AIKEN NEWS NETWORK JAN. 4

[clayharmony]

Every day with Clay...here's news...and 're-news' (recycled Clay articles worthy of another read...) for today's reading pleasure:

Exciting news...from the CV:

QUOTE (moonhead @ Jan 4 2010, 12:33 PM) *
So, I've been "googling"...

EEEEEEEE!!

Chris Walden

QUOTE
Current projects: Chris just finished composing the music to the upcoming feature film MONSTER MUTT. He also just finished arranging and conducting for the upcoming CLAY AIKEN album for Decca Records. At the moment Chris is arranging for an album with HELEN SCHNEIDER and the SWR


Chris Walden Bio

QUOTE
BIO

Four-time Grammy® nominated German composer/arranger/conductor CHRIS WALDEN has scored more than 40 feature and TV films, and has written close to a thousand orchestral and big band arrangements for artists including Christina Aguilera, Michael Bolton, Faith Hill, Aretha Franklin, David Foster, Paul Anka, Sheryl Crow, Christopher Cross, and orchestras like the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Pops, and many more. He has orchestrated for Barbra Streisand, Diana Krall, and Natalie Cole.

He most recently arranged the National Anthem for Jennifer Hudson's performance at the SUPER BOWL XLIII and his recent film credits include the feature film "Monster Mutt", TV movies "Alien Siege", "Crimson Force", Gene Wilder's "The Lady in Question", and the CBS mini series "Blonde". Since three years Walden has also been a principal arranger for "AMERICAN IDOL". He has been musical director on many TV shows and series, and has worked on more than 100 CDs. As an arranger and bandleader he has worked with jazz artists including Michael Brecker, Peter Erskine, Ernie Watts, Tierney Sutton, Bobby Shew, Pete Christlieb, amongst others.

Chris Walden began writing compositions and arrangements at the age of 16 for local high school bands. After graduating at 19 he joined the German National Youth Jazz Orchestra as a trumpet player. At the age of 21 he started writing arrangements for German radio big bands and radio symphony orchestras, while he was studying composition and arranging at the University of Cologne. As assistant to his mentor Peter Herbolzheimer Walden arranged music for the OSCAR® nominated film "Schtonk".

After receiving two master's degrees in music Chris Walden conducted the RIAS Big Band in Berlin and the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, served as musical director for the televised German Movie Award Show for four years and composed music for German films and TV before he emigrated to Los Angeles at the age of 29.


As a guest conductor he led the Dallas Symphony, Columbus Symphony, National Symphony, West Australian Philharmonic, Munich Symphony, Slovak Radio Orchestra, South Korean Pops, and many more.

Although Chris Walden learned arranging, composing and orchestrating the traditional way with pencil and paper, from early on he explored the possibilities of computers for sequencing and notation. That's why he always likes to orchestrate, program, and conduct his music himself.


Since 1999 Chris is leading his own big band recruited from top studio musicians based in Los Angeles. Chris is a board member of ASMAC (American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers.)

More details on Wikipedia


AWARDS


1.

• 2008 (2) Grammy® nominations
2.

• 2007 ASMAC award
3.

• 2005 (2) Grammy® nominations
4.

• 1998 Ernst-Fischer-Prize
5.

• 1993 Ernst-Fischer-Prize



Public portion of his Facebook Page

Chris is originally from Hamburg, Germany.

And to listen to some of his work:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chris-Walden...&ref=search

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=chris+walden&tag=googhydr-20&index=popular&hvadid=1092473921&ref=pd_sl_5akc0jltjq_b

[clayharmony]

Interesting industry news:

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2009/03/five-tips-for-musicians-to-engage-their-fans-digitally068.html

Five Tips for Musicians to Engage Their Fans Digitally
Jason Feinberg

by Jason Feinberg, March 9, 2009

Note: This is the first post from Jason Feinberg, MediaShift's new music correspondent. With his background in online marketing, Jason will be sharing his insights into how artists can best utilize new technology in connecting with fans.

There was a time when celebrity musicians were positioned as unreachable idols. Those days are long gone; in today's wired marketplace, musicians have to forge a personal relationship with their audience to keep their fans' interest. And for many, that means creating opportunities for fans to have an inside look into all aspects of an artist's life.

In the current music industry climate, many artists are realizing that they must go further than ever before to be seen as approachable -- they must run their organization with almost complete transparency. Save for major mainstream stars, the days of artists being put on an isolated pedestal are long gone; fans are far too savvy and options far too many for a musician to appear to be operating in a different universe. Fans demand access at unprecedented levels, so a band must either provide this access or be skilled at creating the illusion of it.
The Importance of Fan Engagement

What has caused this shift toward transparency? The simple answer is the Internet. The more complex answer is that the Internet has become so woven into the fabric of our culture as to create a sense of immediate fulfillment and enable complete access to almost anyone and anything.

Never before have consumers had more choices on how to entertain themselves. The avenues for information are exponentially greater than even 10 years ago. With this has come a massive sense of empowerment in music fans. No longer are they limited to what access or content an artist deems worthy to mete out.
...

