I was not dissing Clay, just stating things as I see them. My reviews always talk about how I think a song will do on the Billboard chart and how I see an artist doing on the charts now and in the future. It is all my opinion, so if it sounds like I’m dissing him, it’s because we have different opinions on the matter.

Matt F.

I too do like the new single and do hope the new CD will be awesome. Keep supporting him because all artists need that support from their fans in order to survive in the business.

Matt F.

Visit https://health.google.com/health/ref/Multiple+sclerosis to learn a little more about MS in case you are only vaguely familiar with the disease (I did before posting this reply). While the symptoms vary for each person, medication exists to help manage the symptoms to allow people to live normal lives. However, the disease is progressive, meaning it gets worse over time. It’s great that he’s able to still perform a full concert schedule and record music, but without the medication he takes, he wouldn’t be able to do it. The original statement (“slowed by MS”) or the new one you quoted are not meant as disrespectful towards Clay, but more a statement of fact that people with MS cannot ignore it to live normal lives.

Matt F.

First, see my revised post and the comment to a couple of other Clay Walker fans about the “slowed” part.

Second, you are correct to point out the lag between albums being a label/management issue as it explains why there hasn’t been much music from his recently. I did fail to mention the delay in my blog.

Lastly, to have a hit, you do have to get radio stations to play the song. If the radio stations play the song and the listeners aren’t that interested, the radio station will eventually stop playing that song. While I know it takes more for some stations to play a song than others, they still have to have good singles. Looking back at his last album Fall, in my opinion he had a lot of good songs, but not much as far as good singles. When you take a bunch of good songs and put them together, you get a good album. If you have a few great singles, but not much else on the album, then you have a so-so album. Artists occassionally pull of the great single and good “other” songs to put in an album, making a great album. “Fall” was a great single, “Fore She Was Mama” was a good single, but after that, there wasn’t much on the album that were singleworthy. “She Likes It in the Morning” was a good song, but not really a good single. I haven’t listened to the album in a while, but none of the songs on it stuck with me enough to have been songs that should have been singles. Going back to A Few Questions, I absolutely loved the song “I Don’t Want to Know” and thought that it would have made a good single. Alas, they never released it. He did have two Top 10s on that album, but not all of them made it them. Plus, that was 6 years ago. The delay between A Few Questions and Fall kind of took him out of the national radio scene. While he did continue to tour and still does continue, he is no longer as popular the artist he was in the late 90s. Do I think he has it in him to get back there? Of course, because I think he still can make good music. He needs to have a good as an album as I mentioned in the review to do it.

I’m sorry my “lack of insight” into Clay’s career angered you, but when you blog about a music genre in general, these things happen. Since I am not a “Clay-maniac” I don’t see him in concert, call the radio to request his music, etc. I just buy his albums if I like one of his songs. I am inclined to buy his upcoming album because I do like “She Won’t Be Lonely Long.”

Matt F.

I have reworded the “slowed” because you and a few others seem to have read it differently than intended. I meant no disrespect towards Clay with my comments.

Matt F.