Photo of Clay & Cousin Jamie Braswell In Smithfield Herald

The official fanclub's GoldsboroAikenFan found a nice article about Clay's hair and Clay's hairdresser & cousin Jamie Braswell in the March 20 issue of The Smithfield Herald. Here's a small scan and the excerpt from the article which was typed up by GoldsboroAikenFan:

Hairdresser sharing the road with cousin Clay
By Sarah McNeil
Staff reporter

Four Oaks- Clay Aiken likes to change his hair often—from brown to blond, spiky to sleek, short to long. And for the past three months, Aiken has been entrusting his locks to his cousin, Jamie Braswell.

“We have become closer and really good friends,” Braswell says of her relationship with Aiken. “I feel lucky to have him and experience all the things he does, because a lot of people don’t get that chance.”

Most people know Aiken as the Raleigh resident who nearly won “American Idol” in 2003. Although he lost to Ruben Studdard, Aiken’s first solo album, “Measure Of A Man”, was the highest-selling debut for a solo artist in 10 years. He released his latest album “A Thousand Different Ways,” this past September.

Although Aiken is now a celebrity, Braswell has known him since they were children. Braswell, 28, is only four months older than her cousin. She has fond memories of Aiken belting out country classics at the Johnston County Music Showcase in the late 1990’s. He even organized his own concerts in Benson and Dunn before trying out for “American Idol”.
“When he went to try out, I always had a positive view, because I knew he could sing,” says Braswell, who lives in Four Oaks. “I knew he had one of the best voices I had ever heard, so I had a lot of confidence in him.”

After receiving her cosmetology degree from Johnson Community College, Braswell began working at John Michael’s Artistic Hair Team in Smithfield. Aiken asked her to be his personal hairdresser this past Christmas during a tour of 18 cities in the United States. After working out the details with John Michael’s, Braswell hit the road with Aiken’s crew in a tour bus for three weeks.

“Every night we tried to watch ‘The West Wing,’” Braswell recalls. “We had the series on DVD. We would stay up and talk because we were all really good friends. We would talk about what happened at the shows and just cut up.”
During the tour, Aiken would rehearse at the venues in the afternoon. Braswell would primp Aiken’s hair and chose his clothing one hour before it was time for Aiken to hit the stage. Early on, Braswell would watch the show behind the curtain, but that did not last long.

“Clay had this idea of me walking out on stage with a sign for the word of the day,” she says. “The fans had to guess what it meant. They loved it and started cheating. They would bring their dictionaries and as soon as I walked out with the word of the day, you could see people in the audience trying to find the meaning.”

Before the holidays, Braswell has had the chance to visit New York with Aiken. Besides indulging in some shopping and Broadway shows, Braswell met anchors from “Good Morning America” and “The View,” along with stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Patrick Dempsey.

“In the past four years of my life, I have experienced a lot of firsts, as far as flying, going to California, New York or the big cities,” Braswell says. “I have really been blessed to experience every thing I have gone through.”

On Valentine’s Day, Aiken premiered his latest hair-do on the “Jimmy Kimmel Show” in California. Gone was the long, dark hair. Instead, Aiken donned shorter brown hair with blonde streaks.

“We cut at least one or two inches,” Braswell says. “I know the dustpan was full of his hair. He’s really not picky. Most of the time he will just say to do whatever. If there is something he doesn’t like about it, he knows he can tell me, because I want him to so we can fix it.”

As Braswell continues to experiment with Aiken’s hair, she realizes some people may not always like the style. “You hear the good and the bad,” she says. “Everybody has their own opinion. I have learned to take it with a grain of salt and don’t worry about it.”