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Take one washed up college basketball player and give him a guitar- the clay howard story

 

A brief History:

1st Band- Society’s Child 1989-1991 ( I think these dates are correct) Maybe I’ll give a teaser of these tunes here, soon….
 

Bought a guitar in the late 80’s because it looked cool. Always wanted to be a singer in a band, finally got the nerve and would sing a couple covers with local cover band, Cathouse, in the late 80’s- this is where I met my friend Benjy Johnson with whom I would later be in several bands, Bonehead and Diggin’ Taters.
 

Bonehead played one show before calling it quits, there were a few recordings, but I have not heard them in ages… there is a reason for this.
 

Diggin’ Taters took up most of the mid-late 90’s and found us beating the path of the Mid South, putting out 2 well-received cds, and recording a 3rd , as yet unreleased, cd.
 

A year in original Christian band, THEmessage, followed, with one cd, “Spiritual Grafitti” being released. THEmessage also had a song picked for an international compilation, as well as having 2 songs optioned for the movie, “GONE.” these songs, alas, were not used in the final release of the film.
 

After THEmessage, I had a tenure as an acoustic coffehouse performer before joining Barely White in the winter of 2002.

Barely White recorded a 12 song cd, which rocks, but has yet to be released. However, one song from this cd was picked up by Basina Records for a National release in December 2005. Barely White has been on an extended hiatus since August of 2004, however I have plans to write with my friend James Griffey again….soon.
 

Sometime in 2001, I wrote and recorded a Christmas song, called, ”No Snow at Christmas,” which was picked up for a National Compilation in 2004 and received airplay on over 200 college and internet stations during the course of the 2004 Christmas season.
 

Starting in August 2004, I began writing, playing and recording with international recording artists, stratocruiser. We have cds out on ZiP records , San Francisco and Wizzard-In-Vinyl records, Tokyo, Japan, as well as a 7″ vinyl single that was released on Greensboro’s own, Just Plain Lucky records in August of 2005. In total we released ...well, a whole bunch of stuff- go look, you can find it! the full length records were:
 

Suburban Contemporary
Revolutions
Eggshells
The Spark
OK, Class... the best of stratocruiser
Sitting Pretty at the End of the world
 

 In addition to these we released a whole bunch of singles a couple EP's...one of all Neil Diamond songs..really. We had songs licensed for television and movies....We called it a day in late 2014
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For the past 15 years, I have also played acoustic cover gigs as a solo artist. These gigs take me everywhere from Country Clubs to bars, from living rooms to garages. Hey- music has no boundaries...you want me to play somewhere- let's talk.
 

I am finishing up my first solo record- working with a great musician and producer named Brynn Arens, from the snowy cold state of Minnesota. I will have this music out in the public sometime in 2015...and cannot wait to put a rock band together to play the tunes live....
 

thanks for reading this "brief" history.... I'll add more, I am sure. :)

 

 

 

 

estimonials :

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Quote from triadlivemusic.com december 6, 2010:

'lead singer Clay Howard proved yet again why his voice is one of the best, if not THE best male vocals you'll hear in the Triad area."

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Quote from Triad Live Music website: July 2010

I am a huge Beatles fan and I am extremely picky about performers who cover Beatles songs, but here in the Triad I believe we have one of the best performers to ever cover the Beatles in Clay Howard. .. If you get an opportunity to catch Clays solo acoustic performance or one of the many gigs he does with his long-time friend Benjy Johnson you shouldnt pass it up!

Charlton Wiggins, President- Triad Live Music.com
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"You've gotten rave reviews for last night!   And so  I thank you. "

MJ- General Manager,  NOMA- WS
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Venues Played (partial list):

Winestyles
JP Looney's- Greensboro
JP Looney's- Oak Ridge
JP Looneys- Kernersville
Dixie Classic Fair
Tunes at Noon- Center City Park 2008-2014
Brewballs (Burlington)
2008-2013 Rock 92 Brewsfest
Lava Bistro (Charlotte)
Speed Street Festival- Charlotte
Atlantic Beer and Ice 

The District- Winston-Salem
Finnigan's Wake- Winston-Salem
Vitales- Zeeland, MI
New Holland Brewery- Holland, MI
Center City Bar and Grille
Vintage 301
NOMA- Winston-Salem
Shakespeare and Company
Kernersville Music and Mingle 2009/2010
Kernersville Spring Folly - 2013-2014
Holland, MI Street Performer Festival 2007-2014
Shooters
Kernersville Cruise In 2010-2011
Trade Shows.
numerous private parties and weddings

Ziggys
House of Blues (N. Myrtle Beach)
Lincoln Theatre (Raleigh)
Arlenes Grocery (NYC)
Kennys Castaways (NYC)
the Blind Tiger
Star Bar (Atlanta, GA)
Joes Place (Baltimore, MD)
Music Farm (Charleston, SC)
Cumberlands (Charleston, SC)
Greene Street (Greensboro, NC)
Joe's  (Richmond, VA)
Smiths Olde Bar (Atlanta, GA)
Fuzzy Duck's
the Zoo Bar
the Shark Bar (Myrtle Beach)
...and literally hundreds of other places that are now lost to time.

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