calleik's Post: Get Ready For A "Sophisticated" Man

The Clackhouse's calleik said it best in this post today:

Embracing everyone...it's been an emotionally charged day and a lot to process and try to articulate. Which so many have done so well.

I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to see and experience some of what happens on the way to an album release, as well as all the strategizing that spins around it. There is always a "C" in the equation, but it's not conspiracy. It is compromise. I have heard the stories from artists themselves...and the other side from producers and A&R people. Artists know what they like, what they feel comfortable doing, what makes their hearts and minds soar; producers/labels know--or think they know--what will make a good album, generate good reviews, drive sales. Somewhere in the middle, they meet. Sometimes the compromise works, sometimes it doesn't. It's the dance they do and the gamble they take.

How much of this was compromise? Maybe not as much as imagined. Clay is a very smart man...

As I was juggling an incredibly hectic day and monitoring the board, I got an e-mail from a male friend who has always been so-so on Clay but loved the "Rocker Clay" Live clips I played for him. He'd read the press release on one of the news sites he checks...and saw the #1 Amazon ranking when he did a search for something. His comments surprised me. "Wow. There's some seriously cool stuff here. Is he going to tour?" I said, "Oh, you think you might catch a show this time?" "Yeah...yeah, I do. Let me know." "I wouldn't have pegged you for this kind of stuff." "Well, I like the heavy, but I also really like these songs. I think this could be seriously cool." I was then telling a female friend who likes Clay, but only very casually. When I read the track listing to her, she said, "I love these songs! But you know what? This is probably going to be a huge hit with the teens." I said, "What makes you think that?" She went on to tell me how her daughter and friends were on a raving retro kick...and had been playing all the 70's and 80's music they could get their hands on.

Clay is a very smart man.

And I don't believe for one instant that "Rocker Clay" is going away...not at all. He will be right there, onstage, waiting to take us over that edge all over again. And that Clay will make it into the studio before long...maybe next time. But the strategy here is a smart one, I think. And I've begun discussing this with the industry people I know...I'll share more later if you're interested. We want industry respect, we want radio play, we want everyone to see the Clay we see. By having him cover classics by veteran artists who are commercially successful and critically aclaimed, Clay's unique interpretation will likely garner him a new level of respect...as opposed to having original material scrutinized and shredded. Good material will come out of the woodwork...it already is. And the radio? I think these songs--because of his voice and styling of them--have huge radio playability. They will catch on with the casual because of their familiarity, but the power of his voice and the skill of his interpretation will drive them home.

And this is not "Ballad Boy" Clay. Far from it. This is a mature, sophisticated man who is on a journey. He has weathered some nasty gales with grace and emerged with his head held high. He has become comfortable in himself...he knows more of what he wants and where he wants to go. The sultry sensuality will take these "pop" songs to a new place...and we will feel the edge. Others will feel something, maybe not really knowing what it is, but they will feel it. They will see it. They will be enthralled.

And they'll be back.

There are exciting things ahead. Clay said: "Keep an open mind." He knows us...and he knew how all over the map we would be. But he also knows himself a lot more...he just knows things.

I will listen. He will sing. The rest will happen.

Oh yeah, it's going to happen.

Technorati tags: Clay Aiken, A Thousand Different Ways, American Idol, Invisible