Music City--Nashville, Tennessee--is known as the home of many kinds of music, but definitely serves as the epicenter for both the country music and Christian music recording industries. There are some exciting crossovers from time to time (hello, Carrie Underwood?), but for the most part, the two communities stay largely segregated.

Singer-songwriter Tanner Clark isn't interested in fitting into one of those camps, although when given the choice, he'd always choose "Christian" as his label. But the truth is, the Tennessee-raised country boy likes to sing about his Savior with a bit of a Southern twang. And people are liking what they hear.

With his self-titled EP and his "Sunday Morning" single, the Soncured Records singer is putting his unique stamp on Christian music. I got to know Tanner Clark recently as we talked about his life and his mission.

Tell us a little bit about you as Tanner Clark, as a person.

There's not much to tell, I guess. It's a short story. Born and raised in East Tennessee. Live out in the country and picked up playing guitar as a kid and I've always loved Southern rock, classic rock, country music. I worked for a rifle company for a while. 

Wow... what did you do for the rifle company?

I actually still do things there. I'm a national sales manager for Knight Rifles. We sell hunting guns. I've always been an outdoorsman and I love just being out with God in the outdoors.

What can people expect who haven't heard one of your singles or records? How would you describe to them if you were trying to tell them?

If I was explaining what Tanner Clark's about, I guess I would say soulful Southern Christian contemporary. I don't want people to think like when they hear Southern or country, I don't want them thinking it's just like Southern Gospel. I want them to know that they can listen to someone that's contemporary still, still a contemporary band with just a Southern twang to it.

I think it's a little more broadly starting to get there with Third Day and of course, Rhett Walker and those guys. It's starting to be more of a normal thing.
 
You don't hear a lot of the Southern rock kind of feel with this worship that you bring. You don't hear a lot of that. What you bring, it fills a musical void, I guess in some senses. Was that something that you had noticed in terms of your exploration of Christian music?

Growing up, when I was a child, I remember looking at Third Day and that was like our band. I've always been into -- where I'm from, I've always been in the South, and I've always loved country music in general and how Third Day was Southern rock version of Christian music and you don't get much of that these days.

Rhett Walker is kind of like Southern rock and NEEDTOBREATHE is rock and roll, but there's not actually a country music version of a Christian artist yet. That's kind of what I want to be. I want to be the first.

What is Tanner Clark's mission as you're aware of it?

I guess my mission ultimately is to touch hearts through my music. I listen to a lot of Christian music and there are some things that I like about everything, I guess, and every kind of style, but one thing I've always loved about going back to growing up and about Southern Gospel or just a lot of your older beliefs, it was the simple things that saved us.

When I listen to certain songs, like "Redeemed," for instance. It's such a simple song that is such an amazing message. A lot of times I think, in all styles of music, people get caught in the analogies for things and keeping you guessing. What my mission was was to write music and everything I write is directly a story for me like growing up.

With the new song called "Water," I remember when I was there or with "Don't Be Afraid," I remember when I was fearful for things and I didn't know how to get through and God was the only way.

I think that it would be awesome to open the door to a whole new side of the industry. If I'm that channel or who may be that channel, to make sure that people who have all sorts of styles of music will be accepted in the full Christian community so that we can all work towards one goal.
 
What's an influence or band you like that people might not think by your music that you would like?

You'd be surprised at some of the things I listen to. Obviously people are going to know anything country. Johnny Cash. One of my favorite bands is CCR. People could catch me listening to Owl City in my car. It's way away from Tanner Clark, but I find amazement in all sorts of musicians. I just think that what he does is so different, but still so good. You've got to listen to everything. You've got to take something from anything.

Whom would you love to tour with? 

I'd be happy to tour with anybody. NEEDTOBREATHE, if I ever got on tour with Need to Breathe, I don't know what I would do. I would be in heaven. I think I'd like to tour these bands. They'd have to come peel me off the front row before I can get up there and actually play for the band. 

I think that obviously I would mesh with Third Day or Casting Crown or someone that has more my style music, but I'd be happy to be part of anything.

As far as your live show, when you've got the full band and whatnot, what's your live show like? What can people expect from that?

Lots of people think it's going to be kind of calm, but we play loud. You're going to get guitar solos. Kind of like if you went to see Keith Urban I guess or a John Mayer concert. You're going to get all kinds of guitar solos and we just entertain. We love to get up there and have a good time. That's the ultimate first thing I look for. If we're not having a good time, then we're not in the right business.
It's a lot more rock and roll than what we sound like on CD, but we still keep it down and we spend our time in worship as well, but we try to have a good time and make sure everyone else is, too.
 
Do you feel primarily called to play for the church crowd or have you done some more secular mainstream country gigs before, too?

That's the biggest question for Tanner Clark in the future. I would be just fine playing for the church crowd. That's what I do. I want people to know the love of Christ, but also know, as like an old Switchfoot song I heard, which is, "You carry the cross on a song in a place you don't belong."

I would love to be able to break that barrier too, kind of like NEEDTOBREATHE did, in that particular market and not be taken by the secular market, but to have -- like Blake Shelton sang the Dave Barnes song, "God Gave Me You." It'd be nice to come across into the country market as a Christian artist that when people seek me out, they find out that I am a Christian artist, not a country artist. I want us to maintain "Christian" more than anything.

How can people be praying for you as 2015 rolls along? I'm sure you're making more music and all that. How can people pray for you?

Definitely in 2015 a lot more stuff is going on, so I just encourage people to keep us in their prayers. Make sure that we keep where we need to be in the style that we are, that we keep our focus totally on God because so many times great bands and great Christians, they start to focus on other things and they lose what was so special about them in the beginning.

I hope that people know that what we've done so far is straight from the heart and straight from what we believe God's leading us to do and the things that we do in the future, that we want to make sure that they are equally as great as the past. 

Of course going out on the road and doing things, save travels and all that. Just pray if God's going to use us, make sure that He continues to keep us humble in that as well.