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Kris Allen Talks to Reality Rocks

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/5348357/14095411
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/5352022/14104649

He's so friggin awesome... or kick awesome, I should say.

and YAY we have at least one tour song known!

The Fray's Joe King Talks Working With Kris Allen

"American Idol" winner Kris Allen is busy preparing for the American Idols Live tour, but his album won't wait either. While runner-up Adam Lambert has hooked up with RedOne, Allen has recruited an all-star cast of collaborators for his still-in-development record.

Both Lambert and Allen have hooked up with former Evanescence member David Hodges, who has also collaborated with former "Idol" contestants Kelly Clarkson ("Because of You"), David Archuleta ("Crush") and Chris Daughtry ("What About Now").

Allen will also be collaborating with Salaam Remi, a hip-hop producer best known for his work with Nas ("Where Are They Now") and Amy Winehouse (everything on Back to Black not produced by Mark Ronson). Remi isn't the only urban influence that Allen is bringing in, as Claude Kelly has also been connected with the winner. Kelly has collaborated on tracks for Leona Lewis ("Forgive Me") and Akon (the Michael Jackson-assisted "Hold My Hand").

But Allen has already spent time with writer and producer Joe King, the guitarist and songwriter from the Fray. Allen performed King's version of Kanye West's "Heartless" on the show, and the pair recently spent two days in Timbaland's studio in Virginia Beach, where they demoed a song. "I'm literally in the studio mixing the rough demo right now," King said via telephone from Toronto (the Fray just began the first leg of their North American tour). "It doesn't have a title yet. It doesn't even have lyrics - but there is a lot of gibberish."

King said there wasn't any romance to how they got together - he simply responded "Yes" to Allen's e-mail. "I didn't even see most of the show because we were on tour in Europe and Australia," he explained. "But I found out he won when we got back and I saw he did 'Heartless,' so I was aware of him when he contacted me."

"It was a very good vibe in the studio. There was no pressure - we just had breakfast, got to know each other," King said. "It was all very organic after that." Though they recorded in Timbaland's studio, the super-producer wasn't present during the sessions. "But Timbaland's brother was there along with his crew, and it added this great energy to the session. When the boys heard the track, they started hanging around." King was happy to get some feedback from an outside source, as well as receiving a killer compliment. "Timbaland's brother said if Timbaland was upstairs and he heard this melody, he'd walk in the studio and say, 'That's a melody.' "

Above all, it was fun. "At the end of the session, we cranked up 'Bounce' in the studio and got down," he said. "They're following Kris' progress on film, so there's video of us white boys shaking it to Timbaland songs in his studio, which I hope doesn't get out there."

Since the song is still in its infant stages, King said it doesn't yet have a real identity. However, King is confident that whatever it becomes, Allen will have success. "He has all the elements it takes. He has a phenomenal voice and an incredible work ethic," says King. "He's passionate about what he's doing, and that's what's going to sell him."

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1614457/20090622/allen_kris_american_idol_.jhtml

Kris Allen: Adam Lambert Isn't 'Stealing My Thunder'
Parade.com

American Idol Kris Allen has had a totally different post- Idol experience than runner-up Adam Lambert, managing to stay out of the limelight and off the cover of Rolling Stone. Allen insists he has nothing but love for Lambert, but he'd rather focus on his music and finally get a shot at married life with childhood sweetheart, Katy.

Getting back to business with the Top 10 tour.
"It has been really nice. We've been crazy busy, all of us. It's nice just to hang out with everyone and see everyone. It's going to be a fun tour and it's just fun to work and do what we've wanted to do in the first place."

Penning his first song.
"I was in my first year of college, and I wrote a song called 'The Real World' and it was horrible! But you live and you learn. The thing that inspires me the most [when I write] is stuff that is happening in my life at that time. Whether it be the good, the bad, whatever. It's just about different people, friends, family and my wife."

Serenading the ladies on campus.
"I've been with my wife for seven years, so I didn't do that. But I was known as the guitar guy."

Will we hear a husband-wife duet in the future?
"She is not a singer and she will be the first to tell you that. She does not like to sing where people can hear!"

Bringing his faith into this mix.
"I want to make music that appeals to everyone. [Christianity] is a part of me, so that will come out. But for me, I don't feel like I want to come out with a Christian record or anything like that. But if you're making music that's about you, then that's going to come out a little bit."

Adam Lambert commending him on his open-mindedness.
"Me and Adam are really good friends. I learned from going to different countries and seeing different people that you can't have a one-track mind about anything. There are so many unanswered questions. I'm never going to rule out anything so you have to have an open mind and it's just about getting along with people and just having fun while we're on Earth."

Is Lambert stealing the spotlight?
"Adam is definitely one of those people who garnishes media attention. He's different, and he's something completely different from Idol and so I think he deserves all that stuff. And for me, I'm totally laid back and cool. Being on the cover of Rolling Stone, he had something to say and they wanted to be the ones to say it. That was his way to do that. I don't have any problems with it at all. I think Adam totally deserves it. I don't feel like he's stealing my thunder."

On Simon's advice to have kept his marriage a secret to get more votes.
"Stuff like that, what judges say, you have to take with a grain of salt. That never even bothered me. But I felt Kara [Dioguardi] got me the most as a writer and artist herself."

Finally settling into married life.
"It's nothing normal. It's more like the craziest boyfriend-girlfriend situation right now. It doesn't feel too much like we're married just because it's a completely different married life than we've expected, but it's still really good. We've learned that you gotta take things a little bit differently being like this. [if it wasn't for Idol] it would probably be just me and my wife sitting and having a comfortable life, and that would have been fine too. But it happened to work out this way."

Finding a balance.
"There's definitely been people that I've hung out with that have been doing it for a while and understand how to balance the married life and this kind of stuff. There's people that do it well and people that I look up to."