Singer makes journey count
2/11/2009
By MARY STARR
The Brunswick News
Sometimes it takes years to become an overnight sensation.
Ask Danny Clay, a Brunswick native and professional recording artist who for nearly two years has been opening shows for comedian Steve Harvey. After making the rounds of comedy clubs, Clay will debut as a headliner Friday at the BB King Blues Club in New York City.
Clay, who is recording his first CD now, will perform a tribute to the late Luther Vandross. His first single, "Foolish Pride," was released last month.
Getting from Brunswick to 42nd Street has been a long ride, but Clay said he's kept the faith all the way.
"I always knew I wanted to be a singer," said Clay, who graduated from Brunswick High School in 1986 and was in the school's show choir.
After high school, Clay joined the U.S. Marines Corps and that's where his trouble began.
"I made some bad decisions," he said. "I got messed up on drugs and ended up spending some time in prison, but I never lost faith in myself."
After prison and getting his life turned around, Clay was working as a utility locator for Consolidated Utilities when a friend of told him about a comedy show that was going to be held Mother's Day weekend 2007 at the Thompson Convention Center in Brunswick.
The featured comedian was "Nephew Tommy" of the Steve Harvey Radio Show. "Nephew Tommy" is Harvey's actual nephew and co-host of Harvey's nationally syndicated radio show.
"It was Nephew Tommy's first gig as a solo artist," said Clay. "My mother badgered me to go and introduce myself."
At Tommy's meet and greet, Clay persuaded Tommy to allow him to sing a couple of Luther Vandross numbers for him.
"I knew that Steve Harvey had a talent show on his radio show every morning, and I wanted to find a way to get him to hear me," Clay said. "So I just started to sing some Luther songs for Tommy."
As Clay tells it, Tommy had to tell him to stop singing because Clay's vocals so resembled those of Vandross.
"Tommy used to open for Luther," Clay said. "And he said his uncle, Steve Harvey, had to hear me."
In the first of what became a series of miracles, Tommy asked Clay to open for him that night in Brunswick, with no pay.
"I just wanted to be on stage," Clay said.
Clay explained that he doesn't impersonate Vandross. It's just that his voice has an uncanny resemblance to that of the late soul singer. The following Tuesday, Clay made his first appearance on the Steve Harvey Radio Show. Clay was the third contestant that morning.
"Contestants normally sing for 16 seconds," Clay said. "Steve Harvey kept me on for 45 minutes."
The next morning, Harvey's producer called Clay and invited him back on the show.
"They said the e-mail response had been overwhelming and that they were fielding calls from promoters," Clay said.
His next gig was opening again for Nephew Tommy the following weekend in Norfolk, Va. This time it was for pay.
By Father's Day 2007, Clay was opening for Steve Harvey in Newark, N.J.
"At the end of that gig, they signed me to a management contract," Clay said.
Since signing the contract Clay has opened for Harvey and other artists in Las Vegas, Miami and Puerto Rico. But Friday night's date is the one he's been waiting for his entire life.
"I feel like God has blessed me with a second chance," he said.
Twenty-three years after graduating from Brunswick High School, Clay said that if he were to tell young people who are considering music careers one thing, it would be to know that it takes a lot of endurance.
"You want to try to be out there with your product," he said. "Have a plan; have discipline and perfect your craft."
And, he says, never to give up.
"Rejection is not the end of the story," he said. "What's 'no' today could be 'yes' tomorrow."
Lori Franks, director of choral music at Brunswick High School, did not have Clay as a student, but says that at least two other BHS alumni are making their way in the professional music world.
Greg Murray, a saxophonist, is well-known in Christian music circles and Heather Wiggins, formerly a student of Franks, is working as a country music recording artist in Nashville.
Franks said people bound for the stage need to be sure it's what they want.
"First and foremost, you really need to work at it, not play at it," Franks said, adding that aspiring singers should study their craft by continuing their studies in college.
Franks said young people have to be determined and that success will not happen overnight.
"The music world is very competitive," Franks said. "The real musicians will be around for the longest time."
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