The De-Idolizing of Phil Stacey

This is a great article found at blog.cmt.com

By: Alison Bonaguro

Country stars always talk about paying their dues, playing for tip jars night after night in Nashville’s honkytonks. But to go country after you’ve done American Idol, you have to work that much harder to break on through to the other side.

That’s what former AI contestant Phil Stacey’s up to now: courting county radio, one conference room at a time. If you thought it was hard to shine when you sang for 18,000 fans in an arena, try doing it in a 20’ x 20’ meeting room at 10 a.m. He has the vocal chops and the easy charm to pull it off, but it ain’t easy singing to an industry crowd. Actually, "crowd" is the wrong word. More like 20 employees sitting around a conference table with bagels and coffee. It couldn’t possibly be as nerve-wracking as auditioning for Simon, Paula and Randy. Still, it is an audition of sorts. Just more like a try-out for country radio success.

Yesterday at Chicago’s US99, Stacey sang without a mic, with just two guys on acoustic guitar backing him. First came his debut single, "If You Didn’t Love Me," which was co-written by Rascal Flatts’ Gary LeVox, so it’s sure to be a hit. "No Way Around a River" showed off the gritty voice we came to love during last season’s AI. And the last song of his mini-set was Keith Urban’s "Where the Blacktop Ends." While Stacey spent his Idol days singing more old school R&B, he says, "country is part of who I am," because of the Deep South bluegrass he loved as a kid. "I had to do country," he said. "I’d have been a poseur if I’d done rock."

It’s hard to imagine a tougher audience that Simon Cowell. But now that Stacey’s made it past Cowell and a few country radio conference rooms, I’m guessing he can make it anywhere.