Idols Gone Country-2011 Year End Edition!

By On 12/30/2011 · 74 Comments · In Aaron Kelly, American Idol, Bo Bice, Bucky Covington, Carrie Underwood, Casey James, Crystal Bowersox, Danny Gokey, Josh Gracin, Kellie Pickler, Kristy Lee Cook, Lauren Alaina, Scotty McCreery

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It’s another edition of Idols Gone Country, featuring a look back at what our Idols in the country market were up to in 2011 AND a look ahead to what they’ve got in store for us in 2012! Featuring Lauren Alaina, Bo Bice, Crystal Bowersox, Kristy Lee Cook, Bucky Covington, Danny Gokey, Josh Gracin, Casey James, Aaron Kelly, Scotty McCreery, Kellie Pickler, and Carrie Underwood!

Lauren Alaina parlayed her runner up Idol status into a record deal with Mercury Nashville/Interscope/19, performed at the Grand Ole Opry twice (making her debut during CMA Fest), performed at LP Field during CMA Fest with Martina McBride (TV cap here), fought through an a 3rd degree ankle sprain and voice issues to complete the AI tour, saw her debut single “Like My Mother Does” (previously recording & released by Idol Kristy Lee Cook among others) peak at #36 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, released her debut album Wildflower on October 11th with 1st week sales of 69k, released 2nd single “Georgia Peaches” to country radio (where it has made the top 40), recovered from a national anthem flub with maturity, and sang at The White House for the President and First Lady. Wildflower has sold 214k copies to date and landed on Billboard’s The 615 blog’s list of country’s top 10 albums of 2011 and helped Lauren make Chris Willman’s list of 2011′s top new artists on Yahoo!’s As Heard On blog.

Up in 2012: The video for Lauren’s 2nd single “Georgia Peaches” will be released on January 6, 2012. Lauren hits the road with Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan for the My Kinda Party tour from January 20, 2012 through March 23, 2012.

Bo Bice made multiple appearances at the Grand Ole Opry including 1 in which the Oak Ridge Boys invited him on stage to perform their hit “Elvira”. He signed a publishing deal with RPM Music Group, wrote songs and started tracking them for his next album with producer Blake Chancey. Bo also announced that he and wife Caroline are expecting their 4th child, recently revealed that they are expecting a girl! Bo also made a guest appearance on Kristy Lee Cook’s hunting show Goin’ Country. It also appears Bo got himself a radical haircut (credit foxydonna for finding), check out this picture with Melinda Doolittle:

And check out this hour-plus long chat the always charming and frank Bo did with his fans, where he talks about meeting Scotty McCreery, performs a bunch of songs, brags a little on his kids (in a cute, fatherly way), and answers fan questions.

http://justin.tv/bobice/b/299680349

Up in 2012: Bo is planning to release a new album, and he is also scheduled to perform at the Grand Ole Opry on 1/7/2012. Check out live performances of 4 songs he has confirmed that he has recorded for a new album (video via sjwBO):
“Better Man” (written by Bo, Peter Sallis, Victoria Shaw):

“Why Can’t I”:

“Everything” (written by Jim Beavers, Chris Hennessee):

“Summertime” (written by Matt Jenkins, Justin Lantz, and Matt Ramsey):

Crystal Bowersox made some appearances on the country scene after “Farmer’s Daughter” got some positive press from a few country writers. She made her Opry debut in early March, performed on the Riverfront stage at CMA Fest, returned to the Opry to debut a couple more country tinged new tunes, covered the Patsy Cline classic “Crazy” , with Jive Records, and debuted another country infleunced new song at a Nashville gig.

Up in 2012: Although Crystal’s planned move to Nashville didn’t materialize (she’s moved to Portland instead), Crystal will release an EP through her official website, and keep an eye out for a free download there too.

Kristy Lee Cook has been writing for and recording her new album (check out possible titles & new songs here, here, here, here, and here. A few more cowrites have surfaced: “Hand Me Down Jeans” which she cowrote with David Gibson and Lonestar’s Dean Sams and “Party Like A Rockstar” which she cowrote with David Fanning & Billy Montana (the same 2 guys she cowrote “Couldn’t Care Less” with). There’s also
“One Hell Of A Ride” which she cowrote with Jon Mabe and Westin Davis, and “Two Horse Town” that she cowrote with Clint Lagerberg (who cowrote Rascal Flatts’s “Here Comes Goodbye” with Chris Sligh) and Heather Morgan.

