Copious Notes

When Phil Stacey was a ­contestant on American Idol, he was pegged as a little bit country.

So that’s where the Harlan County native ended up after the show, on the country label Lyric Street Records. In 2008, he released a self-titled debut.

But anyone who was paying attention and knew a little bit about Stacey could hear something in the twang: a message.

Phil Stacey. Photo courtesy of Reunion Records.

“Even on my country record, every song was based on a Bible verse, to me,” Stacey says. “People who knew Christian music would say, ‘How could you put a John Waller song on a country CD?’” Stacey adds, referring to a modern rock worship leader and songwriter, “but we managed to pull it off.”

Since then, Stacey has made what he calls “a lateral move from Disney’s country label to Sony’s Christian label.”

And what a Christian label.

On Aug. 25, Stacey’s Into the Light will be released on Reunion Records. That would be the same label as Michael W. Smith, with whom Stacey also shares a manager. And he recorded the album with legendary Christian music maestro Brown Bannister, who was behind many of Smith’s and Amy Grant’s big successes.

“It was intimidating going into the studio with someone who’s worked with such gifted people,” Stacey says, noting other Bannister collaborators such as Russ Taff and Michael English. “But at the end of the day, he started out as a youth pastor, and he has a minister’s heart, which set my nerves at ease.

“We talked about the Bible and verses behind songs, and prayed before tracking. I admire Brown more as a person than for his musical background.”

This fall, Stacey hits the road with Smith.

“He’s been so encouraging,” Stacey says. “He’d send me texts like, ‘Phil, I really like this record,’ which meant the world to me.”

So far, the Smith/Stacey tour itinerary does not include Kentucky, though Stacey says he does get back home frequently.

Read the rest of this entry »

Danny Gokey visited Faith Builders International in Milwaukee May 8. Photo by Carrie Antlfinger | AP.

This year’s American Idol finals ­offered the nation 13 singers from across the country with ­different strengths, looks, backgrounds and styles. But six of them had ­something in common, aside from wanting to be the next American Idol: They all had experience as church worship leaders.

That included two of the final three competitors in the eighth season of Idol, which wraps up Wednesday with a two-hour season finale.

Danny Gokey, 28, was praise and worship leader at two Faith Builders International locations in Wisconsin.

Kris Allen performs Kanye West's "Heartless" on "American Idol" May 12. Photo by Frank Micelotta | PictureGroup for FOX.

And Kris Allen, 23, has worked with praise and worship teams at two New Life churches in Arkansas.

Gokey was booted Wednesday night, so Allen is the one who is going on to compete in next week’s final against Adam Lambert, long considered the front runner in this year’s race. And that was fine by several Christian music observers.

“I see the worship leader in Danny, but Kris has more of the ability to be artistic,” said Joanne Brokaw, a Christian music writer who brought the preponderance of worship ­leaders in this year’s Idol field to light with a Feb. 27 post on her Beliefnet.com blog that asked, “Is this the season of the worship leader?”

Other artists in this year’s final group who have Christian music backgrounds were dueling pianist Matt Giraud, blind musician Scott MacIntyre, oil rigger Michael Sarver and Memphis mother Lil Rounds.

“The thing that really struck me was not just that they were Christians, but they were church worship leaders,” said Brokaw, who has since ­predicted Allen will win the finale, already ­being ­characterized by some as David vs. Goliath. “These are people who have actively been ­working within their churches as musicians.”

And that work can give a singer a leg up on the ­competition. Read the rest of this entry »

Danny Gokey at a parade in his honor last week in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wis. Photo by Craig Blankenhorn | FOX.

So there it is: Kris Allen and Adam Lambert are the last ones standing in the American Idol competition.

At this stage, it’s tough to see anyone go. And in the Copley household, we are very happy with the finale. Adam, the longtime frontrunner, and Kris, the underdog who sang his way through to the finale, all the while maintaining a trademark humility.

Funny thing is, in letting Danny Gokey go now, he got such an appropriate exit.

From the moment we met the Wisconsin man, his story has been the recent loss of his wife, Sophia, and Danny going on to compete in the contest she wanted him to try out for. Some complained the story got overplayed. I think that’s easy to say if you’ve never had the experience of losing a spouse.

