Clay Aiken CD Buzz Goes Global

ALBUM PHOTO -- Clay Aiken and the American Tobacco Campus train in Durham, NC, are featured in the first official release from the CD shoot. Photo by Vincent Soyez/graphic by Fountaindawg.

Clay Aiken: Tried & True

CD Photo, Track List Excite Fans

The excitement stemming from Friday's revelation of the first official photo from the Clay Aiken "Tried & True" CD shoot escalated Sunday with an expanded deluxe track list at Amazon, adding "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" and bringing the album's song total to 13.

The first event has naturally inspired an outpouring of new designs from graphic artists among Clay Aiken fans. The second added a new song, as well as information about participating musicians on the the much-anticipated album scheduled to be released June 1 by Decca Records.

Amazon Deluxe Track List

1. Can't Take My Eyes Off You
2. What Kind Of Fool Am I? (featuring jazz saxophonist David Sanborn)
3. It's Only Make Believe
4. Misty
5. Mack The Knife
6. It's Impossible
7. Unchained Melody
8. Suspicious Minds
9. Crying (duet with Linda Eder)
10. There's A Kind Of Hush
11. Moon River (featuring Vince Gill)
12. Who's Sorry Now
13. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

Fountaindawg's opening graphic of Vincent Soyez's train picture is posted below as clickable regular and wide screen wallpapers:

Cotton's designs of the Vincent Soyez photo shoot picture will enlarge with a click.

T&T photo by Vincent Soyez (Graphic by Cotton)


T&T photo by Vincent Soyez (Graphic by Cotton)

'Tried & True' Scores at Decca Site

The interest in Clay's upcoming CD is reflected in the number of visits to the Decca Records Community.

For example, "Tried & True" is currently #2 on the most viewed products list. #1 is the "Mama Mia!" movie soundtrack. Other top 5 albums have tracks available, and CA fans look forward to the the day "T&T" joins the ranks.

Join the Decca site, and you can post T&T reviews are added at the album link. A map of the Timeless Tour is featured under the Events tab on Clay's page.

Among the suggested albums on Clay's page is Here And Gone by David Sanborn, the featured saxophonist on "Tried & True."

Aiken Photo Promotes B&N Nook

Whether your preference is Kindle, Sony, or Nook, the e-reader most discussed on CA message boards this weekend has been the latter. A photo of the singer taken at Golfing for Inclusion in February is being used to promote the Barnes & Noble e-reader:

CLAY AIKEN AT THE NATIONAL INCLUSION PROJECT - Just before the start of a National Inclusion event held in Florida, singer and actor Clay Aiken stole a few moments backstage to catch up on a little bit of reading on his nook. Clay is a co-founder of the National Inclusion Project.

Cotton's graphic of the photo is clickable:

Barnes & Noble graphic by Cotton

145 Countries Dot 'Carolina' Map

Though unscientific, indicators of Clay's worldwide popularity appear daily in the Carolina blog's ClustrMap and Feedjit Live Feed, which register home countries of this site's visitors. Since December 2007, residents of 145 nations have dropped by this corner of the Internet for the latest Clay Aiken news.

New countries since December 2009 include Iraq (Asia); Tunisia, Mauritania, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, and Angola (Africa); Macedonia, Cyprus, and Armenia (Europe); Saint Kitts and Nevis, Netherlands Antilles, and Nicaragua (North America). Average daily visitors register between 100-500.

WORLDWIDE - Clay Aiken fans span the globe. (Carolina ClustrMap)

The 145 countries representing all continents but Antarctica suggest Clay's fanbase is definitely global with a possible worldwide tour in the offing.

ASIA: Guam, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Micronesia, Oman, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Taipei, Taiwan, Vietnam, Pakistan, Iran, Bahrain, Kuwait, Azerbaijan (Baku), Bangladesh, Cambodia, Mongolia, China, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Maldives, Palestinian Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Asia/Pacific Region, Jordan, Nepal, Yemen; Iraq

AFRICA: South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Madagascar, Seychelles, Somalia, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, Algeria, Uganda, Mauritius, Burkina Faso, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania, Djibouti, Angola, Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana, Congo, Tunisia, Mauritania, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Angola

Thumbnail Carolina ClustrMap
Click to view larger version.

EUROPE: Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Belgium, Poland, Russian Federation, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, Ukraine, Turkey, Malta, Georgia, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sicilia, Andorra, Latvia, European Union, Moldova, Albania, Kazakstan, Macedonia, Cyprus, Armenia

NORTH AMERICA: Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, United States, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Bermuda, Saint Lucia, Guatemala, Nassau, Bahamas, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominican Republic, Anguilla, Honduras, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua

SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia

AUSTRALIA: Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, Solomon Islands

Have a wonderful week, Clay Nation!

