Clay News!

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Q&A from Rosie's blog:

Quote:

OK, who did you like on Idol last night? missed it saw clay on broadway in spamalot and he was amazing Saw you at Spamalot tonite Ro, how’d you like Clay Aiken? HE WAS REALLY REALLY GREAT !!!!!!!!!

Rosie and Kelly with Clay at the theater!

See a Clay interview on ET On-Line

http://www.etonline.com/news/2008/03/59703/index.html

Quote :

Clay Aiken Heads 'Here' On Next Album

Clay Aiken

March 21, 2008, 12:20 PM ET







Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.




Just as his stint starring in the Broadway hit "Spamalot" concludes,
Clay Aiken will return with his first album of entirely new material
since 2003's "Measure of a Man."



Due May 6 via 19 Recordings/RCA, Aiken's "On My Way Here" was produced
by Kipper, best known for his work with Sting and Chris Botti. The
album will likely include the title track and a song called "Ashes,"
but no other details about the project have yet been made available.



Aiken is expected to tour the U.S. this summer, beginning in July. He
will also be visible on TV shows such as "Good Morning America" and
"The View."




"Measure of Man" debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200. Aiken has since released 2004's "Merry Christmas With
Love" and 2006's all-covers "A Thousand Different Ways."

OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New CD Cover!!!!!!!!!!!! It is gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Is it May 6th yet?????????????????

*dies*

Now that is one of the best pics of Clay ever!

Yes it is Lau!! Glad you think so! I hope the songs are as good as the pic!! I think they will be!

FC, I must admit, I'm very anxious to hear Clay's new CD. I think all the changes he has made in his life and this experience with Bway will make for some very interesting sounding music.

Are there any song samples up anywhere yet?

Not really. There was an interview he did with WRAL where you got to hear him record a wee bit of two songs. The title song "On My Way Here" and a more uptempo song "Ashes". Also the song he wrote with David Foster "Lover All Alone" will be on the CD.

There is a little video someone put together on You Tube as a promo for the new CD using the snippets from the interview. I will try to find it and bring the link here for you so you can hear them. As I say, it is not much.

Lau, you can here some of the songs clips here. I think it is 3 songs. It's is just a short video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmXrh87WScc&NR=1

Oh WOW - I like what I heard in the video FC! The video is a little rough but I could hear the emotion in that song anyway. This has me really looking forward to Clay's new CD. Thanks for posting that.

You are so very welcome! I am really excited about the new CD too! I hope that you get it and we can discuss it here! Or at least that you hear it and tell me what you really think of it.

An AOL new CD promo of Clay talking about his new producer Kipper!

http://music.aol.com/video/on-my-way-home-webisode/clay-aiken/2092371

This is a great New Biography and it's actually on RCA website.


http://www.rcamusicgrouppress.com/content/Clay_Aiken/Biography/Clay_Aiken_bio_On_My_Way_Here.doc

Quote :

Clay Aiken





On My Way Here






When
Clay Aiken and his executive producer
Jaymes Foster began the search for songs to record for Aiken's first
album of original material since his 2003 chart-topping debut Measure of
A Man,
they both fell in love with a song written by OneRepublic frontman Ryan
"Alias" Tedder called "On My Way Here." The message of
the lyrics - how the lessons we learn while growing up shape us into
who we become as adults - struck such a deep chord with Aiken that it
wound up inspiring
the theme (and title) of his new collection.


"I
thought if we
could find songs along those lines, that deal with my life over the
past five years and what I've learned from my experiences, it would be
a great concept
for an album," Aiken says. "Since I got into this business, I've
learned so much about myself and about life and the world. I'm nowhere
near
an expert, but this album has taken on the form of addressing how far
I've come in those five years and how I feel like I've found
myself."



As
Aiken's millions of devoted fans around the world already know, it's
been a whirlwind journey. Since shooting to stardom on the second
season of
American Idol, the 29-year-old Raleigh, NC native with the powerhouse voice has become an international pop phenomenon who has sold six
million copies of his three best-selling albums: the double-platinum Measure of A Man, 2004's holiday CD Merry Christmas
With Love (which went platinum within six weeks of its release), and the gold-certified A Thousand Different Ways
- a 2006 collection of
10 covers and four originals that earned Aiken the distinction of being
the fourth artist ever to have his first three albums debut in the Top
5 on the
Billboard chart. In addition, Aiken has launched eight live tours, made the New York Times best-seller list by co-authoring
the inspirational memoir Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music In Your Life, executive produced and starred in his first TV special, A Clay Aiken Christmas, and won several American Music and Billboard Music Awards. In January 2008, Aiken made his Broadway debut
in the role of Sir Robin in the Tony Award-winning musical Monty Python's Spamalot.



If that weren't enough, Aiken also donated much of his time to
charity, performing at dozens of concert benefits for causes he cares
about. The
creator of the Bubel/Aiken Foundation, which promotes and funds
educational and recreational programs for children with special needs,
the singer has traveled
the world as a National Ambassador for UNICEF. On its behalf, Aiken has
visited tsunami victims in Indonesia, villages in Uganda, classrooms
and health centers
in Afghanistan, and spent this past Christmas in Mexico with children
affected by recent floods.



