BY CLIFF SMELLEY
A concert at a big-city venue might be an exciting way to celebrate New Year’s Eve, but what if you could have that same experience in Starke?
Musician Clark Hill said that’s just what he’s bringing as part of a show that will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 31, at 7 p.m. at the new stage at Starke’s Downtown Square.
The four-hour Clark Hill Hometown Bash will also include musicians Stephen Barker Liles and Porter Martin and conclude with fireworks.
Admission is free, though tickets are required, which can be obtained via https://www.eventbrite.com/e/clark-hill-hometown-new-years-eve-bash-tickets-1953280347099?aff=ebdssbdestsearch.
A VIP Experience is being offered for $55.20 (limit of 100), which will include a pre-show dinner with Hill, photo opportunities, autographs and pit access. Visit the eventbrite link to purchase.
Food and drinks (including adult beverages) will be available for purchase.
Gates open one hour prior to the show at 6 p.m.
Hill, a Starke native who every local knows as Jimmie Clark, is no stranger to performing in his hometown, but those previous shows were small affairs — shows that couldn’t accommodate the equipment and personnel that Hill has been using in performing throughout the country.
“This isn’t just me coming to perform,” Hill said. “It’s also bringing in all these outside resources into the community and trying to give a great, great, great show.”
The show promises to be unlike any show performed in Starke before. Hill said that’ll be evident even before the show starts, when people see the number of speakers set up at the square. Those speakers will provide high-quality audio, which will be complemented by two LED video walls, so concert goers can always see what’s happening on stage, and approximately 100 moving stage lights.
“It will be more like what you would see when you go to a true national concert,” Hill said. “It will not be on the same exact physical level, obviously, but it’ll be similar to a stadium environment.”
Hill said he’ll be performing a 24-song set, 60-65 percent of which will consist of music he’s never performed live.
Before Hill takes the stage, the crowd will be entertained by Liles and Martin.
Liles is a member of the Love and Theft duo with Eric Gunderson. Love and Theft is known for its number-one hit “Angel Eyes” as well as “Dancing in Circles,” “If You Ever Get Lonely,” “Night That You’ll Never Forget,” “Runaway,” “Runnin’ Out of Air” and “Whiskey on My Breath.”
Hill, who met Gunderson and Liles at the first Country Cruising event he was a part of, said his original plan was to have Love and Theft perform at the Starke show, but Gunderson wished to spend more time with his family in the aftermath of his sister’s recent death. Liles, though, said he would come and perform.
“Stephen’s working on a solo career on the side in gospel music,” Hill said. “Stephen and I write together a lot now.”
Hill said of the 10 songs he plans to release in 2026, four will have been co-written with Liles, who also co-wrote the Martina McBride song “Wrong Baby Wrong.”
“He wants to write on all my projects, which is fun because now I have an established, well-known, well-liked, really good guy who knows what he’s doing,” Hill said. “He knows how to write music the right way.”
Martin is a singer-songwriter who’s performed more than 3,000 shows across the country. He recently celebrated his first number-one single in “Hell That I Call Home” and has co-written songs with Jordan Davis and Lainey Wilson. Martin co-wrote Hill’s song “One Beer” with Hill and Liles. Hill said two of the songs he’s releasing in 2026 were co-written with Martin.
Hill said the crowd will enjoy quite a show before he even takes to the stage.
“I’m the headliner, but really, they’re both a lot more accomplished than I am,” Hill said of Liles and Martin.
Playing at home
Despite multiple requests to play a show in Starke again, Hill didn’t think he would because of a couple of reasons.
One, Hill didn’t think the type of concert experience that has become the norm for him would work in Starke due to logistics involving personnel and equipment.
“The thing was, we couldn’t give people a quality show in a small environment,” Hill said.
He did look into putting on a show this past summer at the fairgrounds, but things just didn’t work out.
After that, performing at home became an afterthought due to his hectic schedule.
“At that point, I kind of put it off,” Hill said. “I’m doing this every week. This is what I do all the time, so I couldn’t hyper-focus.”
Someone asked him about doing a New Year’s Eve show at Starke’s new Downtown Square stage, which Hill said he gave some thought to. However, he was hesitant. Not because of logistics and production value, but because he was nervous.
“If we go into The Downtown Grill, and we sell it out, then it feels good because it’s packed. I get to say I sold it out,” Hill said. “When you jump into an outdoor venue that you can fit a lot of people into, you’re really scared that people aren’t going to come, and you’re scared that it’s going to be empty.
“A lot of my hesitation was, that’s a really big jump to go out there and try to do 1,000 or 2,000 people and give them a great show.”
Hill got a confidence boost from this year’s Country Cruising that he was a part of. Logistical issues prevented him from performing on the cruise, but the event organizers still wanted him to be part of it, so arrangements were made for Hill to perform at a venue in Key West. People attending the cruise were invited to attend Hill’s show, but he was nervous if those people would actually show up just to see him.
They did. Hill said the venue was filled beyond capacity.
After that show, which was held in late October, Hill’s manager said he needed to do the New Year’s Eve show in Starke. Hill said she told him, “You need to stop making excuses. You always talk about loving your hometown. Just do it.”
Hill’s response?
“Well, OK. I guess we’re going to do it.”
Hill said he would’ve liked to have had a whole year to plan the event, but said his team has stepped up big time to make sure it happens.
“They’ve all answered the call,” Hill said.
The response has been tremendous. Hill said he set what he thought were unrealistic goals of 1,000 general-admission tickets claimed and 100 VIP tickets sold. He believes now both goals will be reached.
“That’s been very humbling for me,” Hill said.
The success of this event could lead to annual New Year’s Eve shows.
“I’m going to decide on this probably in January, but if it goes well, and people are really happy with it, then it may be something I do every year, even if I’m not the one who performs,” Hill said. “I’ll just bring the experience that I have and the people and the networks that we’ve built and bring them in and try to give this town something that it can look forward to every year.”
Perhaps it could become an event that people outside of this area look forward to.
“You never know,” Hill said. “Maybe it’ll be something nationally where people say, ‘I’m going to Starke, Florida, for New Year’s because Clark is bringing a bunch of his friends in country music.”
It’s an exciting thought — giving his hometown something special.
“I just think that Starke deserves it,” Hill said.
The Clark Hill Hometown Bash is presented by Southern Star Entertainment, the city of Starke, North Florida Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Bradford County Tourist Development Council.
