Clay Tarver (born November 8, 1965, in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

) is an American

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

and writer. He was the co-showrunner and an executive producer of ''

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

''.

Biography

Music career

Tarver—who graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1988—first came to prominence as the co-founder and lead guitarist of the Boston hard rock/punk band

Bullet LaVolta Bullet LaVolta was an alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in January 1987 by four college disk jockeys: Clay Tarver (guitar, now of Chavez), Bill Whelan (bass), Corey "Loog" Brennan (guitar) and Chris "Cruster" Guttmacher ( ...

in the late 1980s. They recorded a few records for Taang!, RCA, and Matador Records before disbanding in 1991. He then formed Chavez with Matt Sweeney, Scott Marshall and James Lo.

Movie career

Tarver has also worked as a screenwriter for television and film. He created the "Jimmy the Cabdriver" interstitials for

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

in the mid 1990s with friends from college. He has also written films like '' Joy Ride'', with

J. J. Abrams Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as '' Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' F ...

, and other projects with

Mike Judge Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director and musician. He is the creator of the animated television series ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' (1993–1997, 2011, 2022–present), and the co-cre ...

. Tarver won the 2016

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Guil ...

Award for Episodic Comedy with "Sand Hill Shuffle," an episode of

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

's ''

.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarver, Clay 1965 births American rock guitarists American male guitarists Musicians from San Antonio Living people American male screenwriters American television writers Writers from San Antonio American male television writers Guitarists from Texas 20th-century American guitarists Harvard University alumni Screenwriters from Texas 20th-century American male musicians Chavez (band) members