Album research - the OFC Nashville thread, Part One

A Thousand Different Ways to make an album

A title for Clay's album was announced in the wee hours of the morning on the 18th. In celebration of that moment, with nyama's permission, I am blogging her compilation of all the fan research, from all the different message boards, concerning Clay's upcoming album. She has put together many, many bits and pieces culled from various parts of the internet and print media, with a wee bit of word of mouth here and there, beginning over a year ago. As the album progressed many changes were made, and at this point none of us have any idea what the album is going to be like yet. I'm dividing the blog into parts, beginning at the beginning, so the older the information the less likely it is, in general, to reveal anything about the album to be released this year.

The thread was named "the Nashville thread" because it was news of a songwriters' conference in Nashville that started it all. Without further ado......

Part I.
SO ... are you ready for the MOTHER of all roundup posts, version 3??? LOL I've tried to organize it, including what info we have so far about the Nashville writers, as well as other writers and musicians who may be involved with the CD. Also included are some relevant CD related snippets from various articles and interviews, plus a few posts from people who have friends/acquaintances in the music industry.

Keep in mind that MUCH of this may refer to the earlier incarnation of this CD and not the one we're actually getting!! Still, I wouldn't be surprised to see at least one little snippet of info from here pan out to be pertinent ... especially some of the later stuff.



Writers/musicians

Matt Bronleewe blog: www.infuzemag.com

MOLDING CLAY

I just got back from a big song meeting regarding Clay Aiken's next record. In the room were fifty (50!!!) of some of the biggest songwriters in music today, all vying for a spot on his record. Wild stuff. I think even those of us in the music industry didn't realize the level of competition on this record. The cool thing is that quite a few of us in the room are good friends, and right away we all talked about how we could help each other get some songs together for the project.

After the festivities had subsided, I got together with a couple other songwriters to discuss the spectacle we had just witnessed. One of the guys was completely bummed out. I asked him why. He said it was because he just found out, in front of everyone, that the song he had pitched for Clay's album had been rejected. Ouch. I consoled him with my story of once having a song of mine rejected by the Muppets - and let me tell you, when you are rejected by foam puppets, you've reached the bottom of the rejection pile. Oh well. You just have to dust off your boots and press forward, because right around the corner can be something AMAZING. Anyone in the creative industry has to quickly get used to rejection. For the creative professional, it's not just a common occurrence, it's a lifestyle.

Musicrow, an industry newsletter.

On May 25 the ASCAP Connection featured Clay Aiken's executive producer Jaymes Foster Levy at the PRO’s Nashville offices. Levy, along with Nashville consultant Barry Landis and ASCAP's Dan Keen, hosted 60 writers and publishers from the Country and Christian communities for an inside look at the song needs for Aiken's next project. Among the writers in attendance were Rivers Rutherford, Mike Reid, Allen Shamblin, Kim Carnes, Dan Muckala, Shaun Shankel and Third Day's Mark Lee...

From Rolling Stone, re: Clay's attendance at an ASCAP awards presentation - Neil Young was honored:

Prior to Young's award, dozens of awards for hit songs were handed out. Unlike other awards shows, no speeches were given, as recipients posed only briefly for photos with their plaques before leaving the stage. OutKast's Big Boi, Ashford and Simpson, and Usher were among the artists recognized for their songs' significant airplay in 2004. Guests ranged from author Maya Angelou to Clay Aiken to ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons.

