Kris Allen

I met up with American Idol winner, Kris Allen backstage at the House of Blues in Lake Buena Vista, FL last week.  It was a packed crowd out that was bouncing around, waiting for security to let them through so they could listen to Kris Allen and also performing that night were the Goo Goo Dolls. I was out front while I waited for the tour manager to escort me back stage for the interview.

Q. “Playing the viola was something you did when you were a kid and not really a cool thing to play but you played it for a long time…was that tough to do? Like to do something different around kids) and do you still play the viola today?


A. “It was something I had to work at and get better at.  It was a little bit easier for me than for most kids but if I wanted to be good at it I had to work at it.”


Q. “Kids growing up have obstacles to overcome to succeed. Did you have something tough while growing up and how did you get over it?”

A “ I was pretty insecure as a kid - about different things, about personality - about everything so it was something I had to get over, especially in high school.”


Q. “I’ve talked to some cool singers that started out singing gospel music like Brenda Lee
    Gloria Gaynor, Darius Rucker and even Matisyahu had some gospel music background… which was really surprising to me b/c I just hear songs they’ve made famous…so has gospel music influenced you?”


A. “Yeah I grew up in the church so I love gospel music and I used to play a lot at
  Church and sing so it’s definetly part of what I do - part of my music.”


Q. “ You've met a lot of people when doing American Idol and then touring. Is there someone that was really memorable from American Idol or touring to you and why?”


A. “There’s a lot of great people - I toured with Keith Urban which was great - such a great guy and a great performer.  I met Stevie Wonder which is pretty awesome and I feel like I can call Smokey Robinson one of my friends which is very cool!”


Q. “ Last week, I talked to Bo Bice and asked him if he was nervous performing or being around the Judges.  Were you nervous?(because you always look really relaxed).”

A.”You know what,most of the time I think I was pretty relaxed but there was the very first night I was in the show - the live show with all the cameras - that was a little nerve racking because it’s just different in the room and it’s actually pretty cool but I got pretty nervous that day.”


Q.  “What are you most happy about and have you expressed that in a song yet?”


A. “Oh wow! More than anything, I’m just happy that I get to do what I do. I’m happy that I have a great family and I’m able to play music for a living.  It’s probably not expressed in a song yet but hopefully down the road…”

(Gee, that’s cool! I just felt a song coming from that question!)


Q. “One of my facebook friends, Courtney Bonin wanted to know, “What age did you start singing?”

A “I started singing when I was a tiny kid… music was always around the house and just singing to my parents old rock tunes when I was a kid or tying to sing along to Michael Jackson tunes.  I always grew up singing since I was 5 or 6.”


Q. What are your future plans/upcoming gigs?


A. “We’re doing some radio stuff right now so we’re kinda all over the place.  We’re flying to New York and then San Francisco.”

Talking with Kris Allen was pretty cool.  He’s exactly like you see on tv: relaxed, very nice, sort of a no-big deal-type of person but as an American Idol Winner and top radio singer, he is a big deal type of person.