That backstory also gave him the most fitting swan song, a not-a-dry-eye-in-America rendition of You Are So Beautiful. Freed from the competition, he seized the classic and made it his . . . and Sophia’s. To AI’s credit, they did not cheese it up, flashing pictures of Gokey’s late bride on the screen or anything like that. They let the moment be, and it was beautiful.

We all knew what it was about.

And do not worry about Danny. He will be fine. His phone is probably already ringing with serious offers, and he will be able to call his own tune. We will hear from him again. What a way to finish third.

With two weeks left in the American Idol competition, Entertainment Weekly came out with a bit of a bold cover story for its current issue: “Loving Adam Lambert: The Most Exciting American Idol Contestant in Years.”

Sorry Danny Gokey and Kris Allen, but one of the leading entertainment magazines in America is brushing right past you and presuming the man with the sky-scraping vocals should be anointed the newest American Idol. Bold, but OK, EW does pride itself on being a taste-making magazine — and this blog is on record as supporting the astonishingly-talented Lambert.

Here’s what was funny in EW’s headline and story. There was an asterisk on the  headline, “*And Not Just Because He Might Be Gay.”

Initial thought: Being gay, alone, would make someone exciting? The bigger issue is that when you get to the story, the sexuality question is hardly an asterisk. After an opening that talks about how Lambert has defied an Idol history of humility and blandness with a bold, individual approach, writer Mark Harris zeroes in on the sexuality question and stays there.

The presumption seems to be that it would be groundbreaking for Idol to annoint an openly gay winner. For the record, Lambert has not directly addressed his sexuality in interviews with the craftiness of a politician not wanting to tick anyone off as the election draws near.

OK, Idol has not crowned an openly gay winner, yet. But in the world of pop music and pop culture in general, this ship sailed a long, long time ago. Regardless of what opinion polls have said, music fans have turned many artists who are openly gay or have ambiguous sexual preferences into big stars: Elton John, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, Queen’s Freddie Mercury, and Melissa Etheridge, just to name a few. Ellen DeGeneres has become an afternoon television star, and got a standing O from her audience when she returned from a summer break and talked about her wedding, in which she married Portia di Rossi.

We may have expected EW to spend a paragraph or two on the  gay buzz about Lambert. But what makes EW such a strong magazine is that it usually concentrates on the art, the product, and leaves the gossip rag stuff to magazines like In Touch Weekly and People. And there are interesting questions about Adam Lambert the artist I was frankly looking for EW to explore:

• Did his bottom three finish two weeks ago indicate he’s more of a critics/judges’ darling than fan favorite?
• He’s been in L.A. trying to break through for a while. Is Idol just the break he needs, or is his past an indication he’d be more of a Taylor Hicks than Kelly Clarkson if he won?
• Lambert is bringing a style — glam — to the Idol stage we have not seen in years, well over a decade. Could one American Idol winner bring a genre back?

After all, one of the reasons people started picking up on a gay vibe was Lambert’s penchant for theatrics and makeup. But back in the ’70s and ’80s, those things were de rigeur for many male pop stars, gay and straight. I remember jokes about whether Duran Duran bassist John Taylor and his supermodel girlfriend got their makeup mixed up. Lambert would have looked like a Marlboro Man on the L.A. hair metal scene.

So, Lambert’s run is fascinating, and Entertainment Weekly had a chance to make a bold statement with its cover story. Instead, they asked a pretty weak question and failed to talk about what makes him exciting.

Slash (center) mentored the Final 4 -- Kris Allen, Danny Gokey, Allison Iraheta and Adam Lambert -- on "American Idol's" rock week. Photo by Michael Becker | FOX.

A few weeks ago, I was mowing the lawn and listening to Led Zeppelin on my mp3 player. Listening to Robert Plant’s screaming, soaring, majestic vocals, one name entered my mind: Adam Lambert.

The America Idol standout has been teasing around this for weeks, letting us hear the pipes, and see the swagger. While the man has a musical theater background and has definitely taken on myriad genres since Idol started, it was always that late-’60s, early-70s rock deity that was lurking in him waiting to come out.

And last night, handed one of Zepplin’s migtiest creations, it did.

