American Idol Contestant John Stevens Dishes up Chicken Soup

Our interviews with the contributors to Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul continue today with John Stevens. John finished at #6 in Season 3 and released his first CD in 2005. He´s currently developing his craft at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where he is a student.

Thanks for joining us John. It´s great to have you here.

Why don´t we get started by finding out a bit more about you. How long have you been interested in jazz, big band, and swing music? Who is your greatest source of inspiration?

I think I was around 4 when my grandfather introduced me to Big Band and Jazz. I was at his house looking through his records and asked him about a particular album. It was Frank Sinatra´s Greatest Hits album, he put it on and I fell in love. I would have to say that two people have inspired me. My grandmother really inspired me to do music and she always pushed me to be better and work hard with it. In the music community I would have to say Frank Sinatra has inspired me through his music to follow my dreams.

Has your family been supportive of your music career?

My family has always supported everything I´ve done in and out of music. My mother especially supported me by traveling with me to audition for American Idol, staying with me in Los Angeles during the show, and traveling with me on the American Idol tour-49 shows in 46 cities. My dad took off work every other week to come out and see us. He´s always been my biggest fan. My sister and brother didn´t really care for the music I listened to growing up: Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, etc. They thought I should´ve been listening to U2, REM, Coldplay, what normal kids my age were listening to. And I do listen to some of that but my main focus was on Jazz and Big Band. I also used to play the music loud. Sometimes it was so loud that the whole house could hear. That´s probably a good reason why they didn´t care for it. But still they supported me with everything.

Why did you decide to audition for American Idol?

I actually didn´t care if I made it or not. I actually just wanted to see NYC and I thought it was a good excuse to get my mom to take me. I thought when we got to the auditions and saw the line, my mom would say "absolutely not, we´re not staying in that line for three days" and then we´d go see the Big Apple; but she didn´t and I tried out and made it.

You were only 16 when you appeared on American Idol. Was it intimidating competing against the older contestants?

I really didn´t think about it that way. I really just thought that I was competing against myself every night. If I sing to the best to my ability, then the rest would work itself out.

Tell us about Motown night.

In my opinion, that was my worst performance on American Idol. Although I was very excited to have my grandparents at the show, I was not feeling well at all that day. There is nothing worse than having to perform when you feel sick and it definitely hurt my performance.

Let´s talk about Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul. How did you get involved with this project?

American Idol contacted me and I was more than happy to join this project. I had read many of the other Chicken Soup for the Soul books when I was younger and was very excited to take part in the making of this one.

What made you choose the topic you wrote about for this collection?

My grandmother has been an extremely important part of my life and I thought of no better topic than one honoring her and all she has done for me.

Have you been involved in any of the promotions for this book?

I actually have not. I´m in school right now at Berklee College of Music in Boston. I´m going into my last year and it´s an intense workload. I´m learning a lot and having a great time meeting other musicians and working on my craft.

What´s up next for you?

Well, I have one more year at Berklee. I´m currently writing original material and working on my performance technique. I hope to continue performing, writing, and recording after Berklee. We´ll see where music takes me.

Is there anything you would like to add?

I released an album in June 2005 titled "Red" with Maverick Records. It´s all Jazz standards and covers and I really had a lot of fun working with David Foster, and Steve Tyrell on it and am very proud of how it turned out.

Thanks for spending some time with us today, John. Best of luck at college. We hope to hear more from you soon.

Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul can be purchased at Amazon.com