Phil Stacey Fans

I just added a scan of Phil from the latest issue of Country Weekly. Check it out in the Gallery! — Vicki

Country Weekly March 2008 Scan

Phil’s Pages: Chapter 4

As you might have heard, my album has been delayed a couple weeks. It’ll now come out April 29. We only had a few studio days to get the album done in time for the original release date. I ended up being sick on a couple of those days, and then my grandmother passed away. Because of all the other things we had planned, we ended up having to schedule a couple more recording days. That forced us to move back the release date two weeks.

We’ve got about five songs left to record – and we haven’t even picked all of them yet. I’ll be in the studio Tuesday and Wednesday. I’m planning to get two vocal tracks done those days, and we’ll also make the selection on the album’s final three songs. Then Wayne Kirkpatrick, my producer, will cut the rhythm tracks over the next week. I’ll probably go in the week after that and cut the vocals for those songs.

We’re still up in the air about those last three songs. We’ve got so many great ones to choose from. We just need to sit down and figure out which three will fit the record best, which ones say stuff we haven’t said on the record yet.

Because I was traveling between radio stations last week – we went from Memphis to Little Rock to Tulsa to Houston to Baton Rouge, La. – I didn’t get to see Hollywood Week on American Idol. But I have heard so many comments about the talent this year. I’m really hoping for a killer season, and I think everybody should be watching. I think it’s the first season where we’ve gone through the entire audition process and Hollywood Week and nobody knows who the front-runners are. It’s going to be one of those seasons where there’ll be shock eliminations all over the place. Some people’s favorites probably will be eliminated even before the Top 12. It’s all very exciting.

I’m planning to go back and watch Hollywood Week, because I was thrilled with the addition of the instruments. We complained last year that we didn’t get to play our instruments. Most of us – at least, most of us guys – felt more comfortable with a guitar or a keyboard in front of us. As a church performer, I usually performed with a keyboard or a guitar. Brandon Rogers is a monster on keyboards. Blake Lewis has this thing where he plays his guitar and sends it through a loop pedal, then does his beatboxing over it. The people who caught the American Idol tour last year saw it. Chris Richardson did the same sort of thing, and Chris Sligh is certainly a proficient guitar player. If people had heard that, they would know more about what to expect from Chris’ album, which is coming out in May. He plays almost all the guitars on the album.

This weekend, I played another gig with Sawyer Brown. On Saturday, I went up to Grand Rapids, Mich., to sing at a hockey game and sign some autographs. I came back to Nashville yesterday and got to see a cut of the music video for If You Didn’t Love Me, which we shot the previous weekend. Today, I’ll head down to Cleveland, Tenn., for my grandmother’s funeral.

My band and I will be going back to Cleveland on Wednesday. We play at my college, Lee University, that day, and we’re playing a big music ministers’ conference there that night.

So, remember – new date. April 29. Thanks for being patient. I’ll talk to you again next week!

Idol Chatter

Phil’s Pages: Chapter 3
Start the week off with a look at Phil’s past week …

This has been an amazing week for me. It started down in Florida where I was able to continue my radio promotion tour for my first single, If You Didn’t Love Me, and came to a close last evening on the set of my first music video (not counting the Ford videos that we participated in as American Idol contestants.)

The video shoot was a great experience. It was directed by Roman White, whom Idol fans may recognize from all of Carrie Underwood’s videos, including Before He Cheats and So Small, and the video of Kelly Clarkson’s duet with Reba on Because of You. Needless to say, I feel I’m in good company. If the video can help propel me to a seven-times platinum record, you won’t hear me complaining about it.

The video is set in an old motel, where you will see several different storylines of people who depend on the love of others. I found the storyline very touching, since the reason I chose the song to begin with was my dependence on the love of my wife. By the way, my wife got to be in the video, too, which was very cool for both of us.

The whole experience made me even more excited about this season of Idol. I thought about how much my life has changed. I’ve signed a major record deal, I’ve been touring around the country gearing up for a major record release on April 15, and I’ve gotten to shoot a music video that will show up on television.

