Clay Aiken Sites on CD Countdown

Unchained Melody by Clay Aiken
Montage by SueReu

Until CD Release, PBS Special

Widgets, Montages Pass Time

As website widgets steadily mark off the time until the June release of "Clay Aiken: Tried and True" and the PBS Special that will feature songs from the singer's first CD with Decca Universal, excitement levels throughout Clay Cyberspace are registering all-time highs.

With each discovery of new performance sites for this summer's Cluben Not-a-Tour, fans immediately begin charting concert/travel possibilities.

Meanwhile, the creative branch of the Clay Aiken fandom consistently boosts anticipation gauges up a notch with amazing new montages and art.

In the introduction at YouTube, SueReu wrote this about her sepia-toned Unchained Melody montage:

A final listen to Unchained Melody -- soon to be redefined by Clay Aiken on his upcoming album 'Tried & True.' Be prepared to be blown away!

View the montage in the player above or at YouTube. For a full screen experience, click on the arrows on the player's right. Your comments about an artist's work are always appreciated here and at YouTube. You can download the montage with this Sendspace link.

Below are clickables of three screen shots from the montage by SueReu:

Wednesday's addition of TNT to the New Music Tipsheet signaled the album's drop date is a step closer.

Inclusion Project Allocates $700k

Wednesday the National Inclusion Project announced more than $700k will support over 45 "Let's All Play" camps in 23 states.

To read the complete story, click on this Carolina Newswire link: National Inclusion Project Announces over $700,000 Support for 'Let's All Play'. Here are the opening graphs:

Raleigh, N.C. – The National Inclusion Project (NIP), co-founded by entertainer Clay Aiken, announces over $700,000 of support to programs nationwide as part of its Let’s ALL Play initiative.

In just three years, the Project has invested over $1.7 million to expand Let’s ALL Play across the country. Let’s ALL Play brings an inclusive recreational experience to children with disabilities by giving them the same experience as children without disabilities.

Children with disabilities and their peers without disabilities come together to participate in recreational activities such as swimming, arts and crafts, community service, physical fitness and more. The Project will support over 45 recreational programs in 23 states in 2010.

In 2004, the Project instituted the inclusive recreational experience for children with and without disabilities. Since its inception, the Project has impacted over 20,000 children nationwide.

"My son does not have Down syndrome, wear hearing aids, or have difficulty with his speech,” said the mother of a camper. “He is simply a camper."

To learn more about the NIP and how to get involved, visit the Inclusion Project website.

Somewhere In Time @ Yahoo! Video
Montage by LovesClaysVoice

PBS Montage 'Somewhere in Time'

Using black/white promo stills from Clay's March 12 PBS concert taping, LovesClaysVoice created a memorable montage set to the beautiful "Somewhere in Time" theme by John Barry.

You can view the montage in the above player or at the Yahoo site. For a full-screen effect, click on the rectangle in the bottom right corner. To download, here is a Sendspace link.

Below are three clickable screen caps from the Somewhere in Time montage by LCV:

Oboe Takes Tumble at Cantata

My church's Lenten cantata and March Madness always seem to share a weekend this time of year. Fortunately, the Saturday rehearsal and Sunday performances don't interfere with basketball tournament games. They do encourage me to take the quickest route home, however.

The only kink in this year's event came while I was setting up my instrument and music for Sunday's 8:30 a.m. service. With reeds soaking in a cup on my stand, I checked to make sure the selections were in program order.

In the 45 years I have owned my oboe, I have never dropped it. While preparing for the first service, the oboe, standing at ease between my knees, suddenly toppled over face first. I quickly inserted a reed to see if everything was in order, noted some resistance, but thought all was manageable.

My Loree, which has been mentioned in previous Carolina blogs, was the main topic in a November 2006 entry -- Trusty Oboe Could Tell Tales -- after I learned of its intriguing pedigree.

Throughout Sunday's initial performance, I remember thinking how much more air I seemed to be using. Afterwards, I asked Anna, the other oboist, to play my instrument with her reed and see what she thought.

Immediately, she discovered that much of the airstream was escaping through a key in the upper joint; and she marveled that I was able to produce a sound. It's probably a miracle I didn't get dizzy and take a tumble myself.

Anna is a very capable technician; and, with her screw driver, adjusted the instrument in several places. For this oboist, the second service was a much more enjoyable hour.

'Wayfarin' Stranger' a Family Affair

The beautiful "Wayfarin' Stranger" Lenten Cantata, planned and conducted by my brother-in-law, minister of music for Jamestown United Methodist Church, was a very special experience for the congregation, as well as the 66-member choir and 35-piece orchestra. My sister and her daughter comprised the flute section.

Gathering music included selections by Bach, Gaubert, Holst, and Monteverdi, while the cantata featured sacred American hymn and spiritual arrangements by Mack Wilberg.

Among my favorites were "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing," "Peace Like a River," "Bound for the Promised Land," "I'm Runnin' On," and "Thou Gracious God Whose Mercy Lends." At both services, the congregation and the choir stuck around for the orchestral postlude, "Lift High, The Lord Our Banner" (Delavan/Kirkland).

Sunday was indeed a "family affair" as our nephew, Taylor, a Greensboro College freshman, attended the 10:55 service and joined us for lunch afterwards.

My "Heels are alive" in the NIT and will play again on Tuesday, March 30. Have a wonderful weekend, Clay Nation!

Caro