Up in 2012: The 2nd season of Goin’ Country airs on Versus. Check out a new promo here. Kristy Lee releases a new single, and hopefully releases an album. Rich Redmond of New Voice Entertainment, which is producing Kristy Lee’s album commented:

We’re in the studio now with Kristy Lee Cook. We’ve found some really unique songs for her. We’re going to launch her next year.

Bucky Covington continued his “Hometown” tour (check out live video, new song previews here, here, and here), fought off bogus theft allegations from a concert promoter who had failed to pay him for a gig, officially announced his new deal with independent label eOne Nashville home after paperwork with the now-defunct Lyric Street Records was worked out to enable the transfer of some of the masters Bucky created while signed with them. Bucky also sent his new single “I Wanna Be That Feeling” to country radio and shot a video for it. Bucky recently tweeted behind the scenes footage of the video shoot, featuring Bucky leaning up against a car singing along to a sped up version of the song for video effect:

Bucky also recently tweeted the featured picture with the following comment:

In studio yesterday recording with a very special guest – guess who? #IWannaBeThatFeeling

Bucky is joined in the picture by Shooter Jennings. He has recorded the Logan Mize song “Boys From Back Home” though it is not known whether the song will make the final cut. Check out writer Logan Mize’s video for the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XvpaW_aVTTo

Up in 2012: “I Wanna Be That Feeling” goes for adds, the video is released, and eventually, Bucky’s sophomore album is expected to finally be released.

Danny Gokey performed in the FOX TV movie Truth Be Told, and released a new single “Second Hand Heart” to country radio. It peaked at #48 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and was released to digital outlets like Itunes and Amazon. He also opened for superstar Taylor Swift on 10 dates of her Speak Now tour. Danny parted ways with RCA Nashville in late summer. But he shared happy news at the end of 2011 when he announced his engagement to Leyicet Peralta.

Up in 2012: Danny will perform at the Grand Ole Opry on 1/6/12. His wedding to Leyicet Peralta is scheduled for late January. Danny will take part in the 2nd Annual Sophia’s Heart Cruise from February 2-6 2012 benefiting Sophia’s Heart Foundation and also featuring fellow Idol Matt Giraud. Danny’s eyewear line is scheduled to launch in March 2012. He also discussed expanding his music beyond country in an interview with the faith-based Speak Music radio (the interview starts after live performance footage, at the 6:19 mark):

Josh Gracin did a radio and media tour as part of advance promotion for his 3rd album (check out media here and here), released a video honoring the memory of a fallen soldier through his original song “Can’t Say Goodbye”, and released the pop/soul song “Long Way To Go” to AC radio which peaked at #16 there. Josh released his 3rd studio album Redemption on November 8th. It debuted at #39 on the Billboard Country Albums chart selling around 3k copies.

Up in 2012: Josh currently has tour dates scheduled in support of his album including a 1/13 gig at Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth, Texas.

Casey James started rolling out his new music about 10 months after his AI season ended, debuting “Drive” at the Country Radio Seminar and rolling out other songs while on the road with Sugarland and doing other advance promo gigs. He connected so well with Sugarland’s Kristian Bush that they’d cowrite at least a couple songs (including “Hold On” and “You Need Some Texas”). Casey played the Riverfront stage and an acoustic set at LP Field during CMA Fest and debuted more new music at a hometown performance at Billy Bob’s before finally releasing his debut single “Let’s Don’t Call It A Night” to country radio. Casey continued debuting new music for an album that’s now due in Q1 2012 depending on how his lead single does in 2012. LDCIAN is 19 weeks old and has reached #32 Billboard/#33 Mediabase on the slow moving country charts.

Up in 2012: Casey continues to promote lead single “Let’s Don’t Call It A Night,” and his album is expected to finally released. Publishing company Tom Lei’s Music recently tweeted that Casey has cut a song cowritten by Brandon Kinney (who cowrote the Randy Houser hit “Boots On”):

This month, TLM songwriter Brandon Kinney has nailed down two Kix Brooks cuts and one Casey James cut!! More to come! Go Brandon Go!!!!

