THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 20, 1996 TAG: 9609190053
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Interview
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 69 lines
CLAY WALKER was interviewed out
``Man, I want to give you a decent interview. I want to be fair, so I'll call back whenever you want me to,'' said the affable Texan. ``I just got off the phone.
``One interview lasted an hour and 45 minutes. He asked me every question imaginable, like, `What would you like for your last meal?' Lord, he had me on Death Row.''
Why didn't Walker tell his inquisitor that he had to go to the bathroom or something?
``I'm not that kind of guy.''
What Walker is is a No. 1 guy: ``This Woman and This Man,'' ``If I Could Make a Living,'' ``Dreaming With My Eyes Open'' and ``Live Until I Die'' all reached the top. His very first single - ``What's It to You?'' - was his first No. 1. His current hit, ``Only on Days That End in ``Y,'' is Top 5.
Those songs, and many others from his three platinum albums, will be heard Friday at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater.
Before Walker's concert, there will be games and competitions all around the amphitheater (see story below). Some of the proceeds will help the fight against multiple sclerosis, a subject close to home for the native of Beaumont, Texas.
``I'm glad to hear they're doing that,'' said Walker, who contracted MS last year. ``Sometimes I think about it, but it doesn't debilitate me.''
On the contrary, Walker gets downright wild on stage. He's been putting on high-energy shows since he went from small potatoes to star status in 1993. Just two years later, he was headlining.
``We felt like he was so exciting, it was time to put him out there and let the people see what he does best,'' said his manager, Danny O'Brien. ``When you work as someone else's support act, as most new artists have to, you don't get the time you need. You get maybe 30 minutes and you don't have the right production and lighting.''
O'Brien has the right idea about Walker. He looks like a friendly kid-next-door, but behind that boyish grin is a shrewd businessman who handles his own marketing and accounting.
``I'm heavy into being a businessman,'' Walker said from Albuquerque. ``I've always been a band leader and a lead singer - always in control. I felt I could make things go right. In business, you get what you negotiate, not what you deserve.''
Some of his profits are put into his ranch in Branham, Texas, where he raises cattle and horses. Some of his spare time is devoted to golf. Monday, though, the singer/song-writer will be in the studio working on his next album.
``I have the material. I'm ready to record,'' Walker said. ``The music will be traditional. Only one time I was a little bit pop-ish. Now, I'm stone-cold country.'' ILLUSTRATION: MARK TUCKER
Giant Records
Clay Walker says his new album will be ``stone-cold country,'' not
pop.
WANT TO GO?
Who: Clay Walker and Great Plains
When: 7:30 tonight
Where: Virginia Beach Amphitheater
Tickets: $8.50 to $13.50, plus parking and service charges. The
concert is a family special: Children 12 and under receive a free
lawn ticket when accompanied by an adult holding the same ticket.
Order at 671-8100.
Information: 368-3000 by CNB