After kicking around with various school bands around Oregon, Carr joined a local band called Shaniko, named after a ghost town in Eastern Oregon. A few years, name and personnel changes later, they became The News until they learned that ex-
Clover frontman
Huey Lewis had just formed a band in San Francisco called
The News. They changed their name again, settling on Sneakers. Teaming up with local concert promoters Allen and Phillip Kovac who were moving into artist management, and local businessman Huck Coleman, the band set about recording their debut album. The Kovacs enlisted ColGems songwriter Roger Atkins, known for his hits with
the Animals and
the Monkees, to produce. A record deal was struck with New York-based MMO Group, and
Ear Cartoons was released late in 1980 to rave reviews, including a
Billboard Magazine Pick of the Week. After a year of solid touring, including shows at the legendary Los Angeles venue,
Whisky a Go Go, the band became disenchanted with their career direction, cutting ties with the Kovacs and their label. Carr left the band in 1981 but returned the next year for a couple of shows and to co-produce their second album,
Music From The Sole (which remains unreleased). After leaving Sneakers, Carr moved to
Portland, Oregon and joined Them Roosters, a spinoff band formed by Lenny Rancher of new wave heroes The Malchicks. Carr spent the next three years travelling and performing around the United States and the U.K., with his Cletis Carr Band and with other outfits. He recorded his debut single
That Kind of a Girl / Without Yo, then followed up with an EP,
Visible Tracks. Carr moved to Australia in 1986 for an intended holiday with family there. Within days, he had a job at a local music store and had joined two bands. Playing with Lucy DeSoto and
Rose Tattoo legend
Peter Wells's band, he was introduced to industry icon Sebastian Chase whose label was distributed by
CBS (now Sony). He was offered a recording deal and in 1987 began work on his next album,
Colourblind, which featured the playing of Wells and fellow Tatts guitarist
Mick Cocks. After touring in support of that release, he joined Chris Turner's Big Rock Band, a touring ensemble which featured members of
AC/DC,
The Saints and
Jimmy Barnes. Carr relocated to Melbourne and released two more solo albums,
Tales of Ordinary Madness in 1991 and
Wooden Nails in 1992 before joining country-rock band Big Whiskey. He wrote the bulk of their debut album which was released in 1994, then left the band to concentrate on his new project, the "
Traveling Wilburys"-styled acoustic outfit
Hillbilly Moon, formed with Wells and Top-40 recording artist
Paul Norton. The trio were augmented by Norton's wife, singer
Wendy Stapleton and Wells' writing partner DeSoto, as well as former
Divinyls and
Concrete Blonde bassist Tim Millikan. Their first album,
Volume One was released in December 1994, debuting at Melbourne's Continental Club to a sold-out house. The band toured for some time but other commitments soon halted their progress. Stapleton had begun performing in the popular
Dusty Springfield Show and Wells took off for Europe with the reformed
Rose Tattoo. Carr returned to Sydney, where he became a staff writer for
Warner/Chappell Music and produced a series of releases for ABC Music's new talent program. He teamed rising country artists the
Crosby Sisters with Aussie legend
Russell Morris and produced a revamped cover of Russell's 1972 hit "Wings of an Eagle", winning Duo/Trio of the Year at the 1998 Australian Country Music Awards. In 1999, Carr moved to
Nashville and pursued his songwriting career, cowriting with many notable writers and performing regularly on the circuit at the
Bluebird Café, Douglas Corner, the Broken Spoke and others. He again drifted behind the scenes, assisting his manager pals Greg Shaw (
Keith Urban) and Gina Mendello (
Tommy Emmanuel) as well as landing a job with a couple of New Media dotcoms. A mild heart attack slowed him down and he returned to Sydney in 2001, landing a stint at
Liberation Music. Through the 2000s he continued to perform and write. The recording of
What About You, co-written with and performed by Brooke Leal, was featured over the closing credits of the 2003 hit
Australian film,
Danny Deckchair. He co-owned three café / music venues and hosted regular Sunday songwriters' sessions in Sydney, taking a year out to run an independent record label, Figtree Words and Music, for seminal Aussie garage rockers
Lime Spiders. In 2010, he launched
The Listening Room, an acoustic singer and performer showcase aimed at providing emerging artists opportunities to grow and enhance their skills. 2015 saw him put together a band of talented young local musicians to back
Rose Tattoo legend,
Angry Anderson in a sold-out performance in the Blue Mountains. Throughout the next decade, he continued to record, perform, and tour, mainly in Australia, the UK, Ireland and Europe. In 2016, he released his eighth solo album, and toured the United States in support of it. ==Current==