Meanwhile, a new Casey cowrite popped up that sees him cowriting with Aimee Mayo and Chris Lindsey, with whom he had already teamed for at least 3 other known cowrites (none of which he has debuted live). The title of the track is “Whiskey Voodoo”. Casey has confirmed cutting 14 songs for the new album including 2 songs he did not cowrite. The tracklist is still TBD.

Aaron Kelly spent 2011 writing in Nashville (check out some of the writers he’s collaborated with here, here, and here) and he started rolling out his new tunes live (video here and here).

Up in 2012: Aaron has started working with Forte Music Group on the PR and touring side, and they tease:

Some VERY exiting things coming soon from @aaronkellyai09, but we can’t tell you yet… It’s a secret! ;-) Shhhh….

Meanwhile Aaron continues to showcase his music live, record new tunes, and schedule live dates for 2012.

Scotty McCreery cruised to the American Idol title but didn’t stop there. His coronation single “I Love You This Big” defied all reasonable expectations, setting a record for the highest debut for a debut single on the Billboard/R&R Hot Country Songs chart by a new artist when it arrived at #32, eventually peaking at #15 there, and selling 718k downloads to date. Scotty made his debut at LP Field during CMA Fest by joining Josh Turner there, performed at the Opry twice (including his debut during CMA Fest), released his 2nd single “The Trouble With Girls” in early September, overcame a mic malfunction with his typical poise when he sang the national anthem at the World Series, performed a short version of “Walk In The Country” at the CMA Awards, and proved you don’t win AI by lip-synching when he missed a cue at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Scotty also won the fan-voted American Country Award for Favorite New Artist and performed “The Trouble With Girls” on the show. He also honored his commitment to continue attending high school.

Scotty released his debut album Clear As Day on October 4th, and it debuted at at #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart with 197k in 1st week sales, making Scotty the youngest male to ever debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 and the 1st country act to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 with their debut album. Since debuting Clear As Day has been a mainstay in the top 15 of the Billboard 200, also logging 6 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart and selling 833k copies to date. Platinum album sales are all but assured, it’s just a question of when. Meanwhile “The Trouble With Girls” is up to #24 Billboard/#25 Mediabase country and has sold 308k copies to date.

Up in 2012: Scotty hits the road with Brad Paisley and The Band Perry on the soon to be renamed Camobunga tour (dates here).

Kellie Pickler eloped with her now-husband Kyle Jacobs, got a surprise visit from her favorite actor Clint Eastwood thanks to Ellen Degeneres, released “Tough” as the lead single to her 3rd album, saw “Tough” peak at #28, made her acting debut on 90210, covered “Rockin Around The Christmas Tree” as a new Christmas single, dueted with Michael Buble on his Christmas special, and released the title track of her upcoming album 100 Proof to radio. Kellie recently appeared on HGTV’s Celebrity Motor Homes. Check out a short teaser clip here:

Up in 2012: Kellie releases her 3rd album 100 Proof on January 24th with promo appearances including a return to the Ellen Degeneres show at the end of January. She also revealed during a recent Twitter chat that her team is scheduling 2012 tour dates now. We’ve heard 7 out of the 11 tracks on the album! Check out the 100 Proof tracklist here with links to live performances of 4 songs (not including “Tough”), the studio version of “100 Proof” here, and an acoustic version of Unlock That Honky Tonk.

Carrie Underwood began 2011 with a Golden Globe nomination for cowriting “There’s A Place For Us” for The Chronicles Of Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader with Hillary Lindsey and David Hodges. In February her husband Mike Fisher got traded from the Ottawa Senators to the Nashville Predators, and some cray cray sports fans blamed Carrie. In April she went viral with 2 collaborative performances, an “Undo It”/”Walk This Way” medley with Steven Tyler and “How Great Thou Art” with Vince Gill (which now has over 10.8 million views on Youtube and made Billboard’s The 615 blog and Yahoo’s Our Country blog lists for country music’s top moments of 2011). Carrie did the promotional rounds supporting her debut movie role in the faith-based Soul Surfer which exceeded expectations at the box office, embarked on her first promo tour in Australia, wrote and recorded her 4th album, and promoted and cohosted the CMA Awards for the 4th year in a row. Oh yeah, and she recorded & released duets with Brad Paisley (the #1 country hit and 1.278 million download selling “Remind Me”), Randy Travis (a cover of his hit “Is It Still Over”), and Tony Bennett (a cover of the standard “It Had To Be You”).

