JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Jacksonville native Justin St. Clair grew up on westerns and in church, a mix that led the Jacksonville native to a music genre few in his family expected him to pursue: country.<\/p>\n
Watch the full interview with St. Clair.<\/p>\n
St. Clair, 34, said his grandfather \u2014 a pastor and a political figure he calls his hero \u2014 introduced him to the stories and sounds that steered him away from gospel and R&B and toward Americana, folk and country. <\/p>\n
Justin St. Clair with his grandfather, Gentle St. Clair. (Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n
\u201cCountry music got started from those gospel roots,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I always had an ear for something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
With more than two decades of experience across R&B, folk and other styles, St. Clair said an early tour widened his musical horizons and confirmed what his family and mentors had long told him: storytelling in country music spoke to his life. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve done pretty much every genre, but there\u2019s no genre like country music, and it\u2019s the one truest to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He has played neighborhood bars in Jacksonville like Pour Taproom and stages abroad, including closing a major festival in Winnipeg before tens of thousands of people.<\/p>\n
Those milestones have come amid obstacles. St. Clair said representation for Black men in country music remains limited, and he described encounters that made him feel unwelcome \u2014 not only onstage but in his other profession as a realtor. <\/p>\n
He recounted an incident at a gated community showing where security and police were summoned despite valid credentials, an episode he called humiliating.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe dichotomy of both worlds I\u2019ve got to see through \u2014 real estate and country music \u2014 has been quite a whirlwind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n