12/04/06
It would be totally remiss of me to not take a moment to write some words to those who have so generously reached out to me with comments on the boards. First and foremost, I want to tell you just how rewarding it has been for me over the last year and a half to work alongside Clay on his musical endeavors. I consider myself very fortunate in life to be able to continue to do the work I love to do. And what's not to love with Clay.........great songs, great arrangements, great producers, matched with his amazing voice!
ATDW was a great journey, one that I am proud of and am happy that you have appreciated and embraced. It was important for me (as I know it was for you) to hear Clay's vocals first and foremost, front and center. I know we captured that. The recording process really went very smoothly, we only had one little fight!! Well 2 actually - he was getting very annoyed by me nagging him to write a song with my brother. I knew he had it in him to write. Finally he conceded and I was shocked that his very first lyric ever was the stellar LAA. Most writers can take years to come up with something that good, but not in this case with Clay.
When all was said and done, as Clay says, friendships grow stronger from not always seeing eye to eye on things. And, speaking of friends, I am also very blessed to now have a deep friendship with Clay, long after the work is done.
Sometimes great musical work can come slowly, as with ATDW, where other times it comes extremely quickly, as with AIW. RCA/Walmart asked for a Christmas EP and gave us a short 2 weeks to complete it! Not a problem. Bring in John Fields and his string arranger, Steve Lu, and sure enough, it was done. You no doubt have noticed that Clay served as Executive Producer with me. Clay brought his skilled musical talent to this project - including finding that gorgeous song that I had not heard before called "All Is Well," previously recorded by Michael W Smith. Actually, I hadn't heard "O Come O Come Emmanuel" either until I heard it sung so beautifully by Clay during his Joyful Noise tour last Christmas. And now, it's my favorite Christmas song of all time!
How lucky are Clay and I to have such devoted fans like you who so appreciate and love his talents!??
Wishing you and yours all the best for this holiday season and a glorious, happy New Year!
Many thanks for your kind words.
Jaymes Foster
clayandr
Ashes2
LuvLifeandClay
vibajajo
stephbridge
Marlyne
Aclaymom
panda1
LUVclay26
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PinkArmchair
Case
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ClayedinTexas
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dbroncos730
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pax