A Song for Everyone who Loves a “Military Man”- Pearl Clarkin

Pearl Clarkin began performing live music venues at the age of 12 in her home town of Pensacola Beach, Florida. She is an acclaimed songwriter and has performed many times on the circuit in Nashville at venues such as The Bluebird Cafe, The Listening Room Cafe, and any of the Nashville hot spots for originals and showcases.

She serves as an advocate for equality for women in country music and fronts the all-female band Rhinestone.

Clarkin on “Military Man”: This song is very personal to me, as it’s a part of my life I have not always talked about. The pain of watching your loved ones suffer from war is tough, but the pride and love that you have for the person who served overpowers the struggle. I decided to write a song for those wives, daughters, sons, uncles, best friends, etc. of a military man. If you love your military man, this song was written for you.”

What was it like the first time you played “Military Man” for your parents?

Momma was the one when I was young and torn up about dad going away in a uniform that used the words “you can love the solider and hate the war.” I was the little girl that was so sensitive that I didn’t watch violence on TV or movies and would burst out in tears if anyone ever even looked like they wanted to argue, much less fight. So the concept of war was way, way out there where people kill each other. It was such a conflict for me and it stuck with me all those years. The day came when I wanted to write a song for dad — so, I did and sang it for mom and she smiled and asked me how in the world I could remember that…