And here are some pictures from the awards ceremony, one with Clay and someone named Jeff Jernigan: ASCAP awards

Nashville Songwriter's Association: http://www.nashvillesongwriters.com/

(Nothing on their site re: Clay)

Nashville Songriter's Foundation:
http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/

(nothing on their site re: Clay)

September 2005, website of Canadian songwriter/producer Justin Gray’s music production company:

Daniel “Danny P” Pierre joins Justin as his new partner in their brand new production team known as “The Dynamic Duo.”
Between the two, they have sold over 50 million albums world-wide, and have had their work appear on albums by artists Joss Stone, Robbie Williams, Emma Bunton, Aaron Carter, Alex Parks, as well as many many others. In just a short 2 months, they have written and produced songs for Columbia Records recording artist and 12 year-old phenom Tiffany Evans (mixed by Tony Maserati), Columbia Records artist Shean Williams, the first single for SonyBMG Netherlands artist Boris, and have songs on “hold” for EPIC Records recording artist Sara Paxton, Leeann Rimes, Clay Aiken and are currently working on new material for Joss Stone next album. The Dymanic Duo are joined on Tiffany Evans’ album by other producers Soulshock and Karlin, Walter A, SupaFlyaz, The All-Stars, and Beau Dozier.

From a guitar player named Tariqh Akoni: http://www.tariqh.com/

October, 2005
...
Recently, I've been also doing a lot of sessions from home. The studio is finally done (and I'm slating November to finish the record), so I've been having people send me their songs, and I put my guitars on at home. I did some sessions for Clay Aiken (they were demos, so hopefully they'll make the album).

About Tariqh from an earlier post:

He played guitar on Lucia Micarelli's Music from a Farther Room --- and Jaymes Foster has an A&R credit on the CD. He has played guitar on several contemporary jazz-influenced albums.

Hmm. I just checked Tariqh's site: he went to Berklee College of Music (don't know if he was there at the same time as Daniel Pearson, though) and he was scheduled to play at Clive Davis's pre-Grammy party.

From the website of Moses Toth: Moses Toth

In 2004, Moses won awards for both Best Artist and Best Songwriter at the Embassy Music Competition in Nashville, TN. This has since afforded him the opportunity to submit songs to the Christian recording groups Avalon and Jump Five, as well as secular pop artist, Clay Aiken.

From an interview with Aldo Nova (though not clear if he's talking about past or ongoing writing for Clay): electricbasement.com

Nova traded guitar necks for notation paper, penning material for Bon Jovi, Celine Dion and Clay Aiken. Clay Aiken?

"Yeah, it seems a stretch, but I've always been into all kinds of music." And the man who lived the fantasy life - albeit briefly - still leads a prolific career. In this ElectricBasement interview, he discusses that career, songwriting and his solo debut, recently re-released on Epic/Legacy."

***

Who are you writing for these days?

"Celine Dion. Clay Aiken. I'm also writing for one of the Irish Tenors."

Ira Seigal (played acoustic guitar on MCWL) lists Clay's name under Upcoming CD's. http://www.irasiegel.com/



a partial list of potential songriters (where are the others ?):

Sean Hosein
Dane DeViller
Rivers Rutherford
Mike Reid
Allen Shamblin
Kim Carnes
Dan Muckala
Shaun Shankel
Mark Lee
Justin Gray
Daniel Pierre
Kay Hanley
Moses Toth
Ben Glover
Matt Brownleewe
Chris Farren
Steve Kipner (?)
Aldo Nova (?)
Chris Ward (?)

Allen Shamblin is the guy who wrote "I can't make you love me": http://www.allenshamblin.com/

Dan Muckala produced songs for Aaron Neville, Mandy Moore, and a lot more:
Dan Muckala

Shaun Shankel produced/composed songs for Point of Grace and Kimberley Locke including "8th World Wonder."

Sean Hosein and Dane DeViller wrote "Back For More" as the team "bananatoons": http://www.bananatoons.com/index_flash.html

from an earlier post:

Ben Glover is a pop/Christian writer from Nashville and he and Chris Farren were writers on Compromise which is the only other song besides BFM that is new on ASCAP.

