Saturday, October 17, 1998

Singer was always destined for stardom

By LORETTA FULTON

Senior Staff Writer

Sara Baker knew long before the rest of the world that one of her voice students at Howard Payne University was destined for greatness.

The first time she heard Cynthia Clawson sing, Baker knew she had a potential star on her hands.

"I knew this was a very gifted student -- she is a consummate stylist," Baker said.

Of course, now everyone who has ever heard Clawson knows what Baker found out when Clawson was a student at HPU from 1966 through 1970, earning a degree in vocal performance.

Admirers of the Grammy and Dove award winner will have an opportunity to hear Clawson perform twice this weekend. She is serving as grand marshal of the Howard Payne homecoming parade at 10 this morning and will be featured during "An Evening of Praise" at 7 tonight at First Baptist Church in Brownwood.

Clawson also will sing during the 11 a.m. worship service at First Baptist Sunday. The public is invited to both services.

Labeled "the most awesome voice in gospel music" by Billboard Magazine, Clawson made her debut as a recording artist in the mid-'70s and became known to perhaps another audience when she was the featured artist in the 1985 movie The Trip to Bountiful starring Geraldine Page.

As her former teacher noted, Clawson is "the consummate stylist" and therefore is popular with a much larger audience than just the contemporary Christian set.

An article in Country Music magazine notes that "with classical vocal training (at HPU) and a jazz singer's torchy way with a song, she's always been an artist who's range extended well beyond the boundaries of any single musical category."

You don't need to tell Sara Baker that. With a 3-1/2-octave range, Clawson was immediately singled out at Howard Payne for future stardom.

"We all, of course, recognized the tremendous talent she had," Baker said.

While at Howard Payne, Clawson was a member of the Heritage Singers, a vocal ensemble founded in 1968 by Dr. O.J. Bryson when Clawson was a sophomore.

Baker, who retired this year, was director of the Heritage Singers from 1987-94. Baker said Clawson's rise to stardom took an upward turn when she did a summer replacement show in the 1970s that was televised nationwide.

But before that, Clawson was a big hit on the campus of Howard Payne University and in the Baptist churches where her father pastored. While in college, Clawson frequently performed for Baptist functions in and around Brownwood, much to the delight of all the listeners. She was especially popular at Howard Payne's chapel services.

"Immediately when she would start singing, the audience would just be in the palm of her hand," Baker said.

Beyond her amazing talent, Baker said Clawson was a genuine person, with poise, compassion, and a good sense of humor.

"She truly loves people and would not let any of this (fame) affect her," Baker said.

Indeed, Clawson lives with her husband and two teen-age sons in San Antonio and devotes much of her time to them while still managing to record CDs.

Her talent has taken her to such divergent venues as Wembly Stadium in England and the small, 300-year-old Spanish Mission San Jose where she recorded Prayer and Plainsong.

Her roots as the daughter of a Southern Baptist minister father and gifted vocalist and pianist mother show in her new CD, River of Memories. Clawson grew up on country and southern gospel music and her latest CD is a return to those roots.

Baker was right about Clawson's sense of humor. A biographical sheet gives some serious responses by Clawson concerning her faith, but also shows that she can joke about her human failures.

In answer to the statement, "If I could change one thing about myself, it would be..." Clawson responded, "My health habits. I lose and gain the same pounds every five years."

Even people who can't related to Clawson's immense talent can identify with that human frailty.