Stevenson
Clark loves a challenge. He took the reigns of a fledgling Christian radio
station in Southaven, Miss., retooled it to compete in the marketplace, and
increased the ratings significantly after three months.
“I proved that I could do what I’d
never done before,” said Clark, the general manager and program director at AM
1240 WAVN Radio. “People didn’t believe that I could to it.”
Clark was a neophyte in radio to
some degree, but it didn’t take him long to adjust and learn everything that he
needed to know about the business – including sales, administration and
management. He even cut his teeth as an on-air personality from 3 p.m.-7 p.m.,
Monday through Friday.
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| Stevenson Clark at AM 1240 WAVN Radio. |
“I had no idea that I would be where
I am today,” said Clark, 47, who first started with a 30-minute, three-day show
on WAVN until Dr. George S. Flinn Jr., the sta- tion’s owner, offered him the
management position in 2009. He has been at WAVN for 8 years now, 5 1⁄2 in his
current position.
“I wear several hats,” Clark said,
including those of a prolific songwriter, arranger and singer.
Clark started singing when he was 2
years old and dropped his first CD in the marketplace when he was 5. “I still
have a copy of the two songs,” he said, “‘I Believe There’s a Heaven Somewhere’
and ‘God is Able.’”
In 8th, the spritely youngster
started playing the piano. Also during that time, he directed and taught adults
vocal lessons. He is the oldest of the Rev. Denville and Verdie Clark’s six
children, who blended their voices as “The Clark Family.”
Clark attended Hamilton High School
in Hamilton, Miss., his hometown. He sang with the Hamilton High School Choir
and, after graduating, received a scholarship to attend Ittawamba Junior
College in Fulton, Miss.
Clark didn’t finish Itawamba. He had
other plans, opting to sing instead with the renowned Grammy Award-winning
Mississippi Mass Choir, one of the most successful traditional gospel choirs
in the music industry.
“I sang my way through high school
and college,” said Clark, who toured with the choir for five years. In 1993, he
headed to Memphis and took jobs at Methodist Hospi- tal as a lab technician and
at the Marriott Hotel as a server.
“After I arrived in Memphis, I
furthered my singing in churches. It’s my life and I decided I’d pursue it
more,” said Clark, serving then as the minister of music for Mt. Ararat Baptist
Church and the musical director for Pilgrim Baptist Church.
Clark eventually recorded his first
cd in Memphis entitled “All the Praise.” A promoter in Italy heard the CD,
and the group, Stevenson Clark and Friends, would cut a swath across Italy from
1996 to 2009 spreading the gospel through their music.
During his travels abroad, Clark was
ascribed the moniker “The Little Prince of Gospel Music.” His second cd
project, entitled “My God is Truly Blessing Me,” was recorded at Brown
Missionary Baptist Church in 2000.
Clark has sung with gospel artists
such as the late Frank Williams, Leann Fayne, Vickie Winans, Evelyn
Turrentin-Agee, Lee Williams, and most recently on the CD of one of Memphis’s
most reknown quartets, “The Mighty Kings of Harmony,” singing “I’m Not Tired
Yet” and “Touch Me Lord.”
Broadcasting is now Clark’s portal
through which his voice is heard. After assuming the duties as general manager
and program director, he has pumped up WAVN to a level of respectability. The
station is now ranked one of the Top 5 most-listened radio stations in the
Memphis and the Mid-South area.
“I love the challenge,” he said,
adding, “I want to eventually own my own FM gospel station and reach the top in
my singing career. I want to record songs that will bless people in life and
keep traditional gospel music alive.”
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