A bunch of new Carrie Underwood cowrites have surfaced recently (credit @Typ021 for finding all of them). She cowrote “I Am A Memory” and “We All Fall Down” with Hillary Lindsey and Troy Verges and “Gone Too Soon” with Hillary Lindsey and Steve McEwan. There’s also “Alabama Who” which Carrie cowrote with Kelley Lovelace and Bobby Hamrick, “Southern Charm” which Carrie cowrote with Steve McEwan and Hillary Lindsey, “Hear A Heartbreak” which Carrie cowrote with Cary Barlowe and Hillary Lindsey, “Pay The Rent” which Carrie cowrote with frequent collaborators Luke Laird and Hillary Lindsey, and “Good For Me”, “Longer Summer”, “I Need Something Strong”, and “Lucky You” all 4 of which Carrie cowrote with Caitlyn Smith and Troy Verges.

Country songwriter Ashley Gorley’s bio has been updated to reflect that he has:

Recent cuts by Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Lauren Alaina, Jana Kramer

Carrie is listed as a performer for an Ashley Gorley/Mike Elizondo/Luke Laird cowrite called “Party Girl” and he also cowrote “Amazing Faith” and “That Girl” with Carrie and Luke Laird, as well as “Good Girl” which with frequent Idol collaborator Chris DeStefano and Carrie and “Riverbank Song” with Kelley Lovelace and Carrie.

Up in 2012: A new single, new album, and tour, everything TBA but Carrie has confirmed that the lead single choice has been narrowed down to 2 choices and that she’s done recording all lead vocals on her album.

Thanks to everybody who reads and comments on these things. Special thanks to Mike M who made the great suggestion to do a year end round up for this column. Happy New Year to all!

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Cassaday/100000840860401 Chris Cassaday

    The bottom line is Danny wasnt a natural fit for country. If you compare the stuff we hear from Casey J you can tell that country roots are there and this is where he belongs. With danny it just was not his natural fit.

  • Chris

    Whoa, I barely recognized Bo with that hair cut.

  • steph6449

    I’m not sure Danny is a “natural fit” for country, but I think he can fit somewhere in the broad spectrum of more modern-styled country acts, especially in all of the areas of the industry outside radio. (I don’t think Casey J is 100% a natural purebred country guy either, though more so than Danny. )

    Danny’s idea of country influences is more Rascal Flatts, Wynonna, and Tim McGraw which makes sense since he is of that generation and someone who had much more an urban than rural country upbringing. He’s never going to sound like the next George Strait, Waylon Jennings, or whatever, and that’s not his aspiration or claim.

  • Mike M

    Wow. Looks like Windmills had her crack research department working overtime. Seriously, I have no idea how she pulls all this together then manages to present it in an understandable and enjoyable format.

    As a country fan, this season of Idol was one of my favorites for obvious reasons. Not only did it make for fun TV viewing, it actually renewed my love for the music. I have been and continue to be so unhappy with country radio that I had just about lost interest in the genre. I know I am not alone in my disdain for the programming policies of country radio. i think Peter Cooper, the entertainment writer for the Nashville Tennessean, said it best in a year-end roundup last week. Along with the many highlights of the year in music, he had a couple of things he would like to forget. First and foremost was this: “The glut of ‘I’m so country I’m gonna sing you a rock song about it’ songs on radio.”

    Amen brother.

    Lauren and Scotty helped revive my love for country music, and the way they have been embraced and encouraged by major stars reminded me what great people we have in the industry.

    For the first time in a long time, I am excited about what is to come on the music scene. Lauren and Scotty’s first big tours with major country stars, the CMA Festival (which I haven’t attended in more than 10 years) is now once again at the top of my must-do list, Carrie’s new album, Casey James finally coming out with his album, Karen Fairchild’s ascension as lead vocalist of Little Big Town (and a much coveted spot on my official Country Music Goddess list), and the return of Alabama to the studo….these are all things that excite me.

    But, you know what really has my interest? Kellie Pickler. She has always been on the back burner for me, but I have a feeling about this album. The songs I’ve heard, particularly “100 Proof” and “Unlock That Honky Tonk” are, in my opinion the best she has done. Windmills sent me a link to Honky Tonk a couple weeks ago and I bet I’ve listened to it a dozen times since. I’m excited for the album.

    That’s a fairly long and pointless ramble for someone who just came here to tell Windmills what a fantastic job she did on this version of Idols Gone Country. So, I’ll finally get to the point: Great job Windmills. You’re the best.