FARRENUFF MUSIC
% CHRIS FARREN
1609 17TH AVENUE SOUTH
NASHVILLE , TN, 37212

Ben Glover Matt Bronleewe and Chris Farren collaborated to write "Compromise"
http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/artists/benglover.html
http://www.windsweptpacific.com/thewriters/m_bronleewe.asp
http://www.windsweptpacific.com/thewriters/c_farren.asp

Kay Hanley has written for Hilary Duff, Paris Hilton, the Backstreet Boys, The Pussycat Dolls, Lillix, and Fefe Dobson

Aldo Nova wrote "This is the Night".

Rivers Rutherford: http://www.riversrutherford.com/home.html

Has written for many, many artists, including: Gretchen Wilson, Gary Allan, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, Keith Urban, Trick Pony, Blake Shelton, Deana Carter, Clay Davidson, Jamie O’Neal, Brooks & Dunn, Tim McGraw, Josh Gracin,and Andy Griggs

Article about Steve Kipner: http://www.songwriteruniverse.com/kipner.html

Has written for Christina Aguilera, Dream and 98 Degrees, among others

Newspapers/articles re: the CD

Snippet from the Oregonian, 11/01/05: www.oregonlive.com

(to Clay): Have you almost completed your next album?

Clay: Not quite. We're in an interesting quandary. A number of songs have been recorded. It's a matter of what we should keep. There are a couple of different ways we can go. I've recorded some traditional Top 40, minus the hip-hop, some adult contemporary and some covers. If it's going to be a theme, do I want it to be favorite love songs? The good thing is that the songs are recorded. The only way I'll record more is if our theme is Mongolian polka. Then I'll have to record some new songs.

From Canoe: jam.canoe.ca

North Carolina pop crooner Clay Aiken calls Canadian Jaymes Foster-Levy "absolutely wonderful." The runner-up on 2003's American Idol and the best-selling artist from that season has been working with the sister of acclaimed producer David Foster (Josh Groban, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion) on the follow-up to 2003's "Measure Of A Man" and they have been taking their sweet-sounding time.

"We have been in the studio throughout the past four or five months," says Aiken, who is taking a break from recording for his second annual Joyful Noise Tour, which launched in Vancouver Nov. 2 and ends with a pair of shows in Florida, Dec. 29 and 30.

"She used to be at Warner Bros, and went out on her own," says Aiken. "It was a match made by my management company. We interviewed a number of people to see what gelled and what didn't and she and I got along famously, so we decided to work on this together. She's absolutely wonderful and she and I see eye to eye on a lot of things."

****

"The last album ('Measure Of A Man') was something that I was proud of in the sense of' Wow, I have an album,'" Aiken says with a laugh. "So it was cool for that, but there were some songs on there that I did not necessarily connect with, songs that talk about being lovelorn and full of angst because someone wronged me -- and I don't know anything about that. I didn't know anything about that then; I don't know anything about that now."

****

"More important than what it sounds like is what is says to me," Aiken says of the next album. "That's why we're taking our time. I want to make sure that what I sing represents something that I know something about and I feel. Some songs we find and we said, 'That is it. We're gonna do that' and so I've gone and recorded them. And then there's been some other ones where we've gone in and we've liked the song a little bit; we wanted to change it some and see if we could make some modifications.

"So it's all up and down, completely across the spectrum, where we are as far as each song goes. Some have been recorded; some we have been listening to submissions and we continue to get them daily."

Still, in his quest to forge the direction with which he's happy, he's won't be co-writing any songs as many singers are wont to do after first-time success and freedom.

"I'm not much of a writer," he admits. "A few lines I can pull off in a song. I know there is a lot of people out there nowadays who say they've written a song and that means they've written a line or so. So it may be possible that I'll go in and change a line or two, but I don't think it's fair to take credit for writing songs, if I just change the line (laughs).

"So I'm not really going to do any writing, but we've taken our time and focused on finding really good stuff and, as a result of that, we've found a lot of stuff (laughs), so the problem now is trying to figure out which songs make the album and which don't, or do we want to put out a larger project or multiple projects, or do we want to do the best of the best? So right now, we're in this quandary, exactly what we've found do we want to go with."