Caro

For more information on the "Tried and True" photo shoot, see the March 28 Carolina entry: Diary Details Clay Aiken Shoot.

Diary Details Clay Aiken Shoot

BACK IN TOWN -- Clay Aiken returned to his hometown of Raleigh, NC, for the concert taping of a PBS Special Friday, March 12. Graphic by Fountaindawg, photos by Jim R. Bounds/AP.

'Tried and True' CD

Photo Shoot Spotlights Triangle

The March 12 taping of Clay Aiken's PBS Special/Concert in Raleigh was just the beginning of a jam-packed weekend that also included the all-important photo shoot for his upcoming Decca release, "Tried and True."

Saturday Randy Hamilton, writer-photographer for the Durham Photography Examiner, filled in many details of the March 13 photo shoot with his piece, Diary of a professional photography shoot for Clay Aiken's "Tried and True".

The reprint here includes photos from several of the article's linked sites in the Raleigh-Durham area. Naturally, the lunch menu was Eastern syle North Carolina barbeque.

Local fans of Clay Aiken surely know he was in the area recently, recording a concert in Raleigh’s Memorial Auditorium that featured songs from his new album, Tried and True. The album is scheduled for release on June 1, 2010, and broadcast of the concert is set for sometime this summer on PBS.

Private train car, American Tobacco
Photo by Randy Hamilton

What fans may not know is that, while visiting his home town, Aiken searched for locations for the art for the CD package of his new album.

Driving around Raleigh and Durham, he photographed locations that fit the theme of the upcoming album, the 1950s and the Rat Pack [Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin].

Among the locations in his pictures of Durham are a bar, a diner and several street shots. Others show parts of the American Tobacco Campus, including Bay 7 and the train car at the North end.

These Bay 7 photos will expand to a larger size.

Aiken also favored the Mecca Restaurant in Raleigh, a nearly perfect location for the images he had in mind for the package art.

Using his photographs to go by, it was necessary to scout the locations, to take additional photographs for determining their suitability and availability for the shoot.

With photographs of the interior of the train car at American Tobacco, the Mecca and others from a newly recommended site, the locations for the one-day shoot were set.

The Kenan Bar, Treyburn Country Club
Photo by Randy Hamilton


18th green at Treyburn
Photo courtesy of Treyburn Country Club

The day would begin at Treyburn Country Club in Durham, with shots in the bar and on the golf course.

Afterward, the crew would head to American Tobacco before finishing in Raleigh at the Mecca.

The Mecca - Photo by Jason Hamilton

Upon arrival at Treyburn at 7am, NY photographer Vincent Soyez began setting up for the first shot in the bar. Soyez, who uses the Norman lighting system, said, "You’ll be disappointed if you’re expecting an elaborate lighting setup. I just set up the lights where I think they should go, take some test shots and adjust the lights until I get the effect we want."

For the Aiken shoot, the desired effect derives from the dramatic light and shadow sometimes associated with celebrity photographs of the 1950s.

Following Aiken’s arrival and wardrobe preparation, the shooting began with work around settings at the bar. After a couple of hours, the crew moved out to the golf course. Luckily, the preferred location was at the 18th green, making it relatively easy to transport equipment and set up the shot.

Mt. Bethel Methodist Church in Bahama, NC

After completing the shots, Aiken bought lunch for the crew. One could easily see he was happy to be home and to introduce his NY colleagues to North Carolina barbecue, Eastern style of course. (And as it happens, his grandmother lives nearby. He described his visits to Bahama while growing up, with many Sunday mornings spent singing in Mt. Bethel Methodist Church.)

Following lunch, the crew finished with a few publicity shots, packed up and headed to American Tobacco.

Rain threatened the afternoon, but the crew managed to set up in the train car before the rain began, and by the time they had finished, the rain had stopped. They packed up again and headed to the Mecca in Raleigh, the final location of the day. The shoot wrapped up around 11pm.

While Aiken fans anxiously await the new music of his next album, photography fans might look for a copy to see how these locations, and Clay Aiken, are transformed by the work of Vincent Soyez.

In addition to providing some of the location photography, Jason Hamilton also contributed information for this article. By clicking on his link, readers can view examples of his photography.

American Tobacco Campus posted the following on Facebook Sunday:

American Tobacco Campus plays a big part in Clay Aiken's upcoming album and the photo shoot to illustrate his love of the Triangle!

You can read about the author of the diary, Randy Hamilton, here. Below is a clickable of Fountaindawg's concert graphic:

Have a wonderful week, Clay Nation! Is it June yet?

Caro