Lambert’s Whole Lotta Love completely did Plant’s original justice, while the Idol competitor still dabbed it with his own take — a little flourish here and there, a snarl in the wailing finish, which he completely nailed.

Two aspects of the performance place Adam in another league from his competitors:

1. He made me miss the original band. The man’s vocals were as mighty as Plant, but I was missing the trio of Jimmy Page, John Bonham and John Paul Jones churning beneath him. Wherever Lambert goes, he’s going to need to find a band worthy of his talent.

2. The judges spent the rest of the night telling the other competitors they weren’t in their comfort zones, but nice try. Lambert has certainly been out of his comfort zones before, but he’s always made it work. It’s called versatility.

Of course, Lambert hit the bottom three for the first time last week. Maybe he’s more of a critic’s darling than a fan favorite. Or maybe Adam Nation needed a wake-up call.

If he is sent home Wednesday night, he can claim a rock ‘n’ roll axiom: It’s better to burn out than fade away.

Also: Check out former Idol competitor Phil Stacey’s take on tonight’s show.

Third Day are David Carr, Tai Anderson, Mac Powell and Mark Lee.

For its fourth editon, Quest Community Church’s Questapalooza has booked one of the monsters of Christian rock, Third Day.

The Georgia-based band will play the event Sept. 6 on the field adjacent to Quest’s complex behind Meijer on Reynolds Road. Ticket information has not been announced yet.

Third Day’s last major Central Kentucky appearance was at the Ichthus Festival in June 2007. Since then, the band has added another hit album, Revelation, to its catalog and parted ways with guitarist Brad Avery. The group now performs as a quartet: frontman Mac Powell, guitarist Mark Lee, bassist Tai Anderson and drummer David Carr.

Questapalooza has not announced other acts for the event, which has featured lineups of three bands, all playing full sets, as well as games, carnival rides, outdoor baptisms and a message from Pastor Pete Hise.

Paula Stefanovich

In related news: The Ichthus lineup, which we previewed Tuesday, will include Hise the evening of June 13 and Southland Christian Church pastor John Weece that afternoon in a sort of Lexington megachurch doubleheader.

And in a little extra Dove Awards news: Lexington’s own Paula Stefanovich is up for Southern Gospel Recorded song for writing Yaweh, a hit for The Hoppers.

Idol chatter: This is really interesting. Beliefnet’s Joanne Brokaw points out three of the six current American Idol finalists are church worship leaders: Danny Gokey, Michael Sarver and Kris Allen.

As Danny Gokey and Tatiana Del Toro stood together on the American Idol stage tonight, only one able to move on in the competition, I knew the winner was going to be Danny.

Danny Gokey. Photo by Frank Micelotta | Fox.

OK, I wouldn’t have written that if I had been wrong and Tatiana had been reduced to tears of joy — you knew the waterworks were coming either way.

But here’s why I knew Danny would be moving on: Yes, he has a really good, tres Idol voice, and that is important. But at this stage, as national voting begins, is that enough? Um, no. Danny seared himself into our collective consciousness during the Kansas City auditions when we heard the heartbreaking story of his wife’s death, including those hopeless moments when doctors told him there was nothing they could do for her. As he sang Hero Tuesday night, you couldn’t forget that, and obviously a lot of Americans want to see his story continue.

The thing that made me sure Danny was going to win was the other dude picked by voters in this round: Michael Sarver. His story isn’t as dramatic, and frankly, his performance of Gavin DeGraw’s I Don’t Wanna Be was simply good. But how many working stiffs can relate to his story of  the dad trying to win one for his wife and two kids? Plus, he has been the consummate nice guy. Good will is a good thing to generate at this point in the contest, and it put him in the final 12.

Alexis Grace. Photo by Chris Cuffaro | Fox.

The Louisville auditions put the first contestant in the final dozen with Alexis Grace, whose performance of Aretha’s Never Loved a Man made you momentarily forget she’s the young mom who’s been raising her little girl alone while her husband’s been in military school. It was a somewhat humble reminder that while stories are good, to still be in competition in May, you’ll have to bring a voice, which Alexis surely has. (We humbly remind you your first chance to see Alexis was in our Louisville audition video.) Now I’m off to my guitar, because that Memphis singer made me want to play some blues.

Make sure to read Phil Stacy’s Idol blog.