From the Eugene Register Guard: http://www.registerguard.com

"If I was being completely honest, I would say that more time has been spent on touring, but we are working on the album and we do want to have it out next year," he said. "We've conceptualized and recorded songs that would fit on four different albums.

"We have so much material now, which is great because last time I did an album we had such a short amount of time, it was like I sang these songs and that's what I did and when I was done we put out an album. And now we have four and five albums worth of material.

"We just have to figure out exactly what to do with it."

Snippets from The News and Observer article: www.newsobserver.com

He's still signed to Fuller's label. But he's determined to release an album different from the first. Aiken wants it to fall in the middle, something that would appeal to stations that sound like WRAL-FM. He's still going around with the record company about it, but he's firm.

"Nothing's going to happen on this album that I'm not happy with, and that's where I've gotten more businesslike," he says. "I think, after a while, if you get kicked enough, you learn not to kick back necessarily but at least wear shinguards."

****

He knows how to handle pressure.

Aiken hasn't had to face many professional failures, other than last year's NBC Christmas special, which was trounced in the ratings by an episode of "Lost." But the more he takes charge, the more the pressure builds -- much of it self-induced -- to make sure his career doesn't falter.

The new album, which he hopes will be released in April, is a prime example. He wants it to be a hit and says so with a mix of earnestness and self-deprecation.

"A lot of it has to do with not really wanting to face the reality -- my life changed so much in 16 weeks -- not really wanting to go back and have it change again," he says. "And then, of course, nobody wants to be a punchline."

****

When the executive producer of his next album, Jaymes Foster-Levy, asked him if he had any ideas for song titles for his new album, he gave her the phrase "Where I Belong." The writers can take that in any direction they please, he says.

"I think that would be a great title track for this next album because it will come out about the time I'm getting back to Raleigh, which is where I want to be," he says. "People in my life are falling into the place they need to be, and I don't know if my career is necessarily, but at least how I control my life is finally getting to the place where I'm comfortable with it."

"Where I Belong" fits.

Re: the "dual disc" concept: http://www.entertainmentmanagementonline.com

(from Billboard, February 11, 2006) The DualDisc, introduced about one year ago in an effort to replace the regular CD with a CD/DVD combination disc, is currently not looking like a very lucrative initiative. Many major labels and indie labels agreed to stand behind the new format. However, after a year, it appears that the only company actually promoting and producing a significant number of DualDiscs is Sony BMG. Sony BMG is slated to push over 100 different titles on DualDisc this year; last year it shipped over 13 million units of the media over 102 titles. Some artists expected to be featured on DualDisc this year include Pink, Clay Aiken, Weird Al, and the Dixie Chicks.

From [message board] posters who say they've spoken with people who are either involved with the CD or in "the business" :

From renybc, who spoke with Jaymes Foster in Seattle:

I do know that Clay had recorded quite a bit of music that he was very happy with before the JBT even started as somebody who heard it told me how amazing it was. At that time, a theme and/or direction had not been chosen and JFL was just coming into the picture. More music was recorded, various decisions were made and she held her meeting in Nashville.

I don't know what she played at that meeting or if it was that music that Calliek's friend heard but it stands to reason that it was some of the music that was recorded prior to the JBT, either before or after JFL was hired and was considered "amazing" but those who heard it.

Excerpt from calliek's post:

When talk of a release date began surfacing, I made some inquiries. Didn't hear anything for a while and thought maybe I wouldn't this time. And then I did. Like what had been rumored, I heard May. May is not only good, it is strong, it is ideal.

And even though what else I heard was vague, it gave me every confidence that all will truly be well. First, the reiteration that the choice of JFL was "smart," that she is "well-thought of" in the industry. A concession from those on the inside that hey, this man knows what he's doing. Next, a mention that his "next effort" is "already impressing" industry people. The term "vocally and stylistically amazing" was used. Finally, there was an overt reference to "sessions out there." Now, I don't know what was meant by that. But I do know it's common for recorded bits to float around months before even promo-squad type testing is done. What was equated to those "sessions out there" was one word. "Stunning."

