FearofH2O

Ansamcw, I thoought your analysis was great. I especially liked the following:

Let Clay Fans be Clay Fans...One thing this pin craze has emphasized to me is how varied, how unique each group of Clay fans are. We will get all kinds of reaction to things that Clay will do. There will be people that will get hurt by things he said, and there will be others who will just shrug and think...so what else is new. All our reactions are as real as Clay's reaction to us...our opinions on his opinions are as valid as his. So I have decided not to get upset by people's reactions anymore. They are what they are..We have no control on what other fans feel in the same way we have not control over what Clay feels and do.

I don't get upset at others post either. Sometimes I do wish they would go away.

We know more about Clay than the public ever will. I think of him as being strong, determined, willful and very funny. His public image, particularly right after AI, seemed to be weak, vain and not in control. Although some critics were able to see the personality that we see during his concerts, it hasn't seemed to have helped with younger people. I am not sure how he can be sold to the twenty somethings but I can see him appealing to older males, if he could be heard for the different and classic voice that he has.

I have two sons in their thirties. We have all loved music and there was not a minute in the day that we did not have the radio or stereo on. Their musical tastes run to a lot of older artists: Frank Sinatra, Elvis or quirkier artists: Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Bob Wills. Clay is not on their radar as he is lumped in with current pop artists and they are not interested.

My point, I think, is that Clay can benefit by seperating himself from the current crop of pop artists by accentuating his difference from them. That can be in attitude, style of clothing and selection of songs. Looks like attitude is in the works. But if he had some songs on his cd that were written by unexpected song writers written specifically with Clay in mind. For example Neil Young or anyone else not usually seen in his genre.

Hey I'm FearofH2O. I am a member of the Clackhouse and CV. At CV I'm Lakelady. I don't have a blog at OCAFC and have never posted there. Why? I am a really slow typist with a massive amount of errors. I NEED spellcheck.

My name came from my most recent almost drowning events at the lake property we have. I can hardly put my toes in the water without hyperventilating. I hope to seek help for this. Not to mention the oether things I need help for: pin buying, CA concerts attended, lack of house cleaning.

I watched AI1, sorry, but I liked Guarini and Tamyra for a while. But didn't really care who won. Never followed what happened to them. Decided I had had too much of reality shows and after watching the first episode of AI2, swore I would not watch again. One day flipping channels I saw Clay singing on the wild card show. I could not believe what I was hearing: a voice like none other that I had ever heard. After that I was hooked watching it to the end. My sister insisted I go to the AI2 concert and arranged tickets for me and someone to go with. Loved Clay and hated the rest of the show. But after that I was hooked on the voice and here I am two years later.