Aiken's CD "Tried and True," released last
week, is a collection of 13 songs from the 1950s and 1960s, all of which
predate the 31-year-old Aiken. But Aiken feels intimately familiar with the
music that he heard as a child, while riding in the car with his mother.
The songs, including "Mack the Knife,"
"Unchained Melody" and "Moon River," are not merely
standards, but songs Aiken wants to sing live. And since many singers make
their bread and butter from touring these days, Aiken says he never wants to
record another song that he won't perform live in concert.
"There are certain songs I've recorded that I've
never sung since the studio," says Aiken, who starts a tour in July with
good friend Ruben Studdard, to whom he came in second on "American
Idol" in 2003. "So every song on this album is a song that I enjoy
singing and love doing live." The cover for the album features a different
look for Aiken: He's pictured with slicked-back blonde hair, not his usual red,
in a photo that harkens another era. Still, there is something comfortable
about it: He's sitting in a well-known restaurant in Raleigh, where he grew up
(he lives in an area nearby).
"I wanted everything to be about being at
home," says Aiken — his hair back to red — as he sits beside his mother,
Faye Parker, at her home in Raleigh.
Aiken is equally comfortable talking about his sexuality
as he is about his music. He came out in September 2008 after the birth of his
son, Parker, who was born through in-vitro fertilization to a friend, Jaymes
Foster.
His newly redesigned Website still has promotions for his
favorite projects — UNICEF and The Inclusion Project. But now it also includes
GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, which focuses on safe
schools for all students.
Aiken chose GLSEN because of the teasing and name-calling
he endured on school buses and classroom hallways.
"But the truth is, when I look back on it, I
absolutely know that (being gay) is why I got picked on. People said it, we
heard it," Aiken says, glancing at his mother.
Even though his mother knew about the bullying, Parker
says she didn't acknowledge Aiken was gay until he told her at the end of 2004.
"I heard the kids call him names," she said.
"I knew some things about him were a little bit more effeminate than
others. But parents engage in denial." Aiken wonders if his endorsement
for GLSEN will make a difference for gay kids. "I don't know what it would
have done for me," he says. "But I feel like there's a potential
impact there." The 2009 student advocate of the year for GLSEN, Austin
Laufersweiler, says gay teens do care when a famous person acknowledges their
sexuality.
"The face that significant people identify as gay,
lesbian, bisexual or transgender gives this cause credibility and it certainly
allows one to be more courageous," said Laufersweiler, 18, of Marietta,
Ga., who just graduated from high school. "It really spreads the message
that I can come out in school if this person can come out to the whole
world."
