Kris Allen, coming for Bremen concert, still grateful to ‘Idol’

Kris Allen won “American Idol” in 2009, a time when the show still provided a real boost for anybody who took the crown.

And the unassuming Arkansas native remains grateful.

“Really, all I wanted was an opportunity to make this my career,” Allen said. “I was ignorant about becoming a musician until ‘Idol’ came along. I’m 100 times thankful for ‘Idol’ for giving me the opportunity to have people listen to my music on a pretty wide scale.”

While he is no Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson in the fame department, he is making a living as a touring artist. Allen will be at Mill Town Music Hall in Bremen on Jan. 30, which is about an hour west of downtown Atlanta. We spoke with him last week about recovering from a nasty car accident that messed up his right arm two years ago, his move to Nashville, Tenn., and his ties to actress Mary Steenburgen.

His arm will never be 100 percent: "I'm doing as good as I can. I'm doing great. I can play. But I deal with stuff every day. It's pretty gnarly what happened. It will never be the same. The thing is you learn and grow from the stuff that happens to you. I'm just trying to do that. And I feel because of the limitations, I've become a better guitar player. There's this motivation to get back what you have and you put in even more time."

Why he left his home state to tackle Nashville five months ago: "There are three things I primarily do: tour, write music and spend time with family. Living in Arkansas, my job took me away from family. By moving to Nashville, I can record and play music and still come home at night. I want to see my kids grow up and be a part of their lives."

Not a TV watcher: He said he's blessed he had his song "Lost" inserted into two CW shows, "Arrow" and "The Vampire Diaries." But he admits that he watches none of those shows — or TV in general. "I come from TV," he mused, "but I am not a TV guy."

The Mary Steenburgen connection: Academy Award-winning actress Steenburgen, a fellow Arkansas native, contacted him in 2009 while he was on "Idol." She wanted to write music with him, which they have over the past five years. "She's an amazing songwriter," he said. "She's great with lyrics, really creative. We don't write in person very often. We usually Skype because we're always in different places. She's the sweetest, nicest person. It's fun to work with her."

The Oscar for best actor does not go to … Despite his ties to Steenburgen, his desire to act is not exactly high. He did try out for the lead, Drew Boley, in the film version of "Rock of Ages." "My audition was horrendous. I don't have the acting chops for that. The guy who got the role (Diego Boneta) came in right after me. My thought was I was so bad, I made him look even better!"