{Ex-'Idol' Daughtry sticks to his roots with a club tour }

Credit Desmoinesregister.com

Chris Daughtry finished fourth on last year's "American Idol," but record and ticket buyers now hold the chrome-domed rocker in much higher esteem.

The reality-TV contestant's "Daughtry" album hit No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart and has sold more than 1 million copies in a matter of months. (Sorry, Taylor Hicks.)

Tickets to Daughtry's concert Monday night at the House of Bricks in downtown Des Moines sold out in two minutes - 235 tickets.

"It easily could've sold out Val Air Ballroom," said Sam Summers of First Fleet Concerts, promoter of the show.

I caught up with Daughtry, 27, last month for a phone chat during a tour stop in Tempe, Ariz.:

Q: Why book a club tour when you could have filled much larger venues?

A: "I didn't want to forget where I came from. This is where I started, doin' small clubs like that. ... We wanted to do this first to kind of work on our stage show ... but it's more up close and personal with the fans, and it just has a good vibe to it all over."

Q: Didn't you recently switch rhythm guitarists?

A: "Jeremy (Brady) quit right before the tour started, and my buddy Brian (Craddock) from Charlottesville, Va., is the new guy. As a matter of fact, I used to open for him back in the day when I first started with my first band."

Q: You've been playing a new acoustic song in your shows?

A: "Sometimes, I'll play one that I wrote with (Fuel's) Carl Bell ('When You Come Around'). Another one I wrote for the album with Rob Thomas ('You're in My Hands') didn't make the album. We're just testing it and seeing what the response is with the crowd. If fans like it, maybe we'll put it on the next album."

Q: Who's on your wish list for collaborations?

A: "It'd be really cool to work with Chris Cornell. ... Of course, I don't know if I'd want to do that because he would totally show me up, take me back to school a little bit."

Q: What were you like in high school?

A: "I was an artist. Art student. Theater student, all that stuff. I grew up as an artist and wanted to be a comic artist for a while. Kind of got out of that when I got into music. All the stuff about the arts, it really interested me a lot."

Q: Were you cool?

A: "I had a lot of friends, I didn't have any enemies. I guess people have said that I was pretty popular. I just felt like I got along with everybody and had a lot of friends."

Q: Do you keep in touch with other "Idol" alumni?

A: "I saw Taylor (Hicks) and Katharine (McPhee) the other night at Clive (Davis)'s party. They seem to be doing very well. I keep in touch with them and Ace (Young) and Bucky (Covington) and Elliott (Yamin). I try to talk to all those guys as much as I can."

Q: Talk about your kids: Hannah, 10, and Griffin, 8.

A: "They're in school right now, so they're not able to be on this tour with me. Maybe in summertime when school's out they'll be able to come out and be on the road with Daddy. They're doing very well. They're old enough to understand what's going on. They kind of know that this is life now."

Q: How has the "Idol" experience affected your marriage to your wife, Deanna?

A: "We miss each other a lot but we're probably closer than ever right now. We just celebrated six years back in November, and we're doin' awesome. ... She can't be out here with me right now, either, because she has to be with the kids. Maybe next time. ... She's going to try to come out to a few dates, fly out to see me, and we're going to make it work."

Q: We know all about your career and artistic aspirations, what about hers?

A: "I keep her private. We try to keep her out of all this, out of the spotlight. People know too much about her, as it is."

Q: How have you improved as a musician since "Idol"?

A: "I think I've become a better singer. I'm doin' it a lot more. It's just like anything: When you're working out all the time, you get stronger. ...And I'm more comfortable onstage, more comfortable interacting with the audience now, where I used to feel like I had to hide behind the guitar or the mic stand. Sometimes I run down to the barricade, run out into the crowd a little bit. It's fun, now."

Q: What would you change about "American Idol" after having been through the experience?

A: "I think the show has proven successful on its own. I think it's one of the few shows that sticks to the formula, that's why it's doin' so well. I don't think there is anything to change on it