The six members of The Clark Family Experience — Aaron, Adam, Alan, Andrew, Ashley and Austin — are part of a musically inclined family that comprises the eleven children of Freddy and Sylvia Clark. All six boys first performed professionally in 1993, eventually assuming the name The Clark Family Experience. The band was signed as "series regulars" on
The Oak Ridge Boys' 1998 television show on
The Nashville Network,
Live From Las Vegas. The show aired 15 episodes, and although just a modest success, it introduced the band to a nationwide audience.
Curb Records signed The Clark Family Experience to a recording contract in 2000. The band also served as an opening act for several country musicians, including
Faith Hill and
Tim McGraw. McGraw also co-produced The Clark Family Experience's self-titled debut album, which was released on February 27, 2001. The album produced a total of four singles on the
Billboard country music charts, including "
Meanwhile Back at the Ranch", which soon became a Top 20 hit on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now
Hot Country Songs) charts, as well as the thirteenth highest-selling single in the history of country music at the time. The band owed more than $800,000 in debt to Curb, citing mismanagement and unfair contracts from the label as the reasons for their debt. Curb then attempted to dismiss the Clark brothers' bankruptcies, claiming that the band was trying to exit its contract. The Clark Family Experience disbanded soon afterward. Adam, Ashley, and Austin reunited in 2008 as The Clark Brothers and won the TV competition
The Next Great American Band that year. In 2009, this trio changed its name to
Sons of Sylvia. ==
The Clark Family Experience (2001)==