Clay Aiken's "On My Way Here" - Measuring The Gap Between the Critics and The Truth

Singer Clay Aiken talks with Kipper, Grammy-winning producer, while recording "On My Way Here"




I've been meaning to take a look at the histories of the musicians and technicians who contributed to Clay Aiken's wonderful new CD, "On My Way Here" since the credits were first available --- hey, I read movie credits, too, since I've been in them and I see the names of friends all of the time.

It took me two weeks, but as I Googled their names last night, I laughed --- and then I laughed harder.

The men performing with Clay in the "On My Way Here" video bear no resemblance to the Central Casting pop band in the "Invisible" video, as supplied by the director of that piece. These men have the look of people who have been around a while, and everything I could hear as I listened to the album revealed remarkable levels of musicianship. One of them, the guitarist, even looked a bit familiar to me, and I thought it was interesting that the pianist was allowed to sing on the CD.

The CD reviews were so at odds with the evidence of my own ears. On song after song, supporting Clay's extraordinary voice, interpretive skills and growing artistry, I could hear some especially fine musicianship and the same kind of top-flight production that earned Kipper and Sting a Grammy for "Brand New Day" as Best Pop Album. (The single named --- and singularly talented --- Kipper, Aiken's producer, has also worked with renowned jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, among other leading musicians.)

These are the men behind the "uninspired, stock music" --- as the critics would have it.

CLAY AIKEN -ON MY WAY HERE/GADGETS & GIZMOS

Monday, April 28, 2008
07:00 - 08:00 PM ET

Multi-platinum selling singing sensation Clay Aiken is poised to release his first album of original material since his double-platinum debut, "Measure of a Man." This eagerly anticipated new CD, "On My Way Here," is set to release on May 6, 2008. Reserve your copy before it hits the stores, and receive a special 5-track Bonus CD created especially for QVC. He'll win your heart again, as Clay performs select songs from On My Way Here. Release date subject to change without notice.

QVC --> mini vid at the link!

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."

Read the whole RCA press release here!

NEW YORK — Raleigh native Clay Aiken is a busy man these days, performing at night on Broadway as Sir Robin in "Monty Python's Spamalot" and working on his upcoming studio album during the day.

It's been five years since Aiken put together an original album, or one that is, he says, at least 95 percent original.

"Some of it is, you know, a kind of half-way version of original," he said. "But it's all stuff that I'd imagine 90 percent of people have not heard."

The songs had to meet two qualifications.

"They have to be something I'll enjoy and that I can do well," Aiken said. "And at the same time, they have to kind of fit into this common theme of 'On my way here.'"

Read the rest at WRAL.com - and be sure to click on VIDEO to see the interview!

EXCLUSIVE Bubel Aiken Foundation auction!
The Northeast PA Voices for Inclusion, a Beta-Alpha chapter of the Bubel-Aiken foundation will be offering the public an opportunity to bid on some ORIGINAL artwork created by Clay fan Kim Leone - Clay Aiken..Misbehavin AGAIN!

If that don't get your fancy...it is now SIGNED by Our Man Clay! 

For details and to see the original drawing, click here!

By Michael Kuchwwara | Associated Press

February 25, 2008

That's not an inconsiderable talent when you are appearing in something as daffy as Monty Python's Spamalot, the madcap medieval musical that has just added the American Idol alum to its cast.

But don't go expecting a star turn. Aiken is a team player - and that's meant as a compliment.

Read the rest of this review here!