[clayharmony]

More interesting industry news:

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2009/06/the-time-is-right-for-direct-to-fan-marketing-of-music175.html

The Time is Right for Direct-To-Fan Marketing of Music
Jason Feinberg

by Jason Feinberg, June 24, 2009

As the music industry continues to evolve and search for a sustainable and profitable business model, the direct-to-fan (D2F) approach is making great advances, from artists just starting their career up to superstars with massive fan bases.

Artists marketing and selling directly to their audience is not necessarily a new or revolutionary concept -- one can find examples of artists offering their products to customers directly in every generation of music. For established artists, it is used as a way to inexpensively leverage all the awareness they have amassed. For evolving artists, it is often a necessity. Without a label and distributor, the usual options for new artists have been selling music at live shows, selling through fan clubs or sympathetic indie record stores -- or sometimes just selling out of the trunk of a car (which is how N.W.A. got started). But today, advances in technology have opened up exciting new avenues for direct-to-fan sales.
Successes in the D2F Market

Direct-to-fan sales and marketing have seen a significant spike in recent years thanks to a number of factors. First, technology has given artists at all levels the opportunity to sell and market to their fans in a clear, inexpensive, engaging fashion online. Second, many emerging artists see less value in signing to a label and instead choose to steer clear of entangling contractual obligations. Finally, established artists are choosing not to renew their label contracts at a record pace, realizing that the brand they have developed can be leveraged without a label. All of these situations benefit greatly from direct-to-fan initiatives. ...

[clayharmony]

The latest from the CANN blog:

http://claynewsnetwork.com/

"Clay Aiken - Articulate and Caring"

As a celebrity spokesperson for the Tsunami Fundraising effort, Clay played an important role in the evening. He spoke eloquently about the need for education after the basic needs of the children were met. He mentioned how important it is to keep some consistency in the lives of the children after the devastation.

In the following days, Clay was interviewed on many of the entertainment and news programs. He was articulate and caring as he talked about the job that UNICEF was doing in the area. He was an excellent spokesperson for UNICEF as he explained about how the money would be used. He said:

“This money will help UNICEF address the immediate and emerging needs of
children in South Asia, and will include:
* Emergency immunization to prevent fatal childhood diseases
* Supply of clean, safe water and provision of basic sanitation
* Special feeding for malnourished children and pregnant women
* Care for traumatized children”

Two videos are included in the article.

January 4th "Were You There?"

It was just a year ago today that Clay Aiken performed his last performance of Spamalot on the stage of the Shubert Theater. It was a night of celebration for the audience and the cast members. From the look on Clay's face, it was a night full of joy and excitement for him too.

Thank you, Clay for the great Broadway adventure. Your performances as Sir Robin, Guard 1 and Brother Maynard were spot on and gave the audience lots of laughs. (8 pictures from Spamalot)

January 4th "A Thumb's Up"

Do you remember seeing Clay Aiken use this signal?? Well, here are a few pictures to show he has a good time when he says “Thumbs Up!” ...

[clayharmony]

More on Chris Walden...

http://www.origin-records.com/artists/artist.php?Artist_ID=61

Chris Walden Big Band

“Chris Walden and his great band breathe vibrant new life into our beloved Big-Band tradition. Bravo, Chris... and keep the fires burning!”
John Williams

German composer/arranger CHRIS WALDEN has scored more than 30 feature and TV films, and written arrangements for artists including Sheryl Crow, Christopher Cross, Nancy Wilson, Bill Conti, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

His credits include upcoming Hallmark movie "The Last Cowboy", OSCAR? nominated "Schtonk", Gene Wilder's A&E movie "The Lady in Question", and the CBS mini series "Blonde", and other TV movies for ABC and CBS. Chris has been musical director on many TV shows and series, and has recorded more than 60 CDs.

Chris Walden started writing big band arrangements at the age of 16 for local high school bands. After graduating at 19 he joined the German National Youth Jazz Orchestra as a trumpet player. At the age of 21 he started writing arrangements for German radio big bands and radio symphony orchestras, while he was studying composition and arranging at the University of Cologne at the same time.

After getting his Masters degree Chris Walden conducted the RIAS Big Band in Berlin and the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, served as musical director for the televised German Movie Award Show for four years and started composing for films and scored about 20 German films and wrote 400 arrangements for big band and symphony orchestra before he emigrated to Los Angeles at the age of 29.

Chris has won the "Ernst-Fischer-Prize" twice for best orchestral composition in Germany.

Although Chris Walden learned arranging, composing and orchestrating the traditional way with pencil and paper, from early on he explored the possibilities of computers for sequencing and notation. That's why he always likes to orchestrate, program, and conduct his music himself.

Since 1999 Chris is leading his own big band recruited from top studio musicians based in Los Angeles. Chris is a board member of ASMAC (American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers.)

[Carolina Clay]

Montage Characterizes Clay Aiken

Featured in the current Carolina blog is “Grace,” the montage by LovesClaysVoice that portrays the compassionate, sensitive, caring man our singer is. The first anniversary of Clay’s "Spamalot finale week" is also commemorated with three graphics by Fountaindawg.

Thank you for visiting the Internet Clay blogs! Happy 2010! 

Caro

CAROLINA ON MY MIND