By james art
By Solomon Crenshaw Jr. | For the Birmingham Times
Cameron Clark started playing drums at the age of 4, but remembers tuning even before that young age.
“I would use pencils and pens on cans or whatever was around the house,” recalls the Alabama State University (ASU) sophomore and Ramsey High graduate. “That’s what my mother and grandmother always told me. I would always knock and hit something.
The 2022 Birmingham City Schools graduate easily remembers his mother and grandmother yelling at him, “Boy, you’re always hitting something,” he said. “Stop that or hit a pillow or something. You’re too loud.
And, Clark said, they’re not exaggerating. “When I tell you I was always hitting something, I was always hitting something,” he said. “I would grab anything. It didn’t matter what it was. If I had pencils, pens in my hands, straws, forks, spoons, all of it.
Nowadays, Clark uses drumsticks—and the beat he makes is more than welcome. Although only a sophomore at the Montgomery, Alabama campus, he is the assistant percussion section leader for The Mighty Marching Hornets.
Clark will beat his drum on Oct. 26 as the ASU Hornets take on the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (AAMU) Bulldogs at Birmingham’s historic Legion Field in the 83rd annual McDonald’s Magic City Classic presented by Coca-Cola. The 2:30 p.m. kickoff is the main event of nearly a week of events surrounding the showdown between the state’s largest historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
“It’s always the biggest game of the year for us, the biggest game other than Homecoming,” Clark said of the Classic. “It’s a lot of preparation, but still being home in Birmingham and performing in front of family and friends is also a good experience.”
“[AAMU] it’s always great competition,” he continued. “Every year we are in practice for many hours. This is the game to look for, the greatest classic of all HBCU classics. It’s exciting. … Classic is one of those games that you have to see for yourself. You have to convince yourself in training. You have to join the game. No confusion.’
“drum line”
Clark isn’t sure what drew him to percussion. He considers his grandmother Sherry McCoy Jones, who died on September 15 of this year, to be a huge inspiration. And then there was the 2002 film Drumline, starring rapper, actor and comedian Nick Cannon.
“My parents, my mother and my father, [Nichole and Carlos Clark]let me watch it Then I had a passion for playing drums [at age 4],” recalls the assistant head of the percussion section. “I literally learned the entire movie, beat by beat, in one sitting. I would watch the movie and play with it.”
One thing that made Clark similar to Devon Miles, the character Cannon portrayed in the film, was that Clark could play by ear, but he couldn’t read music. But he does not allow his life to imitate this fiction.
“When I transferred high school, [from W.J. Christian School]and went to the Alabama School of Fine Arts [ASFA]I was blessed to learn to read sheet music,” he said. “Kim Scott, now a famous jazz artist, was head of the music department when I was there. My drum instructor was David Smith. [While being there]I was able to progress and learn to read music.”
Clark also drew inspiration from Anthony Williams, the drummer at his church, Mount Hebron Thomas Missionary Baptist Church. Williams took him under his wing, with Clark sitting nearby as Williams played during services and eventually serving as a stand-in drummer when Williams was out of town.
At ASFA, Clark was fully immersed in percussion, studying all forms of music, not just marching band. “I had recitals,” he said. “I learned to play the xylophone, basically any percussion instrument,” which was among the keys to him becoming an ASU section leader.
Dr. James Oliver, longtime band director at ASU, said section leaders are selected by demonstrating leadership and communication skills. The section leader had to demonstrate proficiency in playing “all” percussion instruments.
“Musicality”
The ASU percussionist said his parents picked up on his “musicality” early. “They started really pushing it,” Clark said. “That’s when I started taking drum lessons and being part of small community drumming.”
Among them is Freestyle Percussion in Birmingham’s Roebuck neighborhood, founded by Christopher Seltzer.
“When [Clark] he first started taking lessons, he’s still learning, but very excited about everything I’ve taught him,” said Seltzer. “It didn’t take long for him to mature as a drummer and percussionist. He was taking private lessons from me. I actually helped him get ready to go in [ASFA].”
Clark was a student in and butterfly at WJ Christian School when he was in sixth grade. His admission to ASFA was a “major turning point” in his development.
“This is the fine arts school,” he said. “That’s exactly what they do at this school. My 10th grade year is when I transferred to Ramsay [High School].”
Clark’s work with Freestyle Percussion earned him a spot in the organization’s competition drum line, the Freestyle Allstars, where he played the quadri, a marching drum set of four tenor drums mounted on a single stand.
“Each instrument has its own level of challenge,” Seltzer explained. “When you play the square, you have four different drums and you have to remember the parts for each drum, for each beat, for each song. There is a difficulty level for this. I wouldn’t say it’s more difficult than any other drum, but it takes some discipline to play.”
(Cadences are musical arrangements for percussionists, usually played to keep the proper rhythm in a marching band.)
Freestyle Percussion’s website lists discipline, confidence, dedication and excellence as traits Seltzer and others at the organization hope to teach — and Clark exudes those traits.
“He was training all the time. He always wanted to get better,” said the group’s founder. “He was disciplined as he trained to get better every week. As he improved, his confidence grew [and] he became one of the leaders with the Freestyle Allstars.”
Engaged
Seltzer said the ASU group member is committed. “I had no problem with [Clark] to be there,” he said. “I knew he would come. And his spirit of excellence shows now that he is an assistant section chief at [ASU] in your second year, which is hard to do.
Coincidentally, Seltzer is a product of rival AAMU, and he admits to trying to convince Clark to go north to Huntsville, Alabama, instead of south to Montgomery, Alabama.
“But at the end of the day, we just want the student to get a scholarship, whether it’s a scholarship [AAMU, ASU]Miles [College]Tuskegees [University, or] The University of Alabama,” he said. “It doesn’t matter. First, we want them to go where they want so they can be confident about where they are. Second, we want to prepare them to get a scholarship at any school.”
As always, Seltzer will be in the stands for the Magic City Classic on Oct. 26, but he has room in his heart to keep cheering.
“Ironically, I think I have half and half at each school,” he said. “I have two or three that I have taught [ASU]I have about the same at [AAMU]. Of course my school is [AAMU]; that’s where I paid my money and where my degree comes from. I will also support my students from [ASU].”
As for Clark, apart from being into music, he has always been into numbers and math. To that end, he is studying accounting and hopes to earn a graduate degree in business marketing and finance.
The 83rd annual McDonald’s Magic City Classic presented by Coca-Cola will be played between the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University Bulldogs and the Alabama State University Hornets at 2:30 p.m. on October 26 at Birmingham’s legendary Legion Field. Details of road closures, accessible parking, transport services and more are available at magiccityclassic.com.