DAUGHTRY set to be Released this Tuesday
Shocked, shocked was the vast Idol viewing audience last season when Chris Daughtry, who was expected to win it all, was eliminated in 4th place. The look on Chris’s face that night was hard to forget. When Ryan Seacrest bluntly delivered the news that Chris was going home, his expression went from a smile to looking like someone had punched him in the gut. In post elimination interviews he had no filter–Chris came off angry and confused–like someone who had bought into his own hype only to be brought rather rudely back to reality.
Happily, there was a silver lining for Chris. Like first season’s Tamyra Gray, also a perceived front-runner shockingly eliminated in fourth place, The Powers That Be would decide to sign him anyway. But, unlike Tamyra, they wouldn’t wait two years to release his album.
In fact, immediately after being signed, Chris got to work on his album. During the summer tour, Chris spent every spare minute working with an all-star team that included producer Howard Benson (All American Rejects, My Chemical Romance, Papa Roach), songwriters Ben Moody (Evanescence), Mitch Allen (SR-71), Brent Smith (Shinedown) and Brian Howes (Hinder).
These days, Chris is at peace with his elimination. He admits he was upset when he was suddenly ousted, but has come to believe that things happen for a reason. For one thing, losing made it possible to work with a band, a working scenario Chris favors over going solo. This past fall, he auditioned hundreds of musicians. Four auditioners–Josh Paul (Bass), Jeremy Brady (Guitar), Josh Steely (Guiltar) and Joey Barnes (drummer)–the four J’s ha ha–made the cut. They weren’t assembled in time to record the record, but they’ll be Chris’s band as they promote and tour the album.
The band is called DAUGHTRY–named after the giant tattoo Chris had inked on his back over the summer. Just kidding! Sorry, that ignormous tattoo is just so snarkworthy. Actually, when he got the tattoo, he knew the name of his band. Chris chose DAUGHTRY because of the name recognition–“Kind of like Bon Jovi, “ he says.
Last Thursday night, DAUGHTRY previewed 5 songs at a listening party for executives (including the big guy, Clive Davis) in New York City. Stealth accounts posted at fan boards from people who attended, report that the suits absolutely LOVED the album. Read a review of the show here. The critics will be harder to please. But hey, this is American Idol we’re talking about–ex-contestants from that cheesy show always have to fight for respect.
You can decide for yourself. Listen to the entire album here at VH1. This video from MSN features an excellent acoustic version of “It’s Not Over” woven into clips of Chris talking about making his new album and the challenges of songwriting. In this iTunes podcast Chris performs another acoustic number, “Sorry” and describes how he chose the song (his wife found it). In another interview–Chris reveals that both Lisa Marie Presley and her mom, Priscilla Presley called him right after he was eliminated. And here is another acoustic performance of “It’s Not Over”
I’ll be posting more info when the self-titled album “DAUGHTRY” drops this Tuesday…
thanks smb
