Clay Howard Covers TRIPPING DAISY's "I Got A Girl" Ahead of UNNECESSARY COVERS Album

Winston-Salem power pop artist Clay Howard has released a cover of Tripping Daisy's 'I Got A Girl' ahead of his upcoming album 'Unnecessary Covers,' an 11-song collection of personal favorites arriving November 27 on CD and digital platforms.

Tim DeLaughter wrote 'I Got A Girl' as a love letter to his partner, and the original climbed to #6 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart, becoming Tripping Daisy's biggest hit. Howard's version keeps every one of its gloriously specific details intact, from the girl who 'loves good soul' and 'dances to disco' to the one who 'speaks her mind' and will 'knock down any wall.' The chorus still lifts off with 'I feel we're going higher and higher.' Howard and his longtime producer Joey Barnes, the former Daughtry drummer, made every sound and sang every vocal on the track themselves.

The album itself came together almost by accident.

'It kinda just happened,' Howard says. 'I got back from the Camel City Yacht Club fan club Mexican cruise in late January and immediately got snowed in for a week. During that downtime, I wrote a couple of songs - one of them is 'New Moon,' which is out on all the streamers. Go listen. I'm proud of that one.'

Those new songs were meant to kick off his next original record with Barnes. Then the news of Sedaka's death this past winter sent Howard straight back to his record collection.

'Anyway, Joey and I were going to start a new original record, but then Neil Sedaka died, and I got a little obsessed with 'Laughter in the Rain.' So, we recorded it,' he says. 'That led to me thinking, 'Wow. Singing that was fun. Let's do another old song.' Which, of course, led to another... then another.'

Finding time in the studio took some creativity of its own, with Howard keeping one of the busiest live calendars in the Carolinas.

'We squeezed in recording sessions whenever we could, early mornings and late nights after shows, through a summer when I played over 50 shows between June and Labor Day,' he says. 'Apparently, my idea of taking a break from singing is... more singing.'

The songs on the finished album span six decades, and the only thing tying them together is the man who chose them.

'And now here we are,' Howard says. 'On November 27 (yep, Black Friday here in NC), I'm releasing a new album of cover versions of some of my favorite songs. Eleven of them, songs by artists from the last six decades. You'd never put them together on a record or guess they're some of my favorites... but they are, and I did.'

As for the title, that cheeky name is pure Howard, while the love behind every song is completely sincere.

'Joey Barnes played on and produced the whole thing, and I got to do the singing,' he says. 'And that's how I accidentally recorded a cover album, titled, appropriately, 'Unnecessary Covers.''

Born in Tupelo, Mississippi and now living outside Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Howard started playing at 20 and has built a music career spanning nearly four decades. Along the way he has led or played in Diggin' Taters, Stratocruiser, Clay & Fran, Clay Howard & the Silver Alerts, the popular yacht rock crew Camel City Yacht Club and Blacklight Idols. His 2026 album 'A Little More Nothin'' earned international independent radio airplay and sent its title track into the Top 10 on the Radio Indie Alliance chart. This summer he followed it with 'Lovin'' (Sunshine Mix), a danceable reworking of an album favourite that began life as a dare to write a song about a June bug stuck on its back on a sidewalk.

Howard does all this while working as Regional Director for the North Carolina Small Business and Technology Development Center, helping entrepreneurs across the Triad start and grow their businesses. He has his own measure of what success means, and by that measure he has done very well.

'I get to write, record and release music, I play for thousands of people every year and the songs I release still bring me joy,' he says.

Fans can celebrate the album at Ramkat in Winston-Salem on release night, November 27, and at the official album release show at Gas Hill Drinking Room on December 19.

Tour Dates

October 24 Radford, VA @ Radford Homecoming

October 25 Jamestown, NC @ The Deck (4 to 7 PM)

November 14 Yadkinville, NC @ Private Party

November 27 Winston-Salem, NC @ Ramkat (8 to 11 PM)

December 5 Greensboro, NC @ Starmount Country Club (Private Event)

December 19 Winston-Salem, NC @ Gas Hill Drinking Room (Album Release Show)

December 26 Greensboro, NC @ Ziggy's (8 to 11 PM)