That's a lot of life experience to cover in one album. "It is," Aiken
admits, "that's why the lyrics really had to matter this time
around. It's the first time I'm singing about things that mean
something to me." Which is not to say that every song is about
something that
actually happened to the star. "What's powerful about a lot of the new
songs is that they can mean different things to different people," he
says. "It was really important to me that they be interpretable in all
kinds of ways, so as not to cloud someone's ability to find their own
meaning
in them." One example of this is the evocative ballad "The Real Me,"
written by singer/songwriter Natalie Grant, which is a poignant story
about
the experience of being in the public eye. "The song really spoke to me
about the necessity of having someone in your life who knows you and
doesn't
really care about the fact that you're a celebrity," Aiken says.



Another
track that means a lot to Aiken is "As Long as We're Here," a moving
ballad that Aiken chose from a selection of demos he had brought with
him to
listen to on the plane during a UNICEF visit to Indonesia. "Maybe it
had to do with the fact that I was flying over a tsunami-stricken
country, but the
lyrics struck me as very uplifting," he says. "They're about not
waiting until it's too late to tell the people you love that you care
about
them." Turns out the song had also resonated with Jaymes Foster, who
brought it to Aiken not knowing that he had already fallen in love with
it. "Out
of literally tens of thousands of demos we were sent, she had chosen
the same one that I had so strongly identified with, so the song is a
great connector
between Jaymes and me. We've become really great friends, and it's
important that it's part of the album."


Though he's known
for his signature ballads, Aiken chose to open On My Way Here
with an up-tempo, pop-rock tune, "Ashes," which begins with the
following lyric: "Someone told me what doesn't kill you only makes you
stronger / Sets you free from all that held you down." "That's a
great opening line for an album," Aiken says. "My mom used to say that
if things come easy they're not worth having; that there can't be a
sunrise with a night. So, to me, that song is about how the most
important lessons I've learned in my life have come out of
less-than-rosy experiences, and
that I'm stronger because of them."



To
musically represent the album's lyrical theme, Aiken and Foster
enlisted Grammy-Award winning British songwriter and producer Kipper,
who has worked with
Sting, Chris Botti, and Julia Fordham, marking the first time Aiken has
recorded an entire album with one producer. "It's made for a very
collaborative environment in the studio," Aiken says. "Every song has
been scrutinized by Jaymes, Kipper, and me to make sure it's exactly
what
we wanted it to be."


It's
that
commitment that drives everything Aiken does, even if it means
recording an album by day and starring in a Broadway show by night. "I
guess I'm a
glutton for punishment," he says with a laugh. "It's a lot of work, but
I've had a great time. Doing both the album and Spamalot
at once has kind of been like having two families. I have a family at
the theater and we are a family group working on the album in the
studio. I wouldn't have had it any other way."

I'll read this tomorrow. My brain is slowly fading out here!

Finally got back to read that article. Very interesting. I like the concept of having a basic theme to guide the song selection. And I find it quite intriguing that at Clay's age, he wants to collaborate about the lessons we learn that shape us as adults.

I think Clay has been through a lot these last five years. But being older than he is, I can tell him that he in only scratching the surface of what will come! At many stages of my life, I thought, this is it, I'm here, finally. Well, its never ended, the learning and redevelopment. And I guess when it does end it may be the end in more ways than one.

I'm really looking forward to hearing The Real Me. I think its fascinating to think about what people who are famous and in the public eye go through.

I am glad you enjoyed the article! I am looking forward to hearing the whole CD!! I think it is a great idea to have a theme for the CD and have the songs tell the story. He has worked with some really good people on this CD. I so hope he has a lot of success with it!

This is "suppose" to be the tracklist for Clay's new CD!




This is the song list for "On My Way Here"




1 On My Way Here

2 Ashes

3 Everything I Don’t Need

4 Something About Us

5 Falling

6 Where I Draw The Line

7 The Real Me

8 Weight Of The World

9 As Long As We’re Here

10 Sacrificial Love

11 Grace Of God

12 Lover All Alone




You can listen to a demo of one of the songs at the writers MySpace. On his MySpace it is called "Draw The Line". I absolutely LOVE IT! It starts slow and than picks up and build to an awesome ending. I think Clay will KILL on this song!

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=264088654

That's a great song, Clay will sound beautiful singing this one.

I don't know, but that is not a real encouraging interview from Clay. I can see him doing a talk show, very much so. I should think that someone would be working on that right now from one of the networks. Clay would be great on that and he would draw a big audience.

But other than that, it sounds like he's taking time off and with no real plans other than looking into a talk show. And no tour for the new CD?

Very puzzling.

No, he is going to tour the new CD. Just in the fall. He says "yes, they will tour the CD, just not in the summer as was rumored". Plus he always does an Xmas tour.

He went right from two tours (summer/fall and than Xmas) to Broadway without even stopping at home. I can see why he wants a rest.

It is sad no international exposure. For some reason RCA just won't push him anywhere else.

I think Clay would take acting roles offered to him that interest him. I just do not think he will pursue it the way many of his fans want him too.

He wants a Talk Show big time! He has been saying that for a few years now.

Aww, it was sad that he had to send Raleigh and Durham back home. Going by the way my stepmom's dogs go crazy when she comes home after being away for a day or two, Clay's dogs are going to go nuts when he gets back.

Yeah, I would so love to see their reaction! I bet they lick his face off and jump all over him!!! I wish I had a puppy

Thanks for the tour explanation, FC.