and merch checkout to https://flailrecords.com/
The Revolutionist: It’s been a while since you left the Grand Valley, tell us briefly what have you been up to?
Clyde McGee: It’s been a busy period filled with tours, writing, and a conscious effort to take care of myself here in Portland, Oregon, where I’ve been living since 2018.
TR: You’re about to go on a large tour now with Bridge City Sinners? Where can us home town fans get a chance to see you?
CM: If you’re near Denver, swing by Summit Music Hall on June 3rd or 4th. We’re kicking off the night for Amigo the Devil and Frank Turner.
TR: You toured Europe with Pete Bernhard of Devil Makes Three fame last summer right? How was that?
CM: It was amazing, Pete and I became fast friends, and since then, we’ve toured the States together a few times. We also joined DM3 at their most recent show in Santa Cruz. It’s absolutely surreal to sit at the same table with artists I’ve held in such high regard since I was a teenager, and they couldn’t be nicer folks.
TR: You have clearly come a long way from busking on Main St. and playing basement shows at the collective for Solidarity Not Charity, did you get dirt from all four mountains?
CM: I’m looking at my jar of dirt as I write this out haha. I keep it on my desk in hopes that my superstitions keep me just visiting when I pass though town.
TR: But seriously, how did you transition your music to a national stage?
CM: I suppose the best thing I did for my music was working with people that were more knowledgeable and skilled than me and leaving Grand Junction to go tour larger markets. Luck has a massive part to do with it but being ready with some material that’s polished will always help when an opportunity arises.
TR: You have sung some pretty lefty tunes, I’m thinking specifically of your rendition of “Which Side are You On” with Punk with a Camera. Did the Collective, The Red Pill, the overall punk/ anarcho scene here in GJ have an influence on your music?
CM: It most definitely did. Being surrounded by left leaning ideas and literature in my youth played a lot into the punk ethos that very much shaped how and who I work with today.
TR: What words of advice, warning, or encouragement would you have for young artists in the Grand Valley?
CM: Advice: Leave the Grand Valley and don’t be afraid of living in extreme poverty as an artist for a few years. Learning to sleep in a car was paramount for me and wouldn’t have gotten here without having done it.
Warning: don’t pay to play gigs, don’t play for free, and don’t do heroin.
Encouragement: less talented people have gotten further than you, don’t give up.
TR: I distinctly remember a benefit show at the old collective where you belted out one of the best versions of “St. James Infirmary Blues,” I have ever heard. That’s when I knew you were going to do something big with your music. When did you know?
CM: I don’t know if I ever thought I’d be big, let alone where I’m currently at. I think I knew I wasn’t able to do anything else and after I went busking for the first time at age 14 and made around $300 in a few hours, I didn’t want to do anything else.
TR: Can you tell us hometown fans anything exciting that you have in the works?
CM: I’ve been putting together an electric lineup for my project “Clyde and the Milltailers” featuring drums and more honky tonk instrumentation. Whether or not that’s exciting depends how you feel about honky tonk though I suppose haha.
Other than that, The Bridge City Sinners have a new album out soon called “In the Age of Doubt” and you can hear me playing lead guitar on the new Yes Ma’am album that might already be out by the time this hits paper.
The Revolutionist 