Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Clay Aiken Upgrades Record Label, Inclusion Project Foundation


Six and a half years after hitting the public spotlight, Clay Aiken is moving to a higher level, both in his professional career and in his work as an advocate for children.

From the Clay Aiken Official Fan Club:

08/10/09
We Are Excited To Announce...
Clay Aiken signs record deal with Universal Music’s Decca Records. Expect new music in the first half of 2010! Keep checking back here for more details to come.


With this signing, Clay has moved on from the second largest music group, Sony Music Entertainment, to the world's leader, Universal Music Group, clearly a sign of UMG's faith in Clay's talent and potential to create premiere music. Clay's new label, Decca Records, was the original label of some of the greatest vocalists in the world (including Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Judy Garland and Bing Crosby), and has evolved into the home of some of the most eclectic, singularly gifted and respected singers and musicians in the contemporary music scene.

From James to Sting.

From Marianne Faithfull to Alison Moyet.

From Rufus Wainwright to Boz Scaggs.

From Andrea Bocelli to Boyz II Men.

And with hot breaking acts like Gary Go, the Love Willows and Brendan James, Decca continues to innovate, to experiment and to provide the best in music, from the classic to the avant garde.

Clay has shown himself to be a phenomenal interpretive singer and consummate entertainer, who can go from pop-inflected rave-ups, to tender ballads, to social anthems, to inventive reinterpretations, to heartbreaking revelations, all with absolute authority and conviction. He's going to fit in just fine.

[One last look in the rearview mirror: Clay was signed to (then) SonyBMG's RCA Records in 2003 after finishing the second season of American Idol in a statistical dead heat, just one half of one percent behind winner Ruben Studdard. He then went on to record four studio albums: the number one hit Measure of a Man, which sold nearly three million copies and made Clay the top selling artist on the RCA label in 2003; the record-breaking holiday album Merry Christmas With Love; A Thousand Different Ways, and; last year's On My Way Here, which became his fourth album in four releases to debut in the Billboard Top Five. He also released a holiday EP, All Is Well, for the label. (A compliation disc, Playlist: The Very Best of Clay Aiken,was also released by Sony Legacy after Aiken left RCA.) Total sales of CDs, EPs and singles, approximately six and a half million.]

August is shaping up to be a time of lots of good news from Clay.

Five days previously, on August 5, Clay's Official Fan Club and his foundation simultaneously announced the decision to change the name of his inclusion advocacy charity from the Bubel/Aiken Foundation to the National Inclusion Project.

Explaining the change in An open letter from co-founders Clay Aiken and Diane Bubel, Clay and Diane write:

In the six years since, the Foundation has established itself as a leading voice for inclusion working with a “Who’s Who” list of youth organizations – YMCAs, Best Buddies International, Boys & Girls Clubs, CampFire USA, 4H, the ARC – as well as many other local parks and recreation departments, community centers, and privately-run programs. The Foundation has formed partnerships with Johns Hopkins University’s National Center for Summer Learning, the University of Massachusetts-Boston’s Center for Social Development and Education, the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability, the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration, and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s FPG Child Development Center.

As we realized the impact the Foundation has already made, it became apparent that even bigger accomplishments could be on the horizon. To that end, we along with the rest of the Board decided that a new name for the Foundation would establish long-term credibility and stability. We sought a name that would signify the Foundation’s position as a national leader on inclusion as well as recognize the Foundation’s start and the efforts of its faithful supporters. After much thought and deliberation, we are proud to introduce the organization we co-founded as the National Inclusion Project.


Be sure to check in with the National Inclusion Project's website often to learn what's new in their work "to make full inclusion for children with disabilities an everyday reality."

This year's Champions Gala, honoring those whose "substantive efforts have helped to give children with disabilities the opportunity to experience life alongside their peers," will be held in Raleigh, NC on October 17. Individual tickets for the event are sold out.




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