Excerpt from LALady4Clay:

My songwriter friend came up to me today (we haven't discussed Clay since well before Christmas) and told me his pub called him because Clay was looking for songs again. He told me that he was told that Clay will be going back into the studio in March to finish recording. He said that his cd will be mostly covers with a few new songs. I was so shocked. I told him that Clay said he had finished recording. He said this is what his pub told him. He said they had not found the quality/kind of songs they were looking for so they would be doing "big" or "famous" (can't remember which he used) songs. Don't know if they be rock/pop/ballads or what. It's possible his pub is working from old news but this is what he told me, today, Feb 14. He had no idea I knew of the covers.

He said the labels spend lots of money putting out a cd for their artists and the process can be very complicated. TPTB want the cds to do well and make money so they often work toward targeting the market that they feel is best suited for and make the most money for. He also said they things can change so nothing is in stone and this is only what he was told.

Excerpt from ClaysMyMidlifeCrises

Remember John Fields? He produced the 'Give A Little Bit' video that Clay was in on the cartoon network. It's rumored he is the producer of Clay's new Cd.

Remember, this is a RUMOR! As we all know, anything can change at any time. It comes from someone in Nashville who has connections, and this is the latest he has heard. So take it for what it's worth, a rumor.

****

He said John Fields was producing 'it'. We were discussing the entire CD and one tract in particular. The way it was presented to me, it's impossible to tell whether he was referring to John Fields producing the entire CD or the one tract we were discussing.

And last, an old [message board] rumor, originally posted April 2, 2005:

I didn't see this posted here yesterday and as always, keep salt lick handy but I read the following on CV and thought I'd post if for those who don't go over there.......

Quote:
This is probably supposed to be secret but I know someone who is close to the insiders in NC (she doesn't live there herself, but she's very credible) and she said she has heard 5 songs that Clay has recorded so far.

Quote:
I have been sitting on this info for a few weeks now just biting my tongue. I really can't see any reason why you all shouldn't know too. All she said about them, Starhorse, is that they all sounded great and one of them reminded her of some big 80s singer whose name escapes me right now. Oh, and that he'll be recording a bunch more and who knows which ones will wind up on the CD.

Quote:
I was with Claym8 the night we got the info, and have no doubt as to the credibility of the person who shared the info. She said that he had completed 5 songs, and would record 15 or more in total, and then the selection for the album would be made. She said that one of the songs was a Richard Marx-like song, and then mentioned one of Marx's earlier hits - the song escapes me now but I'll know the title when I see it. I don't know if we should be sharing this information or not, but like Claym8 said, I'm not sure what the harm would be in so doing.

Quote:
She also told us that Clay would not be going on to Uganda from Indonesia (he was in Indonesia then) because there was a family situation which would soon become public that he had to fly home for. She didn't share what the problem was. Two days later we learned that Brett was being deployed and he was on his way home. I believe that she has heard the songs, and my impression from the conversation was that she had heard them rather recently, but that's just an impression I got from the conversation.

Quote:
She did mention the song, and I immediately recognized it, but can't remember it at the moment. She also said she loved the song which was the Marx-like one and hoped it made it unto the album.

Quote:
I don't know who has written it - and I could be entirely wrong about the board discussion around a songwriter who wrote for Richard Marx who was supposedly writing for Clay. All I know is that the recorded song that was heard reminded her of Richard Marx's song Right Here Waiting for You.

The identities of many of the posters of the original items of research were not preserved in this part of the archive. If anyone would like to be credited, please leave a message for me in the comments section. If anyone would like their board name removed from a quote, or the quote itself removed, please also let me know. Thanks to everyone involved for the diligence and effort. -jmh123

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