‘You get to’

Jenna Clark poses for a photo at the Mutiny Bar on South Magnolia Avenue in Ocala, Fla. on Sunday, January 25, 2026. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2026.

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Posted February 17, 2026 | By Jamie Berube, [email protected]

For Jenna Clark, every gig, every open mic, every early-morning yoga class before a late-night punk show isn’t something she has to do; it is something she gets to do.

Sitting down with Clark on a recent cool morning, we talked about music, art and the artistic process. As she reflected on how she manages her music career alongside teaching yoga, part-time jobs, friendships, family and her own mental health, she showed me a simple script tattooed on her forearm.

“You get to,” Clark said.

“Even the hard stuff is worth being grateful for,” she continued.

She even wrote a song about it.

For Clark, that small phrase, “you get to,” is more than a mantra; it’s the lens through which she views the long hours, the late nights, the hustle between stages and studios, and the everyday work it takes to keep the wheels turning.

“Honestly, one feeds the other,” she explained. “I tend to do things that I love, even if it’s all of those things and the part-time jobs that I pick up, because I very much have a gig life in that direction too, just to make the wheels turn.”

Growing up on the southeast side of Ocala, her love for music was nurtured early in a household alive with sound.

“My dad had his own band when I was growing up. So, I kind of got exposure to gig life through my dad, and he would host songwriters at our house for house shows over the years. I got to meet many songwriters throughout childhood and that kind of fostered a lot for me, as I was always into writing in general,” Clark said.

According to Clark, her father sang and played in a three-piece acoustic band, her grandmother played piano and her siblings all played guitar, creating an environment where music felt as natural as breathing.

“Music has always been second or, if not first, nature, like music came before speaking for me, and I’ve always known that songwriting was my path,” she said.

At age 11, she picked up the guitar and began weekly lessons with Nolan Drudge.

Drudge is a local multi-instrumentalist who offers instruction in piano, guitar and bass at Drudge Music Studio.

“Drudge lived here in Ocala for a long time, but he grew up in Key West and was like a session studio musician for a lot of big names back in the ‘50s and ‘60s. So, he’s got a lot to do with where my music is and how it sounds. A lot of my chord structures and things like that come from him and his knowledge,” Clark said.

Those lessons lasted a decade, instilling a deep foundation in blues, jazz and intricate chord work that became the backbone of her playing style.

School took her through Forest High and a couple of years at the College of Central Florida, but the pull of music was stronger. She worked part-time jobs to fund her lessons and gear, building drive on her own terms, even when her family encouraged her to finish college before fully chasing the dream. She resented the gentle pushback at the time but later appreciated how it grounded her ambition.

“I wanted to drop out of high school and really chase music, but family managed to push me through a couple of years of college before I took off. And you know, I had a part-time job in high school to pay for my music lessons and really put some drive into it on my own. So, I appreciate that after all this time, as much as I resented it,” she shared.

TRANSFORMATION

In 2012, at 21, Clark moved to Dallas, Texas.

“It was my first real experience with a big city and just living a completely different lifestyle, especially at 21, freshly, you know, out of your hometown, experiencing something new. So, I spent all of my 20s in Dallas,” Clark said.

The shift was transformative. She dove headfirst into the music scene of Deep Ellum.

According to deepellumtexas.com, Deep Ellum, established in 1873, is a historic Dallas neighborhood known for its mix of residential and commercial spaces. Originally called “Deep Elm” for its central location along Elm Street just east of downtown Dallas, the area became known as “Deep Ellum” thanks to the pronunciation used by early residents. Today, Deep Ellum is celebrated as a cultural and creative district, rich in history, music, art and local businesses.

“Deep Ellum had a huge impact on me. The first few years, it changed quite a bit by the time I left, which was harder to manage. But in those initial years, I was out in Deep Ellum every night, swinging through this place called the Free Man on Elm Street. They have music every night of the week and I would be there; I would be right next door doing an open mic, or a couple of streets over, looking at somebody else’s band. There’s just so much going on constantly that I was able to learn and evolve and pick up so much from just everything around,” Clark said.

Nights blurred into mornings as she absorbed the city’s relentless energy — blues jams, open mics, karaoke sets — anything that put her in front of an audience. And she used those opportunities strategically.

“I kind of used open mics and blues jams and karaoke, anything anywhere that put me in front of people as the catalyst to meet more, you know, venue owners and different people who could help me. So, I just kind of naturally progressed from there. I spent a lot of time on my craft and aimed to get better, and I did, each time. One gig was what led to another,” she noted.

Clark doesn’t see herself as a polished “brand” to be marketed or packaged.

“I am not so much a brand,” she said. “I am very much a one-man show.”

That steady accumulation of shows, connections and improvement eventually led to the formation of her band, The Salty Truth.

The name, The Salty Truth, crystallized during a recording session. Having gone without a band name for some time and struggling to settle on one, the phrase suddenly struck her as she wrapped up work with the group. For her, the name captures the raw, stinging episodes that force resilience, the temporary discomfort of a “salt suit” that ultimately reshapes perspective and deepens understanding.

“The ‘salty truth’ is those moments where you know life kind of just hits you and you got to wear a salt suit for a little while to get through it. But when you get through it, those moments are so profound and change you,” Clark said.

With rotating members over the years, the band became Jenna Clark & The Salty Truth, a vehicle for her evolving sound.

Over her decade in Texas, she recorded four studio projects.

