Niagara Gazette - BACKSTAGE PASS: Daughtry at 'Home' with new sound

Tue, Dec 02 2008

Art | Music | Theater |

Published: November 01, 2007 03:46 pm

BACKSTAGE PASS: Daughtry at 'Home' with new sound

Greater Niagara Newspapers

If you go

• WHAT: Daughtry

• WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesdaynov6

• WHERE: Seneca Events Center, located inside the Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel, 310 Fourth St., Niagara Falls

• COST: $40, $50 or $60

• MORE INFORMATION: Call 299-1100 or visit www.senecaniagaracasino.com.

Chris Daughtry says he never really worried that he had just seen his big shot at a music career slip out of his grasp when he was voted off of “American Idol” by the show’s audience last season — despite initially being considered a frontrunner for the title.

“I didn’t feel like that,” Daughtry said in a recent phone interview. “It was definitely a shock to me at that moment in time. You’re in a contest, and you get to a point where you want to win it. That’s why you got in it. And then when that didn’t happen it was like ‘Oh,’ so you have to kind of re-think your game plan a little bit.”

Maybe somewhere inside Daughtry immediately knew that all was not lost. But he certainly couldn’t have known how much good losing the way he did on “Idol” was going to do for his rock ’n’ roll career.

The dust — and the outcry over Daughtry losing any chance to win — had not even settled before it became clear just how big an impression he had made on the show.

“It took me about two days to get over it,” Daughtry said in a recent phone interview. “I was like ‘You know what, keep going with it and move on.’ Next thing you know, Clive Davis wanted to meet with me, and the rest is history.”

Davis is, of course, is the head of RCA Records and one of music’s legendary record executives. He’s had huge success in signing other “Idol” winners, including Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken and Fantasia Burrino. He certainly must have recognized that the groundswell of support for Daughtry — and the publicity that surrounded his departure from the “Idol” competition — made the singer a hot commodity.

Just several months after that defining moment on “Idol” in May 2006, both Daughtry and Davis have come out smelling like the proverbial rose. Daughtry’s self-titled first CD debuted at No. 1 on “Billboard” magazine’s album chart after its Nov. 21 debut, and in just five weeks topped 1 million in sales. The CD later recaptured the top spot on the album chart, and has now sold more than 3 million copies, spawning three multi-format hit singles — “Home,” “It’s Not Over” and “What I Want” — in the process

Daughtry, a 27-year-old native of Roanoke Rapids, N.C., certainly offers the kind of rags-to-riches story for which “American Idol” is known.

Living now near Greensboro, N.C., Daughtry had been playing rhythm guitar and singing in bands around the area. But he knew his opportunities to make a name for himself were limited both by where he lived and the fact that he and his wife, Deanna, have a son and daughter of their own, an adopted son and a daughter from Deanna’s previous marriage.

“It was very difficult to get the exposure that I needed to make it where I was from,” Daughtry said. “Having a family and everything, I wasn’t exactly financially able to just get in a van and see what happens.”

Deanna for years had suggested that her husband audition for “American Idol.” Daughtry, whose own bands had a mainstream hard rock sound, wasn’t that fired up over the idea.

“I always thought it was a little corny for what I was trying to do. I didn’t think it would cater to the rock community,” he said.

A couple of years ago, though, word went out about a new television series, “Rock Star: INXS,” a contest to choose a new lead singer for the veteran Australian band. This show made sense for Daughtry and his music. But he didn’t make the cut. So he decided to audition for “American Idol,” and the rest, as the cliché goes, is history.

The dozen songs on the “Daughtry” CD — all but two of which were written or co-written by Daughtry — find him staking out a melodic mainstream rock sound similar to that of 3 Doors Down, Nickelback and Creed.

Like the albums by those bands, the “Daughtry” CD is made up mainly of sturdy rockers with big choruses, along with an occasional ballad like “All These Lives” and one especially heavy track (“What I Want”) that features a guest guitar solo from Slash of Velvet Revolver and Guns N’ Roses fame.

The CD was recorded with session musicians, but Daughtry has now formed a band called Daughtry.

The fact that the CD was recorded by different musicians means the music is taking on a bit different feel in the band’s live shows.

“I think the band captures the integrity of the album, but I wanted to make sure that they didn’t feel confined to it and that they were able to kind of do their own thing with it,” Daughtry said. “We kind of just change it up because we don’t want the audience or the fans to see exactly and hear exactly what they heard on the album. I want them to feel like they walked away with something different or even better than the album.”

Alan Sculley is a St. Louis-based freelance writer.

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