Everybody knows that Clay Aiken can sing, but—surprise!—he can also hold his own on a Broadway stage. To be more precise, he can hula, ogle scantily clad girls, discuss flying coconuts in a British accent, pretend to poop in his tunic, do a Cossack-style line dance and perform a lightning-fast patter song ("You won't succeed on Broadway if you don't have any Jews") without dropping a syllable. As Sir Robin in Spamalot, the 29-year-old American Idol runner-up appears perfectly at ease in the world of Monty Python—which, he recently claimed, he thought was a person until he saw the show. The "fish out of water" angle of Clay Aiken starring in Spamalot has already led to a couple of snarky magazine articles, including one in New York in which the writer recorded Aiken's quotes in an exaggerated imitation of his North Carolina accent. No wonder his personal publicist now keeps a sharp ear (and a stopwatch) on Aiken's interviews. The truth is, Clay is smart guy who knows what works for him, and he was shrewd enough to realize that Spamalot, in its own nutty way, would be a good match for his talents and his sunny sensibility. "If somebody said to me, 'Who in this cast has never done theater?' he is the last person I would have chosen," says Hannah Waddingham, the Olivier Award-nominated British musical star who joined the Tony-winning musical as the Lady of the Lake the same night Aiken debuted. Three weeks into his run, Broadway's new Sir Robin shared his impressions of life in Spamalot.

Read the rest at Broadway.com!

Click here to read Clay's weekly blog from NYC during his run as Sir Robin in Spamalot!

Updated every Monday...

Today's the day the Teddy Bears had their picnic! And they brought along all their Broadway-loving friends for another successful and entertaining Broadway Bears auction, presented by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS! And much to the thrill of bear and fan-boy alike, the 11th Annual event raised over $127,000! (official totals pending)

The three top-winning Bears were Cyrano de Bergerac ($8000), The Lion King ($9000) and Spamalot ($17,000)! Details on every lot and bid below...

Lot 35: Sir Robin (from Spamalot) signed by Clay Aiken and David Hyde Pierce
Tidbit: This was the hair-raising moment, ladies and gentlemen! The live audience up against the telephone-bidders, this Bear was the highest-winner of the evening! Plus, the rubber chickens cluck and lay-eggs!
Top Bid: $17,000

Please click here for an extra special Spamalot discount ticket offer!

Come on....you know you want to. 

NEW YORK - Clay Aiken is trying to become the next American Idle.

The singer, who burst to fame during the second season of "American Idol," has made his Broadway debut in "Monty Python's Spamalot" — in creator Eric Idle's old role.

"There's a lot of pressure," Aiken says. "To think about how many people dream of doing something like this and to have the opportunity is pretty humbling."

Humbling, and possibly a little bit puzzling: What's a nice North Carolina boy with scant theater background and a penchant for pop lite doing in a scatological English stage comedy?

Exactly.

"One of the reasons that it intrigued me was that it was so different. Nobody I think would have expected me to show up in 'Spamalot,'" he says, laughing.

"It's very irreverent. ... I mean, my character soils his pants on stage multiple times."

This also is different territory for Aiken, who hasn't really acted much and was even cut from his high school's production of "Guys and Dolls." Just nailing the stage lingo has him rattled.

"I'm having to learn a whole new language. Upstage, downstage. I'm like, 'Upstage? What's that mean? Behind? Oh, got it. Why didn't you just say behind? ...' It makes me crazier than I already am."

Aiken, 29, has taken over the role of Sir Robin, the cowardly knight that Idle once played on film and David Hyde Pierce originated when the Tony Award-winning musical debuted in 2005.

"I think I'm probably just like the character — kind of chicken, afraid of everything and likes to sing. This particular character becomes a knight because he really just wants to sing and dance. He's so surprised when he finds out there's fighting involved. That kind of silly stupidity? — yeah, that's me."

Aiken, a performer who has sold 6 million CDs and continues to draw fans to his concerts, confesses to being sore and exhausted as he prepares for his debut. Aiken's first performance was Friday.

"Probably more preparation has gone into this than anything I've ever done," he says. "It's not just learning music and lines and even steps. It's mentally preparing yourself to do all of it at once."

Associate director Peter Lawrence says Aiken has been no idle diva; the singer asked to be treated like any other company member and has been surprisingly fearless.

"Clay really surprised me. When you meet him, he's this sweet kid from North Carolina with an accent. And you think there's no way he can do Cambridge material. And then he does," says Lawrence.

"It's been a total delight and a surprise for me and everyone in the company to work with Clay because he can do things you'd never imagine he could do."

The show is based on the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," which came out in 1975. The film, in turn, grew out of the success of the cult BBC comedy series.