“Each album is just kind of a collection of years, really. So, they’re representative of different relationships and challenges I went through at different times. My first album was produced by Dan Creamer of the Texas Gentlemen, so a lot of his sound is kind of woven through the production,” Clark said.

According to artandseek.org, The Texas Gentlemen are a group of musicians from across Dallas-Fort Worth. They work as session musicians or backing bands for acts like Kris Kristofferson, George Strait and others. They also create and record their own music.

“When you step into these studio settings with these minds that are a little more elevated in different directions as far as music, magic just starts to happen with people. The first album was a huge catalyst for learning how to be in a studio and how it works, and all it entails and the genres kind of weave in and out of blues and different sounds, as does my most recent record, which was produced by Nik Lee of the same band, Texas Gentlemen, who’s a guitar player. So, there’s a lot more guitar sound to a more guitar-heavy album. But same thing, genre weaves in and out, and very much influenced by their music. A lot of my influences came from Texas, working with other musicians and proceeding to get better because of their guidance or their style, or I’m just kind of a sponge of everything I’ve ever known,” she said.

For Clark, the Dallas music scene gave her reason to be thankful.

“It’s very vibrant. I was so grateful to be a part of it. I mean, really, they’re still spinning some of my songs on the radio,” she said.

According to Clark, by the early 2020s, Dallas had transformed. In 2023, she returned to Ocala.

“I really missed Florida towards the end of my time in Texas. Dallas had grown by 8 to 10 million people, so it was not quite the same city that I met when I was 21. A lot of my friends were naturally pushed out by the rising prices of everything. I kind of just decided I wanted to come back here when I imagined it would be ‘slow cala’ and no, it’s not,” she said.

For new residents of Ocala, “Slo-cala” is a sometimes derogatory nickname for Ocala, referring to its former slower pace and rural atmosphere.

“But, I’ve learned to accept what’s here and really have invested in old friendships and my time here has been excellent,” Clark said.

FINDING BALANCE

Clark balances a freelance lifestyle: teaching yoga classes and playing bass in two local bands, The Surface Dwellers and Fever Dreams.

“I love being a part of somebody else’s projects in addition to my own. It’s a nice grounding experience to place myself in different parts of a band and do different things with music,” she said.

The local punk scene has energized her.

“There’s just a lot that floats through, and a lot of grit, a lot of talent. It’s cool to see people working together in this community,” Clark said.

She also became a regular at events like a songwriter showcase.

“I was graciously taken back into the local scene by songwriter showcase hosted by Taylor Schoenborn, born at the Mutiny Bar in Ocala. It’s the last Sunday of every month,” she stated.

Schoenborn, who bartends at Mutiny and hosts the monthly showcase, has known Clark for years and invited her back eagerly.

“Jenna and I go way back. I’ve watched her music grow over the years, so it was an easy choice for me to invite her to showcase, if not for my own selfish reasons of wanting to hear her live any chance I can get,” Schoenborn said.

What stands out to Schoenborn is Clark’s genuine authenticity and the Texas-infused flavor in her playing.

“Jenna’s songwriting is unique, like everyone who comes to showcase, because she brings herself genuinely to every project she joins, doubly so for her own work. When Jenna has something to say, you’ll hear it. Her voice is powerful and she has a wide vocal range. She plays some open country style riffs, inspired surely by her time in the plains of northeast Texas, along with a bluesy twang that almost has a humidity to it that reminds you exactly where she’s from. I’ve known Jenna a long time; it’s been beautiful watching her add to her style and strengthen what was already so great,” he said.

Since her return, Schoenborn has seen her become a pillar of the community.

“She helps our musical community as much as possible; she’s always there to lend a hand or a tune at the local music showcase we have at Mutiny on the last Sunday of each month. Outside of that, she picks up gigs anywhere she can and plays bass in two other local bands. She refuses to let our music scene dwindle at all and will help any musician whenever she can. She does so much for the sake of music and the sheer love of the game, it’s one of the reasons I’ve always admired her and am beyond thankful she’s a part of our community,” he said.

Clark’s most recent release was “Deja Vu,” with the title track out Oct. 24, 2025, and the full album following Nov. 21, 2025. Produced in Texas but carrying forward her journey, it reflected on cycles of life, love and return. At present, she is creating new material.

“I’m in the writing process at the moment, but I’m steadily looking for a studio here in Florida to work with,” she said.

To struggling artists in Ocala, or anywhere, who feel lost, unsure of their next step or overwhelmed by the distance between where they are and where they want to be, Clark offers direct, no-nonsense encouragement rooted in her own hard-won experience.

“Practice always,” she said, “as in practice your presence through open mics, karaoke, anything you can get in front of, if you can get yourself in front of people and practice that, it will be much easier,” Clark said.

Schoenborn echoes this advice, drawing from watching Clark’s momentum.

“If I could offer any advice to songwriters based off of Jenna’s momentum is that momentum is what you need. Jenna doesn’t stop moving, she stays practicing when no one is looking, she works on her songs constantly because of how deeply she cares for it. She goes out and searches for gigs and places to play and all the while, it’s not even work to her. It’s what she was born for. My advice ultimately would be to care about what you do and to be yourself through and through, and to not stop moving and working towards your goals, like Jenna does,” Schoenborn said.

For Clark, every stage, no matter how small, is another chance to remember: You didn’t have to do this — you get to.

To learn more, go to jennaclarkofficial.com