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Phillips steps out of ‘Idol’ spotlight
By John Benson
When Phillip Phillips came through Northeast Ohio earlier this summer opening for O.A.R., the singer-songwriter and former “American Idol” winner took in a memorable Cleveland Indians game.
“The team was losing 3-0, and Nick Swisher was up to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning,” said Phillips, calling from Los Angeles. “I was sitting next to his wife in a box thinking I was terrified. What if something bad happens? I’m going to get out of here. And then he hit a grand slam and wins the game. It was unbelievable.”
So had the situation not turned out favorable for Swisher and the baseball team, what exactly was Phillips’ departure plan?
Phillips said, laughing, “I probably would have just ran and hopefully got away.”
Running away from challenging situations doesn’t really fit Phillips, who famously in 2011, after much encouragement from his family and friends, auditioned for the 11th season of “American Idol.”
Naturally, this ended up with Phillips winning the popular reality-show contest and releasing his platinum debut, “The World from the Side of the Moon,” which included hit songs “Home” and “Gone, Gone, Gone.” There was also quite a bit of touring that ended last year in time for him to record his most-recent effort, “Behind The Light.”
In talking to Phillips about his two albums, he stressed that the recording process for each was completely different.
“The first album really represented me lyrically and musically, but we did it so fast, three weeks,” Phillips said. “Luckily, I had songs written a few years ahead of time and some new ones I had written. I really love the album, but when I go back and listen to things, I think we could have added this and that.
“The second album I had more time to write. We could sit on the songs and jam on them with my band. The album has that feel of a band record. It was a lot of fun, and this album has so much more of a deeper musical meaning and lyrically than the first one.
“Behind the Light” is decidedly a rock album, with Phillips pointing to the eerie “Thicket” and energetic “Fly” as defining the project. The latter track includes a memorable appearance by steel guitar extraordinaire Robert Randolph.
For now, Phillips is dedicated to touring the album and slowly — or quickly, as he hopes — dispelling the preconceived notion of being named an “American Idol” winner.
“You know, sometimes people think ‘Idol’ is such a pop kind of world,” Phillips said. “That’s one reason I didn’t want to try out for it because it wasn’t my type of thing. Some people already have their mind set on how things will be from ‘Idol.’ People think, ‘Oh, you’re bound to this.’ No, when that show was over it was done, and it’s been just me ever since.”
He added, “And it continues to be me, for sure.”