Native: A Homegrown Music Profile

As the great German poet once said, music is the revitalizing water that washes the dust from our souls. It brings us joy, opportunity and endless emotion. No matter the event in your life, there is likely a soundtrack playing to the memory. For one Evant native, the story couldn’t be more true.

Clayton Landua is widely known throughout Central Texas and beyond for formerly fronting the band, 6 Market Blvd. “I’ve always been drawn to music,” Landua noted. Writing his first song at only 18, Landua had an affinity for putting poetic words on paper. However it wasn’t until age 20 that he became more serious about creating music. He acquired his first guitar and quickly began teaching himself how to play. Landua began, like many, learning basic chords and progressed to learning his favorite songs. “It was very rewarding to learn one of my favorite songs and then, all of a sudden, I started writing my own songs,” recalled Landua.

During his studies at Tarleton State University, Clayton began getting into a handful of open mic nights. Over time, he and some friends began running different open mic nights in Stephenville and wound up forming a band. “Before I knew it, more and more people were showing up to hear me sing a couple of songs during my set. We started being able to go out and do some gigs. We’d put up flyers all over campus, all the time, every time we had a show. Before we knew it, [we were] selling the venue out,” remembered Landua.

This open mic night band was the beginning of 6 Market Blvd. playing with the very lineup with which they went on tour. The band was composed of lead singer Clayton Landua, lead guitarist Josh Serrato, bass guitarist Ben Hussey, rhythm and lead guitarist Scott Neal, and drummer Dallas Neal. The band was playing open mic nights every week across Stephenville when they learned of a music competition.

95.9 The Ranch, of Fort Worth, was hosting a songwriting contest. Clayton and Scott entered the competition and performed acoustic versions of the band’s songs, “Picture of You” and “That’s the Way Love Goes.” The pair swept the competition and was awarded an opening act at 8.0’s Bar in Fort Worth and a recording opportunity with Fort Worth Sound.

While recording “Ready to Throw” at Fort Worth Sound, a gentleman was sitting in and listening to the band work the song out in studio. “He represented this company called ‘Winding Roads,’ they [did] online marketing and radio promotion,” recalled Landua. “We went from winning an opportunity to record one song to an opportunity to get a full length record and a radio promotion distribution deal in just a matter of a week.”

The band’s success continued to build quickly after a game-changing second gig at 8.0’s. A booking agent with Red Eleven out of Nashville came to check them out. “It was a packed house and he signed us on the spot,” said Landua. Only a month after winning the songwriting competition, the band had earned two opening acts at a hot music club and signed an album distribution and promotion deal with a Nashville label called Vision Entertainment.

After signing with Vision Entertainment, the band was having the time of their lives and the tour was taking off. They first began touring all over Texas and Oklahoma. Once their album Shake it Down was released in 2012, 6 Market Blvd. scored two Top 10 singles on the Texas Music Chart. Quickly attracting a national following, the record debuted at #42 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart and #5 on the iTunes Country Music Chart. Their instant success sent them touring the greater part of Middle America, making stops in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois, New Mexico, Colorado, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Landua recalled what it was like hearing one of their songs on the radio for the first time. “We were cruising [through] West Texas and had a radio interview out in Snyder. When we left, ‘Ready to Throw’ started playing on the radio. Everybody was just quiet. We sat in the van and listened, just cruising to Lubbock. The rest of that ride to Lubbock was one of the coolest, most surreal moments. The show that night at The Blue Light in Lubbock was fantastic as well.”

“A lot happened for us in about 6 years that happens for folks in about 10 years. We were touring at 22 years old and by 28 we were stepping away. There’s a part of me that thinks we should have held on a little bit longer, but at the same time, everything happened really fast and we needed time to get our bearings back on straight. From the outside looking in, it looks like a rock star status, super fun, on top of the world. Don’t get me wrong it’s totally a good time, but it can really wear you out fast. From the outside looking in it all seems great, but if you get a chance to step onto the inside of it and see some of the other things going on and see how tired everybody is, you would see it’s ok to take a break sometimes,” commented Landua.

6 Market Blvd. amicably dismembered in 2014, playing their last show on February 28 at City Limits Bar at home in Stephenville. “We’ve all just grown up. If you look at how all of our lives have turned out and how we’re still friends after dismembering in 2014, most of us have all really done our part to make sure we rekindled and everybody remained friends. It was left on such a good note. We were able to accomplish quite a bit and we opened doors for a lot of people, too,” noted Landua.

Every weekend across Texas, someone usually contacts Clayton to tell him about a new band they just heard somewhere covering one of 6 Market Blvd.’s songs. Landua stated “with these younger bands coming up, many have a 6MB song on their set list that night. It’s really cool to hear those testimonies and see the love our fans have for our music [that have] kept us relevant this entire time.”

Over the past three years, the posse has put on 6 Market Blvd. reunion shows for fans. “We’ve been blessed that radio stations all over Texas have kept us pretty current. I mean, they just keep spinning 6MB,” said Landua.

Faith has played a major role in guiding Clayton’s decision-making through the years, even stepping away from music to focus more on his faith. Landua found himself at StoneWater Church, in Granbury, where he was immediately noticed and trained to be a worship leader. Landua served the StoneWater congregation as the praise and worship team leader. Clayton even served on mission trips with the church to Costa Rica and India. “They invested in me quite a bit, more as a person and spiritually,” said Landua.

He never stopped playing music and began writing some new music during the transition. “I’ve never been able to stop playing music, it’s my passion; and I didn’t write these songs for no reason. So I’ve been working on this project for a couple years now and released an album,” Landua remarked.

Clayton Landua Music released a debut album, Native, on May 9, 2017. Landua is backed by a solid group of band mates, two of whom happen to be Clayton’s cousins. Brandon Doyle plays lead guitar for the group and singer-songwriter Ryan Turner

plays electric rhythm and harmony. Ryan is known for his songs “She’s No Amy” and “Sweet Time.” The relatives are flanked by former Dolly Shine drummer, Johnny Goodson, bassist Tanner Hill and Texas Homegrown Radio DJ, Bobby “Texas” Gardner on steel.

Clayton Landua Music reproduced 6 Market Blvd.’s “Picture of You” for the Native album, as 6MB never had a chance to put the song on a full-length record. Clayton Landua Music was even selected by the American Fellowship of Cowboy Churches to perform for church camps. You can find Clayton Landua Music on Facebook and their album, Native, on iHeartRadio, Spotify and iTunes.

Clayton is the epitome of being humble and kind, even with the accolades and accomplishments he has received. Landua’s soaring vocals gained the attention of premier outlets including the Huffington Post, Country Weekly Magazine, and Texas Music Magazine, to name only a few. He has performed as the front-man for the main act on the Larry Joe Taylor stage and opened for headlining acts such as, Mark Chestnut,

Stephanie, Clayton’s wife, commented, “It’s an honor, really, to be Clayton’s wife because he treats people really well and has really good relationships. Especially going places and seeing the love and respect people have for him, it’s amazing. He’s changed me as a person.”

What is the one thing Landua wants his fans to know about him most? Just how thankful he is for them. “I’m just so thankful for them and [have been] blessed to have so many people that have been continuous fans, even after stepping away.”

“There’s always room for a revival,” notes Landua. “There is a little conversation about a 6 Market Blvd. reunion tour in 2020 that we’re talking about. Nothing is in stone but we all have talked about it and think it would be cool. We’re looking at our schedules and seeing what 2020 looks like.”