Notoriety & Anonymity

An old friend from South Carolina called yesterday with big news. A lot had changed since we last talked 3 years ago. He said he was in town with one of his band mates, Chris Sligh of American Idol fame. Seems that my friend Don had insisted that Chris try out for A.I. and even drove him from Greenville to Birmingham for the audition. So now that Chris has new-found celebrity they are shopping for deals with all the Christian labels and making the rounds to explore their options. They wanted me to meet them for dinner so I agreed. One of my favorite restaurants, and a safe place for celebrities, is JAlexanders on West End.

I've hung out with a few of the "rich-n-famous" in my day....and for the most part, it's been uneventful. And because I've never really followed American Idol, I guess I underestimated the impact of that one show - but I soon realized that EVERYONE watches it. As soon as we walked in the door a man got up from his table and approached Chris with all sorts of questions. Chris was very polite. We moved to a lounge area while our table was being set up - talked about their meetings of the day - when suddenly a girl sitting a few chairs away just called out Chris' name and proceeded to comment on his singing and how much she loved him, etc., etc. He was gracious and acknowled her remarks. Then we were ushered to our table in the back of the restaurant. It was hilarious! As the 3 of us walked past table after table, people stopped in mid-chew and turned completely sideways - watching us parade past them. Of course, you really can't miss this guy - he's over 6' tall and that trademark hair is even bigger in person.

But all of that aside - we carried on with the usual small talk, laughing, joking and the rest. I tried to give him a "heads-up" on the Christian music industry, along with some "fatherly" advice (at my age they expect it!). I then asked about his songwriting and if he'd ever collaborated. He said he didn't like to collaborate. I asked if he had had a bad experience co-writing. He said he had. I suggested that maybe he should write with someone who was more experienced. He paused, looked thoughtfully away and said, "maybe if it was somebody like a TONY WOOD....I could write with him." I smiled. Then he said, "Now, WHAT is it that you do again...?"

I smiled and said, "you've gotta try the pork tenderloin - it's to die for!"


(check out Chris' band - Half Past Forever)
http://www.myspace.com/halfpastforeveredge