Touring has been a family affair for Clint Black during the past couple years, with his wife Lisa Hartman Black and 21-year-old daughter Lily Pearl Black by his side on the Mostly Hits and The Mrs. Tour, which wrapped up in Pensacola, Florida, this month.
In an Instagram post, Black shared photos from the show, with the caption: “That’s a wrap on the Mostly Hits and The Mrs. Tour! Thank you so much to everyone who made these shows so special, and to @lisahartmanblackofficial_ and @lilypearlblack for sharing your beautiful selves!”
Music Mayhem caught up with Black about his favorite memories from the tour, how he’s helped his daughter Lily with her music career aspirations, and possible collaborations with guests from his Talking in Circles TV show.
How Did The Mostly Hits And The Mrs. Tour Come To Be?
The idea for the Mostly Hits and The Mrs. Tour came to Black’s agent and manager through a concert promoter who wanted Lisa to tour with Clint, but Lisa was hesitant, thinking it was Clint’s idea. “I wasn’t a very good salesman,” he laughed.
Clint’s team was able to convince Lisa to come on board, then Clint came up with the catchy name. The Black family launched the tour in November 2021 and wrapped up their latest run of shows in early February this year.
The “Killin’ Time” singer joked that he won’t miss “going to Target on my days off, but that’s what I have to do when they’re out with us.” On a serious note, Black has several favorite memories from touring with his wife and daughter. “It’s especially nice as a dad to watch people react to her [Lily] hitting these high notes on a Carrie Underwood song or something and seeing their reaction.”
Another highlight was the unscripted exchanges among the trio. “We’re just up there exploring funny thoughts and getting some laughs.” Although the Mostly Hits and The Mrs. Tour is over for now, Black hopes to continue touring with his daughter and wife in the future. “This is something I hope to do, plan to do, every year.”
Clint Is Proud Of His Daughter Lily Pearl Black
Black is a proud dad, who is quick to gush about his daughter, singer/pianist Lily Pearl Black. Yet, he’s been strategic about how he has helped her with her music career. He and Lisa wanted to make sure she had the drive, ambition and discipline to become an artist.
“We’ve been just watching and helping and trying to only help when needed, which is hard as a parent,” Black admits. “She’s gotta pay her dues, whatever they are.”
When it came time for Lily to join the family tour, Clint had some rules for his daughter.
“Nothing is gonna happen in the show that I don’t think is top shelf. So you have to do the work,” he laughed. Lily rose to the occasion, showcasing her stellar vocals on songs like Carrie Underwood’s “Cry Pretty.” Clint says, “It’s thrilling to see she has the fire now, it’s lit.”
Lily released a 3-song EP in November 2022, Songs from The Mostly Hits & The Mrs. Tour, which includes live versions of “Every Time it Rains,” “Cry Pretty,” and an original song, “Never Knew Love.”
Clint appeared on Season 7 of PBS’ Finding Your Roots, which explores the family history of celebrity guests. Hosted by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr, the show uses genealogy research, including DNA, to help guests discover their heritage.
While the episode is an hour long, Black says that his experience diving into his family’s past was much more time-consuming. “You only saw a little bit of what I experienced. My experience was about four hours. So for about four hours, I sat and absorbed all of this stuff about my family. It was pretty awe-inspiring.” What Black found the most interesting was that there were musicians on his mom’s side of the family, going all the way back to violinists in Sicily. His great-grandfather was a working musician, which was a special discovery for Black. “That was a great feeling of a connection and continuity to that ancestor.”
Talking In Circles With Clint Black
Clint Black also hosts his own TV show, Talking in Circles With Clint Black on Circle TV, where he interviews fellow artists in a way that only a fellow artist can. He’s filmed 35 episodes over three seasons, with guests from Luke Combs and Tim McGraw to Pam Tillis and Deana Carter.
In preparation for his interviews, he combines what he gets from a researcher along with his listening experience. “I just live with their music,” says Black. “I try to come up with something stupid to say to ’em, I usually do,” he laughs. “From that point, it’s just, go have fun sitting and talking to an old friend, a new friend, someone I didn’t know anything about.” Black says he’s made more new friends while filming the show than in the previous 10 years. “It’s brought people into my life who I was already a fan of or just a new fan of. There’ll be some collaborations that come out of that.”
He revealed that he’s finished filming six new episodes, but isn’t ready to spill the tea on who will be guests on the next season. “We all came away from these last six episodes just so thrilled and exhausted from all the fun,” he laughed. “They’re amazing guests and they were a hoot.”
On Talking in Circles, Black likes to ask all his guests a very poignant question: “When you get to Heaven, if you could sing a song with anyone who’s already there, who would it be and what song would you sing?” We posed the same question to Black, whose first reaction was to think of his family.
“My first thought was my great-grandfather, on violin. It’s such a tough question, and if you ask me tomorrow, you’ll get a different answer,” he laughed. “But the first name that comes to mind is Haggard. Merle and I wrote a couple of songs together. We toured together, but we never sang together. I look back on that long tour he and I did together and I think, what an idiot I was! Didn’t think to say, ‘Hey, come up and sing a song with me.’ I wish I had.” The song that he’d want to sing with Haggard is “Today I Started Loving You Again,” which was one of the first songs Black learned by Haggard. “Just a beautiful song.”
Clint Black Hopes To Return To The Road In 2023 With His Family By His Side
Looking ahead to the rest of 2023, Black has a full calendar of solo tour dates, with hopes of bringing Lisa and Lily out again. “We’re still gonna do 70 cities without Lisa and Lily coming along and then hopefully before the end of the year we’ll be back out with them.”
To view tour dates and ticket details, visit clintblack.com.
