Happy Fun and the Saints song

Who would have thought that my first two releases after my hiatus would be a children’s album with my daughters and a duet with my wife on an ‘80’s cover song remade with New Orleans Saints lyrics? Good thing I’m not a betting man, but I wanted my family to be involved and they certainly have been!
Happy Fun has been just that. It was fun recording in the studio and fun making the Happy Fun and The Turkey Song videos. We have more videos planned—assuming my aged camera holds up. It has been a bit fickle of late. Of course, if anyone with higher grade eqiupment wants to be involved, feel free to let me know.
Not sure what happens other than that. We would like to do some live shows but don’t have anything planned yet. We also have a new song and a few others in the works. We hope to record another album if sales of Happy Fun justifies it. I am very encouraged, and it is good to know that fans are making multilpe purchases.
Fred Clark-- Happy Fun is available at Cdbaby and iTunes. Videos are at http://www.youtube.com/fredclarktv .

We’ve been talking about doing a Saints song since before the season started, and pretty early on I thought the Sly Fox song, “Let’s Go All The Way” would be perfect. I always liked that song. We were distracted by Happy Fun, the holidays, and other day to day responsibilites in general. Lauren kept saying we had to get it done, so she wrote the new lyrics and set it all in motion. Trenell was able to lay down the instrumental tracks and have everything ready for us when we went into Big Bang Studio on the 10th. Things went very smoothly in the vocal booth. Lots of discussion went on about the mix—-long story short—Lauren was right, and we were able to release the song on the 14th. Lauren did an excellent job on the video. She has some other ideas in mind for future “Fred and Lauren” projects.
Fred and Lauren—“Saints Go All The Way” is now available at http://www.fredandlauren.bandcamp.com and will be on Itunes in 2-4 weeks.
The video is on Lauren’s channel-- http://www.youtube.com/llotty1966 .

My mind now turns to the non-children, non duet aspect of my career. 2 songs were recorded last summer back in the St. Louis area. I have about 9 other songs that I want to record with my mates up there. I’m thinking I will be releasing those songs as singles eventually.
I’m also hopeful to record an album here. I’ve recorded some of those demos with my mates in Luling. Now its just a matter of finding the time to rehearse with the band, record the demos and putting the financing together to go into the big studio.
I have another project in mind too, but first things first. I also wouldn’t mind playing bass again in a band either, just in case someone is looking....
Anyway, thank you so much for your support. Hope to see you soon.
Fred

Fair Grinds Show

I performed at the Fair Grinds Coffee House in New Orleans last Friday. It was a good time. I think I put on a pretty good show. I enjoyed talking to Robert Thompson, the owner. He is very kind. The Fair Grinds has a very cool vibe and I hope to play there again sometime. If you are ever in New Orleans, check it out. It is on Ponce De Leon off of Esplanade.

Pic: Me with Robert Thompson

Me Old Mates

Hung out with my old friends from Illinois, Brad F and Todd G in the French Quarter yesterday. I haven't seen Brad in about 10 years. He lives in Dallas, TX now and came in for a few days on holiday. We had a nice lunch at the Chartres House in the French Quarter and then over to Todd's house on Magazine Street. The time was too short but very enjoyable.
L to R--Todd, Me, Brad in the garden at Chez Todd.

La Vita

After the Endymion parade we went to my in-laws second home on Esplanade where we were staying for the night. We put the kids to bed, and my in-laws were kind enough to suggest that me and Lauren go out for awhile. We walked to a nearby restaurant, La Vita. We had hoped my high school mate, Todd, could meet us. His wife was out of town for a few days and thought he might enjoy the company, but unfortunately, he had an obligation to attend to, so had to take a rain check.
La Vita is a small restaurant, but was quite busy, and seemed to be understaffed. Then again, it's carnival season, so maybe it's to be expected. long story short, we were slow to get our food, but the waiter and manager were quite apologetic, and provided us with an extra appetizer and extra drinks free of charge for the inconvenience. The wait for the main course was worth it. I had a chicken parmesan and I must say it was quite tasty. I hope we have a chance to eat there again soon. It was good to go on a date with Lauren. Life is good.

Endymion

Went to the Endymion Parade on Fat Saturday in New Orleans. My sister in law Amy and her boyfriend Chris had a spot staked out on Orleans Avenue near Hennessey. A lot of college kids were around. Cousin Colin was about a block away with his LSU bandmates. Anyway, Chris and Amy rented a portable outhouse with a combination lock, so we had it all to ourselves. There was an enterprising young lad near us with his outhouse, a stamper and some ink--charging $5 for the day. He had a line going over there, and I'm sure he made plenty of dough. My friend Todd, who I went to high school with in Illinois, lives down here now, on Magazine Street, came and hung out with us. If somebody had told us 29 years ago when we first met that we would be here we wouldn't have believed it. The weather was warm as the parade started a little after 4 pm, but cooled after the sun went down. The parade was long, lasting about 4 hours. Kevin Costner, The Go-Go's, and the Doobie Brothers were the star attractions. Colette, Bernadette, and Bridget caught a lot of beads. Frederick just wanted to run around. I caught 2 footballs with one handed grabs. Me and Lauren smiled at each other a lot. It was a good time, but it kind of wore me out.