Friday night, April 24th, the Clay Nation experienced something extraordinary. It will be an afternoon and evening that will be talked about for a long time.
Clay Aiken posted at the Official Fan Club and started a thread called Questions For Clay. He said for us to go ahead and ask whatever we wanted to. He explained that if he didn’t want to answer it, he wouldn’t. He also suggested that no career or performance announcements would be made in the thread so it would waste time to ask questions about that. He also reminded us that rude or invasive questions would not be tolerated.
The thread was to be questions only with no chatting so it would flow better and be easier to follow.
Between the mods at the OFC and the great fans, the hours flew by with few problems. A few people had to be reminded not to chat, but most of the participating fans were following the rules and having a great time.
What did we learn in this question thread……Well, we learned that Clay really can’t play the piano, he doesn’t have orange crocs, he did his own hair for the “Night on the Tavern” Awards Dinner, and lots of other cute things.
But the biggest thing we learned was that Clay Aiken is a very special man who loves his fans. He spent 7 hours on-line today, just to make us feel good and have a fun time.
Thank you Clay!! I can’t think of any other celebrity who would spend so much time with their fans. You are one in a million!!
Clay ended the evening with “a Big Bang.” At 8:41pm (California time), Clay directed us to a new blog. It seems he had a wonderful gift for us…..a studio recording of the song “Just You.”
Clay explained that it had been one of the first songs he had recorded for “A Thousand Different Ways. When the label changed the direction of the new album, “Just You” was put on a shelf.
This song is a gift to us, but Clay suggested that it would be wonderful for those who download the song to donate whatever they can to the Bubel/Aiken Foundation. He said:
“Consider this track a “charity recording” …. donate whatever you can or whatever you are willing to… and accept our thanks.”
Hopefully, all of Clay’s fans will donate something………a dollar, five dollars, twenty-five dollars……..whatever you can afford. This was a wonderful gift given to us by Clay. I hope TBAF makes loads of money.
We have just been given permission to post Clay’s entire blog. Enjoy!! It is wonderful.
04/24/09
What an interesting afternoon! You have kept my attention longer than I thought possible. If only my homework in high school had held my attention as long, huh?
Lots of interesting questions today and lots of energy. One question in particular got me (and Jaymes) to thinking. “Clay, will you ever record … Just You?”
Well folks… truth is.. . I did. Long ago. As a matter of fact It was one of the first songs we recorded for the album A Thousand Different Ways. It was recorded before the label asked me to do the album of cover love songs and before the budget was officially approved, so I actually paid for it myself. Then, as I recall, when the decision was made to do the cover album, the label opened a budget for the album, but it did not include reimbursing me for songs I had recorded that did not fit the concept. So, here I have had this song all along that, to my knowledge, I own the only copy of. What to do with it.. what to do? Well, this evening (with some encouragement from Jaymes) I decided…. let’s just give it to them. Why not? We do have plans (which we will tell you about eventually) to be back in the studio and record in the near future, but until then… you might as well get a bit of something you haven’t been able to hear in a while. “New” music.
Now… here’s the deal. I want to give it to you because you deserve it. You’ve stuck by me and been patient for a long time. But, also, I really have to give it to you. Since I didn’t write it or produce it, I can’t sell it to you… but I hate to encourage getting music for free. You all have always been SOOOO ethical when it has come to downloading music. I know my fans are probably some of the most scrupulous in the country and I believe that you never steal music. That said… We are gonna do this on the “honor system”… Go ahead…. download the song. It’s yours. Share it with your friends. It’s free. But… I want to make it count for someone… so let’s make it count for tens of thousands of children in the US with developmental disabilities If you can’t afford anything for it.. then don’t pay… but… if you can… I encourage you… I ask of you… that you make a donation to the Bubel/Aiken Foundation for how ever much you feel the song is worth. If you want to give $1… great. If you want to give $1000… GREAT… if you can only give $.05 … that’s fine too. It’s a tough time we’re living through nowadays, and non-profits are hurting more than ever as well. BAF (which will soon be known by a different name) has had amazing success in fulfilling it’s mission, and is embarking on a long term plan to continue including kids in every aspect of life. But, it will continue to need help from all of us in order to make that possible.
Consider this track a “charity recording” …. donate whatever you can or whatever you are willing to… and accept our thanks.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/g5wkm8
The song is for you…JUST YOU… from me.
c
Give a click if you would like to hear JUST YOU
Donate to the Bubel/Aiken Foundation.