Jun 06, 2008  |  By: REBECCA ARMENDARIZ  | COMMENTS     

Clay Callaway, a showbiz veteran, has finally found his paradise. After trying the Hollywood scene and the back-home-to-Arkansas thing, he moved to Hawaii, where he’s been for almost eight years.

His current location and comfortable situation allowed him finally to record and self-release his debut album, “Darn It, Baby, That’s Love!” which serves as a tribute to the songs he’s always held dear. Featuring “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man of Mine” from “Show Boat” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Your Face” from “My Fair Lady,” Callaway’s album showcases his obvious affinity for musical theater. He mixes in a few modern covers as well.

More than 20 years ago, Callaway was starting his acting and modeling career in Los Angeles. He describes the scene as completely different in its treatment of gays. Once, after an interview in the early ’80s, Callaway’s manager told him that the agency had asked if he was “light in the loafers.”

“That terrified me,” he says.

Callaway took on Los Angeles, though, writing press releases and bios for Capitol Records, driving a limo and taking small acting gigs. After placing an ad in the personals section for the L.A. Weekly, Callaway decided to have a housewarming party, inviting all who had responded.

An hour into the party, his apartment building caught on fire, and he was left homeless overnight.

The incident sent him back home to Arkansas, where he directed community theater and met his partner before they decided to move to Hawaii.

“Hawaii is a beautiful place, and there I was revisited by my musical muse, Cheryl Hardwick Moore.”

Moore was the musical director for “Saturday Night Live” for 25 years, and she’s now Callaway’s partner in staging community theater shows in Hilo, Hawaii.

AFTER SEEING A LIST of the top 25 songs from the movies, Callaway and Moore did a chronological history of the Palace Theater, where they work, integrated through the songs.

Callaway performed “As Time Goes By” with Moore at the piano.

“People just kept telling me, that stage lights up when you’re on it,” he says.

And so the album was born. It was conceived during the time of Callaway’s father’s illness, and developed during Callaway’s many trips back to Arkansas from Hawaii, before his father died.

Now, Callaway’s achieved mild success with the new album.

“We’ve just been marketing it one hairdresser at a time,” he said. “Women 60 and above, they just love it.”

Callaway wanted to cover songs that hadn’t been done before, but also shares tunes that people have known for many years.

“Some of them are a little obscure, like ‘Come in from the Rain,’” he said. “This is a great song because it’s an allegory to the rain we have to deal with as people, but also as gay people … we have to let it roll off our backs, so to speak.”

Callaway’s partner sings backup on some of the tracks, and his friend Andy Belling arranged the songs.

Callaway also takes on “You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man” by Loretta Lynn.
“Of course, the song takes on a whole new meaning when a fella sings it,” he said.

Callaway remembers a karaoke bar in Nashville called Juanita’s where the same guy would always get up and belt out Lynn’s big number. A lot of Callaway’s friends that would convene there have since passed away from AIDS, so he recorded this track as a tribute to them.

Callaway hopes to make a career out of his singing and will perform at Memphis Pride this year.