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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > March > 28
Friday, March 28, 2008
3/28: Ace Young interview
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Due to a snafu (mostly my fault), I didn’t get an interview with season five finalist Ace Young until now, which is 7 p.m. EST on a Friday. Not great for timing since he’ll be at that Suwanee Borders in less than 24 hours (info below).
Based on my brief interview, he struck me as smart and deliberate in his plans. Whether it works we’ll find out soon enough but he didn’t just jump into this willy nilly. That’s probably why it’s taken so long for Ace to come out with his album, due to drop June 3. He doesn’t think waiting so long has hurt him, that he’d rather create a better product than rush something less than adequate onto the shelves.
“I was going the speed of creativity,” he said. “I wanted to make sure it was right. I didn’t want to put a time frame on the music.”
In case you may only remember him as the long-tressed sensitive soprano who did a heartfelt version of “Father Figure” on “American Idol,” Ace has a knack for writing, too: he co-wrote “It’s Not Over” with Daughtry, a big big hit that gave Ace a few royalty bucks and a Grammy nomination. He wrote the chorus.
Ace’s new album is executive produced by Desmond Child (“Living on a Prayer,” “Dude (Look Like a Lady)” “Living La Vida Loca”). He also had help from Andreas Carlsson (“Bye Bye Bye,” “I Want It That Way”) and Diane Warren (“I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” “How Do I Live,” “Because You Loved Me”). His first single “Addicted” goes to radio April 21 and he plans an aggressive radio tour to endear himself to the decisionmakers at each top 40 station.
Ace has an Atlanta connection: he’s managed by Charlie Brusco, who also manages Styx (and in the past, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bad Company, Peter Frampton, Survivor and Tesla.). His brother Ryan hooked the two up.
He worked out a partnership with Fontana Records, an arm of Universal, a hybrid indie/major deal in terms of marketing and distribution. If anything, it means Ace isn’t tied down by the standard seven-record deal but gets some of the marketing and distribution heft of a major label.
He said one major change since he was there in 2006 is more songs are being cleared. He wanted to sing Beatles, Maroon 5 and Michael Jackson but couldn’t get clearance. He said he had a dozen songs he couldn’t get cleared. When he makes appearances, he already does covers of “Dream On” by Aerosmith and cuts from U2.
He’s never met George Michael but is glad to hear he’s touring in the U.S. (Ace is available for you, George!) As he noted, Daughtry is opening for Bon Jovi and one of Daughtry’s best moments on “Idol’ was singing “Wanted Dead or Alive.” Now he duets it with Jon Bon Jovi on tour!
As for this season, he’s just glad to see a lot of younger talent like David Archuleta who grew up with “Idol” live their dreams by being on the show. He said his “Imagine” was one of the best “Idol” performances ever. I didn’t get around to asking him about individual singers but I was short on time.
(And I somehow forgot to ask him about Kevin Covais and that odd roomie situation.)
Anyway, check him out at the Borders in Suwanee at 3630 Peachtree Parkway at 2 p.m. Saturday. He will be signing the book “Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul” and might even do an acoustic set. So Ace fans, have at it!