  • moonz

    Oh my gosh there are so many albums to look forward too in 2012. I’m looking especially to Carrie’s and CaseyJ’s albums.

  • Kylee

    I’m looking forward to seeing how Casey does. I think he will have to kind of start out like any other new artist does since the idol audience tends to be fickle.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Cassaday/100000840860401 Chris Cassaday

    Yeah Caseyj will be more like a new artist. Go look up the only video of the goodlife with the whole band on youtube. It is very kieth urban and is so good and has hit written allover it. Casey has all the goods to be big but you can nver predict these things but I have have really good vibes for the long run for Casey. It mat not happen short term but most country artists arent overnight success.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the great roundup Windmills I have been an idol fan and country music fan fro many years so as one might expect I loved last season.  Things I look forward to  following are can Lauren and Scotty have continued succuss and truly become stares can Kellie P. break through to that next level with her promising new album, Carries new album and Casey’s album. Thats a lot of talent to come off of a talent show.  Thanks again Windmills I always look forward to your fair and knowledgeable comments. 

  • Anonymous

    I don’t see my earlier reply, so here goes again: Phil Stacey, in my opinion, can sing anything; but I feel that Christian music fits him like a glove. He has been continually busy since leaving the show, whether in country or contemporary Christian. While I would love to see Danny do some Christian music, I am not sure I can see him do it like Phil, Chris Sligh, or Mandisa. I hope that he can get to do what I have seen him do on Idol, though.

  • Anonymous

    If you compare the stuff we hear from Casey J you can tell that country roots are there and this is where he belongs. With danny it just was not his natural fit.

    And yet compare where he is at this point. I wish Casey all the best but next year we could be having the roundabout conversation about him.

    What is exactly the spark that makes someone last in this business, if I knew I would bottle it and make a billion dollars. I think a good song or popular song if you prefer will catapult an artist to the top but that perch is so small that falling off is extremely easy. One needs only to look back at the #1 new artist in 2010 Easton Corbin who had back to back #1 songs and one that peaked at # 15. He is set to release his new single in January will radio embrace hom again or will he be stuck mid pack with all of the others.

    I think Danny willl land on his feet hopefully in the Country music genre becuse that is where he wants to be and he is the one that has to live with his decision. Plus the fact that I believe Danny haas not even begun to tap his abilities.  

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Cassaday/100000840860401 Chris Cassaday

    I mostly agree with this. And like I said above there are no guarantees. But there is something about Caseyj that gives me good vibes. He has that it factor. And no it isnt the same thing all idol fans say about their favorites. He has the whole thing. Great musician, good looks. When you combine good music with those two things good things will come. He has guitar skills that are out of this world. He also has top notch management. LDCIAN has done really well for a first single from a new artist. There are lots of new artists on major labels that cant crack the top 60. LDCIAN isnt even close to being his best single.If this single has done this well his second single if it is a great upbeat choice like drive or the good life should do even better.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Cassaday/100000840860401 Chris Cassaday

    One other thing about Caseyj is we know for a fact because it has come out of peeps at the label that they are estatic with Caseys sound and are really wanting to get his cd out. They have said they are so happy with how he is with fans, his work ethic and the sound. So when the label is that excited you know they will get promotion.

  • Anonymous

    well, Casey J has gotten some nice promo so far and should continue to get decent promotion when the album first drops, but if it doesn’t sell, that could dry up quickly — as many other Idols (both country and non-country) can attest. So fingers crossed that he will do well enough to get label support for a long while

  • Anonymous

    Really? I only get a measly 12? Darn it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Cassaday/100000840860401 Chris Cassaday

    Not every artist who struggles with their first album gets dropped. Sometimes the label believes in that artist so much they look to future possibilities. Jake owen is just starting to hit it with his new music and I believe this is his third album. They dont just drop an artist if they believe in that artist. Chris young was given a lot of time and almost did get dropped until gettin you home became a hit.

    The reason danny got dropped is the new people at sony werent the ones who brought him in so they had no invested interest in him and when SSH tanked they really had no choice with the reorganization that was going on. Casey J is very lucky he was given this opportunity when the new peeps came on board and all the turmoil going on so they defintly believed in him.

