Reality Rocks

Lee DeWyze: The Reality Rocks Interview, Pt. 1

By | Reality Rocks – Mon, Nov 8, 2010 3:18 PM EST

The days when Idols like Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Hicks battled bitterly for songwriting input on their albums seem to be long gone. Season 7 winner David Cook wrote or co-wrote all but two of the cuts on his post-"American Idol" debut (counting his bonus tracks); Season 8 champ Kris Allen had credit on 11 of his deluxe album's 16 songs, including one song, "Red Guitar," that he wrote years before he even auditioned for "Idol"; and now latest winner Lee DeWyze has set a new Idol-songwriting record by penning all but one of the tunes on his post-"AI" debut, Live It Up, and being the first "Idol" winner since Season 1's Kelly to actually have a co-writing credit on his first single ("Sweet Serendipity").

I recently got to visit Lee in his super-secret L.A. practice space, a dimly lit lair where he and his newly curated band were rehearsing his many originals for the upcoming round of nonstop promo surrounding the November 16 release of Live It Up. A musician to the core, Lee seemed unwilling to set his guitar aside even for a 30-minute conversation, clinging to it throughout the interview and even eventually strumming it a bit as he discussed the songwriting process. I didn't complain.

So after my epically failed bagpipe-joke icebreaker (sorry, couldn't resist--and yes, I do want a bagpipes-remix bonus disc on future Live It Up pressings), it turned out to be a great two-part discussion of music, offering real insight for fans about Live It Up's creation. Enjoy!

WATCH PART 2 HERE

 

Follow me on Twitter

Follow Yahoo! Music:   

News for You

  • Germans blame euro zone crisis for Eurovision debacle

    BERLIN (Reuters) - Germans lamented their unexpectedly poor showing at the Eurovision Song Contest, blaming Chancellor Angela Merkel's tough stance in the euro zone crisis for their failure to win any points from 34 of the 39 countries voting. Denmark's Emmelie de Forest won the event, watched by around 125 million people across Europe, with 281 points while German act Cascada was 21st out of 26 countries, getting just 18 points from Austria, Israel, Spain, Albania and Switzerland. ...

  • OJ Simpson lawyers say he is closer to freedom

    LAS VEGAS (AP) — The latest high-stakes court hearing for O.J. Simpson in the glitzy capital of big gambles has come to a close with the former football star's defense team feeling confident that their client is closer to getting out of prison.

  • Swift leads, Miguel hurts fans at Billboard Awards

    Taylor Swift is red hot.

  • Taylor Swift wins 8 trophies at Billboard Awards

    Another day, another domination for Taylor Swift: She was the red hot winner at the Billboard Music Awards.

  • 'Trek' does $70.6M but falls short of studio hopes

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Star Trek: Into Darkness" has warped its way to a $70.6 million domestic launch from Friday to Sunday, though it's not setting any light-speed records with a debut that's lower than the studio's expectations.

  • Jon Stewart's humor a hit with millions of envious Chinese

    By Jane Lee SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Humor may not always translate well, but Jon Stewart is picking up millions of fans in China, where his gloves-off political satire is refreshing for many in a country where such criticism is a rarity - especially when directed at their own leaders. A recent segment on North Korea scored over 4 million views on microblogger Sina Weibo, and even stodgy state broadcaster CCTV has used Stewart's "The Daily Show" in a report, though they wouldn't let a Chinese version of him near their cameras. ...

Show More