Desert Island Disc-Man

This missive comes from local country singer-songwriter Clay Blaker, who's had songs cut by George Strait and other Nashville stars. Below, you'll learn just how he and his wife Allene will be spending the resultant royalties:

"About four years ago, Allene and I purchased four acres of beachfront property on an island in the Caribbean off the coast of Panama. The property has a beautiful white sand beach with palm trees overlooking crystal blue water. Right out in front, there's a good surfing spot. We dove on the reef and found an abundance of fish and lobster. Our intentions were to someday build some sort of dwelling where we could retreat periodically to get away from it all.

About eight weeks ago, Allene had to have total hip replacement surgery. She's doing fantastic and is pain-free for the first time in years. Her surgery and the fact that we aren't getting any younger have made us re-examine our life priorities. After much soul-searching and deliberation, we have decided to leave the music business now and move to our island. We think the time is right, and we're very excited about starting our new life.

I'm still going to be writing songs, and maybe I'll get a solo gig playing in one of the bars or restaurants on the island. We might start a bed-and-breakfast or buy a boat and run a service for surfers and divers. Who knows? We'll figure it out when we get there. One thing's for sure, from now on we'll be surfing, diving, or fishing every day.

Once we get settled in, we hope some of you will come visit us. See you in the water.

Love,

Clay & Allene Blaker

p.s. We'll be leaving the Clay Blaker Web site up (www.clayblaker.com) to keep everyone posted on our progress."