  • Anonymous

    “But there is something about Caseyj that gives me good vibes. He has that it factor. And no it isnt the same thing all idol fans say about their favorites. He has the whole thing. Great musician, good looks. When you combine good music with those two things good things will come. He has guitar skills that are out of this world. He also has top notch management.”

    I so agree with this. I’d also add that over the last couple of years he’s really developed a personality on stage. On AI he always looked a bit like a deer in the headlights. But to watch some of the recent vids of his performances – he’s got tons of charisma and is really honest-to-God funny. He definitely connects with the audience.

    There is something about CaseyJ. I have been a faithful watcher of AI for its entire existence. Never have I really followed any other singer. And honestly, I thought this odd obsession with the special snowflake would fade. It hasn’t. The more I listen to his music, see his skills, watch him grow as an artist… sigh. I’m afraid I’m hooked for life. 

  • Anonymous

    It is good to be happy for you favorite and I have yet to see an artist label come out and say this music really sucks, lol. In the end with todays market it will be about how much money you can make for the label. Right now Casey has not proven he can sell anything nor has he rocketed up the charts. Btw both of the artist you mention Chris and Jake were signed by Joe Gallante the same man who signed Danny, so I guess Gary has no loyalty to them either.

    Since this was a year end review of the idols gone country for 2011 we can revisit this issue in next years edition.

  • steph6449

    It’s not very clear how things unfolded with SHH. The Sony consolidation and contention for resources, etc., may have been among the factors if the label didn’t keep up promotion for it.  And Danny had to wait quite a long time to even get the song out so it could be heard.

    From what I recall, around that time there were songs (and/or new albums, in some cases) about to come out or already out for Jake, Chris Young, Miranda, Pistol Annies, etc. etc., all in need of label TLC & promotional suppport. Plus Love & Theft was signed, and various other things going on. Complicated picture, to say the least.  The expensive S8 AI contract probably didn’t help, nor the change of leadership at Sony Nashville.

    Hope whatever arrangement Danny moves to next will be better adapted to the business picture today, and also more in synch about musical direction.

  • sagi

    Casey James may not have been “rocketing” up the charts, but he has been holding on to a top 40 spot for some time. I think Casey is doing fine and when his new album drops, and maybe a new single, I feel confident he is going to pick up a lot of new fans with a real desire to pick up the album to hear what else he has to offer. And I believe they will like what they hear! :)

  • PerfectStorm

    Both Josh Gracin and Bucky Covington are certainly good fits for Country music.  And both had very strong starts.  But that didn’t prevent Josh from eventually being dropped and Bucky without a label for quite a while when his old one folded.  And Bucky has yet to release Album #2.

    As noted, we could be having a similar discussion regarding Casey James a year from now.  I don’t think anyone doubts his work ethic, etc. but the right now, he has not proven he can sell anything.  And ultimately, it will be his earning power that will determine what kind of future he will have with his label.

  • Kylee

    Bucky was kind of screwed over by the closing of the record label.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Cassaday/100000840860401 Chris Cassaday

    Casey is not Buccky or Josh. So much more talented. Plus those to both got screwed with lyric street.

  • happyhexer

    Has it ever occurred to anyone that when people start talking about how “my Idol is so much better than yours” that it just ends up alienating fans who might become fans of the “better” Idol?  I liked CaseyJ on AI9.  I like his single DLCIAN.  Sounds very James Otto-ish to me.  (Who, by the way, is currently without a label.)  I was looking forward to CaseyJ’s CD.  But you all have me rethinking my support of CaseyJ.

    Personally, I would like to see all the country Idols succeed.  (I don’t know too much about Bo Bice or Kristy Lee Cook, but I’m willing to throw them a bone, too.)  And I’d like to see the bulk of the non-country Idols succeed as well.  Most of the Idols can actually sing, and most are decent performers as well.  And successful Idols further the brand and make it easier for future Idols to be successful.  (Thank you, Scotty, for doing your part!)

    Well, at least I’m still looking forward to Haley’s CD. 

  • LVD

    Casey has done well enough for a new artist. Compared to other new artists his first single is going relativity well. Here is a good article about 2011′s new country artist for comparison: 

    http://www.roughstock.com/blog/2011-in-review-the-best-new-talent-of-the-year 

    Obviously Casey hasn’t shot up on the charts like Brantley Gilbert, but very few new artist ever do. Casey’s second single will be much more important in establishing himself then his first single. 

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