In 1992 Clay co-founded The Bottom Dollar band which established a large fan base, and they were asked to become the House Band at The County Line Saloon in Melbourne, Florida, where for the next 7 years they played thursdays through Saturdays every week, and opened for dozens of National acts like Merle Haggard, The Dixie Chicks, Mark Chesnutt, Daryle Singletary, Trace Adkins, Riccochet, Toby Keith and many, many others, and Clay made quite a few Nashville musician friends from these shows.

In 1994, Clay and The Bottom Dollar band earned the distinctive 'Group Of The Year' Award from the Sunshine State Country Music Association.

In 1995, Clay Rigdon earned the 'Male Vocalist Of The Year' Award from the same organization, and in 1999, Clay and The Bottom Dollar band were proud to perform as Florida State Finalists in the True Value Jimmy Dean Country Showdown. Nominated for the 1999 OCT (Online Country Talent) AWARDS, they were also featured on RADIOETC.COM as 'Spotlight Artist' in July, 1999.

In 2001, Clay and his family relocated to Nashville, Tennessee and in a short time, Clay made an indelible impression within the music community for his unique vocal, songwriting, and honky-tonkin', signature country-piano styles. A personal highlight of Clay's experiences since coming to Music City USA was jamming with the great Bill Anderson backstage at The Grand Ole Opry.

In 2005 Clay was invited by his good friend, bass player Charles Lilly, whom Clay met while opening up for Joe Diffie in 1998, to take part in a project he was doing with his father, Everett Lilly of The Lilly Brothers that included a long list of notable musician friends, all eager to be on the album. Sadly, Charles perished in an auto accident in 2006 before the project was completed, but Everett and Co-Producer, Bill Wolfenbarger were convinced by family and friends to finish the album, and because so many wonderful performers had contributed to it, they humorously decided to name it "Everett Lilly and Everybody and Their Brother, featuring Everett on vocals and mandolin along with his sons, Charles, Daniel and Mark Lilly, Marty Stuart, Rhonda and Darrin Vincent, Billy Walker, Ronnie & Rob McCoury, David Ball, Charlie Cushman, Larry Stephenson, Joe Spivey, Eddie Stubbs, Jason Carter, Dickey Lee, Freddy Weller, Mike Bub, Rad Lewis, Andy May, Marcia Campbell, Clay Rigdon, Eric Blankenship and Bill Wolfenbarger." In 2008 that album won the International Bluegrass Music Association's Recorded Event of the Year (be sure to choose the year 2008 on the page), and it was quite comical to hear the announcer reading off the full title during the Nominations segment and then again reading the whole title when naming the winner at the Awards show!

In 2011 Clay signed several single-song contracts with a West Coast Publishing Company, and has since had his songs included in television shows on network and cable, such as Pretty Little Liars (A Song in There Somewhere, Season 4, Episode 11), Zero Hour (Pick Up the Pieces, Episode 106), The Lottery (Pick Up the Pieces, Episode 105), A Teacher (Pick Up the Pieces, Episode 109), Batwoman (A Song in There Somewhere, Episode 105), Guilty Party (I Didn't, Season 1, Episode 4), Roswell, New Mexico (That Kinda Kiss, Episode 213), and Indie Film "Cowboys"(That Kinda Kiss), featured at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival .

Although Clay relocated back to Jacksonville, Florida late 2019 to be closer to his family, he continues to write and record music, being able to collaborate long distance with today's myriad of electronic resources.