Idol' Stars DeWyze and Bowersox Talk Recording Debut LPs

Days after the American Idol finale, both of this season's finalists, winner Lee DeWyze and runner-up Crystal Bowersox, have already signed record deals. DeWyze has inked with 19 Recordings and RCA Records, home to former Idol all-stars like David Cook, Kelly Clarkson, Adam Lambert and Daughtry, while Bowersox will release music through 19 Recordings and Jive Records. Their debut albums will hit stores around the holidays, a rep for Bowersox and DeWyze confirms to Rolling Stone.

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In a conference call with reporters today, DeWyze told RS about the direction he'd like to head in for his debut, citing artists like Simon and Garfunkel, Kings of Leon and Ben Harper as influences. "I know it sounds bad but I just got the new Kings of Leon album," DeWyze said. "I liked their first albums a lot — they were a little harder, but I really dig their newest album. I like that sound — it’s very gritty but at the same time it’s got great hooks and great lyrics and they break it down and it can be a little more chill, a little more heavy." DeWyze also mentioned listening to former Idol champ Kris Allen's debut as an inspiration. "He got to do a lot of things he wanted to do on his album, and I know I’m going to get a chance to do the same thing," DeWyze told RS. "I'm going to have a lot of say in it and that was something I was worried about in the beginning."

Bowersox, on the other hand, mentioned some of the artists she'd like to collaborate with, including Melissa Etheridge, Joe Cocker and Alanis Morissette, who performed "You Oughta Know" with Bowersox on the finale. "There's a lot of music that I personally love and enjoy," Bowersox said. "And the craziest thing is that it's all possible now to work with these people — I can say it and it'll be true."

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

More Song Stories entries »

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