I’m watching this season with anticipation of who will be in my shoes next year. Will it be Kristy Lee Cook, the country girl from Oregon; Alaina Whitaker, the 16-year-old could-be-Carrie-Underwood’s-little-sister; Amanda Overmeyer, the rocker-nurse who nailed her audition in Atlanta; or could it be Chikezie Eze or Danny Noriega, who I was fortunate to meet both last year in Hollywood and have come back for a second chance? Maybe it will be Carly Hennessy, the Irish girl with a big voice and that tattooed boyfriend who has already shown America her big voice and her sweet personality.

Whoever it is, they are all about to take the ride of a lifetime. People will ask for pictures with them everywhere they go. They will receive random e-mails in their MySpace accounts to sing at someone’s 12-year-old daughter’s birthday party. Fan clubs will be built and loyalty will be established. They’ll be touching peoples’ lives with their music. I will be watching!!!

On a sadder note, I found out Saturday evening that my grandmother on my dad’s side passed away. She was a wonderful woman, and we’ll all miss her. Call your grandmas and grandpas and tell them you love them. Hug your parents. Have a wonderful week, and I’ll see ya next time!

Phil

Idol Chatter: American Idol News, Rumors & Information USATODAY.com

Thanks for all your great feedback and encouragement last week on my first blog. I saw that several of you wanted to hear more about the new record and being in the studio, so here goes…

After a week of visiting country radio stations in Chicago, Minneapolis, Madison, Green Bay and Milwaukee, I went back into the studio this past weekend.

Wayne Kirkpatrick is producing the album -– he’s produced the last two Little Big Town albums -– and we’re recording out at his studio. It’s probably not what you would imagine if you were thinking of a Nashville recording studio. It’s in a wooded neighborhood outside of town -– you wouldn’t even notice it was there if you didn’t know to look for it. We’ve already recorded three songs, including my single, If You Didn’t Love Me. This week, we put down vocal tracks for three more. We have to have everything recorded and delivered in March and the CD will be in stores on April 15.

I think a lot of people are expecting me to go towards a pop-country sound with my album. My goal, though, is to make it as roots-driven as I possibly can. Wayne’s a master at that elemental, organic sound. Everywhere else in Nashville, they’re using ProTools and all this digital stuff, but Wayne still does his records on a two-inch tape machine. He’s recording to a 24-track analog recorder. He said he built the studio with all the equipment that he learned to record on, so he doesn’t see any reason to change as long as he still likes the way it sounds. There are no synthesizers on the album, at least not at this point. He just brings in great musicians to lay down great tracks.

Chris McHugh is on the drums. He travels with Keith Urban and plays on his records. Jimmie Lee Sloas is on bass guitar. Phil Madeira plays organ on the album. My favorite artist of all time is Rich Mullins, and he played on all of his records back in the ’80s.

Gordon Kennedy plays electric guitars, which is cool because I’m a big Garth Brooks fan. When I was watching one of Garth’s Kansas City concerts recently, Gordon was up there rocking the lead guitar and I’m thinking, “That’s the same guy who’s playing on my record!” I felt really cool. I’m not really cool, but I felt that way.

Dan Dugmore is playing steel guitar, which is a huge thrill because he’s played on pretty much everything James Taylor has released since ’71 or ’72. He definitely adds a Southern spark every time he comes in. We listen to his steel-guitar track solos and they just make you feel like you’re floating.

A relative newcomer to Nashville, Randy Kohrs, is playing dobro. He sounds like a seasoned veteran. He plays a dobro solo in the middle of one of the tracks that we have down. I was lying on the studio couch, almost drifting off, when he started playing his solo. Hearing it was like having a shot of caffeine bolt through my body.

Wayne’s pretty much playing everything else on the album.

I got to watch the Miami auditions last week and saw two Jacksonville girls — Corliss Smith and Brittany Wescott -– so I’ll be rooting for them as long as they’re on the show. Got to show a little hometown love.

This week I’ll be in Florida visiting radio stations all throughout the state. My last stop will be Jacksonville, so I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of familiar faces this week.

Also, I’m going to shoot the music video for If You Didn’t Love Me in a few days. Roman White, who directed Carrie Underwood’s Before He Cheats and All-American Girl, is directing. We’ve also got more recording to do, so I should have a lot to cover for the next couple of weeks. Thanks for all your support! Talk to you then.

Phil’s Pages: 2nd installment – Idol Chatter – USATODAY.com

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