Aiken, it turns out, was a stranger to both.

"Until three months ago, I thought Monty Python was a person," he says, sheepishly.

Not surprisingly, the Python-Aiken partnership started poorly. After being courted by "Spamalot" producers a year ago, Aiken went to see the show and left befuddled.

And why not? He was expecting something like "The Phantom of the Opera" and instead saw characters slapped with fish, dancing plague corpses, a killer rabbit and cow tossing.

"It was, in my opinion, the stupidest thing ever produced," he recalls. "There's no plot."

Persuaded over the summer to return, Aiken finally got it. "It's just completely off-base. So I went in and realized that. You have to go understanding that they even advertise it as being the silliest thing ever. It really is."

That's something Python purists will be happy to hear. Even so, Aiken is bracing for criticism from die-hard fans who can be more caustic than Simon, Randy and Paula.

"I'm anticipating and expecting some sort of fallout. I think it's a little bit different when someone who's never done Broadway before, who may be more well known in the pop world, comes in to Broadway," he says.

"There's always this skepticism that they've been brought in for the wrong reasons or they didn't play their dues or they're not going to do their part well," he says.

"So I even told the choreographer and the director ahead of time, 'I don't want you to go easy on me. I want to do everything that everybody else does. Don't change things and make them easier for me,'" he adds, laughing. "I've since changed my mind."

Aiken, who got a degree in special education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, was teaching grade school kids with autism before he tried out for "Idol" in Atlanta. He was a former member of the Raleigh Boys Choir, and occasionally sang at weddings and at church.

"There's not really a market in North Carolina to sing for a living. There's not that career path for people. So I never really assumed or had any dreams or aspirations to sing," he says.

That changed in the seventh grade when his mother took him and a friend to a local production of the musical "Big River," starring Martin Moran as Huckleberry Finn.

"It was the first time ever that I looked on stage and saw people — you know, adults — singing. And I thought, 'Wow, wait a second. You can actually sing for a living?'" he recalls. "From that point on, I kind of allowed music to be a part of my what-I-want-to-be-when-I-grow-up scenario."

After finishing second to Ruben Studdard on "Idol," Aiken went on to release his debut CD "Measure of a Man," which went double platinum in 2003. His other albums are "Merry Christmas With Love" and "A Thousand Different Ways." He's currently working on his fourth CD, due possibly by May.

In one of the weirder twists of Aikens' Broadway debut, he looked down at the Playbill while catching a "Spamalot" performance before he officially signed on and saw a familiar name: Martin Moran as Sir Robin.

"So I'll take over Robin from the same person who you could say kind of inspired me to actually make music something that I would do," he says. "It's a very small world — kind of a full-circle thing."

Associated Press

Clay Aiken Brings "The View" Ladies To Their Knees

Clay Aiken appeared on 'The View' Tuesday to promote his run in Spamalot, which he started last Friday. The interview never had the heat of his Newsweek exchange, but he did discuss the hardships of his role. The former 'Idol' runner-up still managed to get all the ladies on their knees.

Watch the video clip here....HUFFINGTONPOST.COM

1.7.08: When did you first know you wanted to be a performer?

There's a very interesting answer to that question. I had always been sort of a ham; loved to sing even as a child. But, living in Raleigh didn't really lend itself to a plethora of opportunities to be a singer. I distinctly remember seeing my first stage show when I was in seventh grade. A touring production of the musical Big River came through town. My mom, who was a big Roger Miller fan took me and a friend of mine to see it. I remember watching the guy who played Huck Finn on stage and thinking how cool it was that he got to make a living singing. I knew I couldn't dance, and had no experience acting, so musicals weren't necessarily something I dreamed of, but I remember realizing at that point that it might just be possible to make a living as a singer. I always have wanted to play Huck Finn in Big River after that. In what is a great full circle twist, the actor who played Huck Finn in that tour was Marty Moran. Now, fifteen years later, I think it's really funny that I am taking over the role of Robin from the first person I ever saw perform in a musical.

Check it out!  Click on Clay .... and more to come!