Originally posted Tuesday, September 25, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Chris Daughtry and his band are back with their first new studio album in five years called "Cage the Rattle" and Daughtry admits it wasn't easy.
“I was in a terrible head space during this record,” he said in a recent interview. “It was very frustrating to make. It had been five years since we had a song on the radio. I was in this ‘Am I doing this right?’ phase. ‘Is this even relevant?’ There was a lot of self doubt.”
Plus, he moved three times over the past four years, from Charlotte to Los Angeles to Nashville, which he said, "added to the chaos."
But he felt like all the pain and agony was worth it. Reviews have been largely positive with fans averaging four out of five stars on Amazon.
The band will be at the Tabernacle Friday, September 28. Tickets are available here.
And now that the album is out and he’s on tour, he said life has been far better. He has already done dates in Asia and after the domestic dates are done, Daughtry will hit the U.K. and South Africa.
“It’s been amazing,” he said. “It’s been a lot of fun, especially getting to play these new songs and spice up the set list a little bit. The reception to the record has been great.”
He also feels he’s become a better performer over the past decade plus in the limelight. “We’ve become better at our jobs and are more comfortable as performers. Looking back, I feel like I didn’t know what I was doing or I was trying to do what I thought was expected of me... The interaction with the audience is a lot more personal.”
He noted that radio isn’t as receptive to his pop-rock sound as it was a decade ago. Yet he is heartened to see so many teenagers show up at his concerts, a sign that their parents are turning them on to them. “It’s almost like we’ve become a nostalgia thing,” he said, with a chuckle.
The band has had more than a dozen hits, including its current song "Deep End." This means Daughtry now has the luxury to skip songs that were radio staples. At a concert September 14, for instance, Daughtry didn't play top 10 hits such as "Crawling Back To You," "What About Now" and "No Surprise."
“Ironically, there are songs that did really well on the radio and nobody is asking for them,” he mused. “That’s a great problem to have. Whatever we’re playing is hopefully keeping them mesmerized so they forget we didn’t play a particular song.”
He said he recently saw Billy Joel for the first time. "He has an endless catalog," Daughtry said. "I forgot about this song or that song. When we left, we said, wow, he didn't play that. He didn't play 'Just the Way You Are!' " (Note: Billy Joel rarely plays that song because of the schmaltz factor and the fact it became elevator music.)
Daughtry admits he has some big songs (he won’t name) that fall into the “elevator music” category that he says “we don’t feel go over well live. They served their purpose on grocery store playlists!”
And all these years later, he now can joke about coming in fourth on “Idol.” He even replicated the scene not too long ago with Ryan Seacrest on Seacrest’s show. He also has no qualms going back to perform on “Idol” if they asked. “I’d be a judge if they wanted me to,” he added. “But I think coaching is more my speed. That would be a little more comfortable for me.”
Another added benefit of doing what he does is befriending other famous folk. For instance, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays Negan on "The Walking Dead," a show Daughtry enjoyed even before Negan showed up season seven.
“We were mutual fans of each other,” said Daughtry. “When he got on, it was like ‘Oh snap! It was cool to see someone you knew personally embody the most sadistic character ever on TV.”
And he recently hung out back stage with Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters for two hours before the show. Daughtry was amazing how relaxed they were.
“I’m like, ‘Dude! Don’t you have a show?’ He says, ‘What better way to go on stage then after you’ve been shooting the s*** and laughing and having a good time with your friends.’I’m like, “Hey, good point. Duly noted!’”
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Credit: Sam Wasson
Credit: Sam Wasson
Kelly Clarkson's daytime talk show for 2019-20 is a go on NBC.
Several NBC-owned affiliates have already picked it up. John Deushane, who runs the local NBC affiliate in Atlanta, said he expects they will pitch the show to them for possible inclusion next year.
"We are very excited to have Kelly Clarkson on our air next fall," said Valari Staab, president, NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations, in a statement last week. "She's genuine, warm, fun and interacts with her fans in a meaningful way. Throughout her career people of all ages and backgrounds have related to her openness, honesty and curiosity. She will be the perfect companion to 'Ellen,' providing an afternoon of great television."
She also began her second stint Monday night on "The Voice," this time with Jennifer Hudson next to her. And since she won season 14, she has a bit more swagger.
She also called out IHeartMedia’s radio stations for not being terribly supportive of her new music of late:
She later told Extra: “I’ve known them for years, they know I have no filter. That’s the cool thing, though, because it sparked a conversation of, ‘Oh, my God, we thought we were doing this,’ and, ‘I thought we were doing this.’ You have to have a conversation if you are a partnership.” She added, “We worked it out.”
Here she is covering “Respect” during the IHeartMedia festival, singing it for the first time since “American Idol.”
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Credit: Kevin Winter
Credit: Kevin Winter
Carrie Underwood is the first female solo artist to have four country albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. Her current release is "Cry Pretty" following "Blown Away" (2012), "Play On" (2009) and "Carnival Ride" (2007). (Taylor Swift's last five albums debuted at No. 1 but her last two releases are considered pop, not country.)
Kelly, by the way, said to Entertainment Tonight that she emailed Carrie to tell her she was proud of her for her willingness to open up about her miscarriages.
'It's so important that you talk about it. I know you don't have to because it's a hard thing to do, but it makes women that feel inferior, or feel like something's wrong with them, it makes them feel comfortable, and [know] that [other] people go through it.'"
She also received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star and Simon Cowell and her CMT Awards co-host Brad Paisley showed up:
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Taylor Hicks' "State Plate" is back in INSP for a third season:
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And with “Africa” suddenly hot thanks to Weezer, Postmodern Jukebox and Casey Abrams did a 1950s version:
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Clay Aiken Tweet of the Week. He’s been focused on the flood damage in his home state from Hurricane Florence:
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