Elliott Yamin is Awesome

Elliott Yamin is just cool. I thought it way back when he was on American Idol and I think it now. There’s so much to love about him but I have found that his loyalty and humility have set him apart from the other whining cast-offs. Interestingly, it seems to be a route Blake Lewis is taking also.

In a recent article with the Flint Journal, Yamin discussed his post-Idol life. Here it is:

Elliott Yamin isn’t like other “American Idol” alumni. He doesn’t diss the judges, doesn’t get defensive about being on the show, and he doesn’t have publicists who tell journalists not to ask questions about it.

“I’m not one of those ‘Idol’ castoffs who’s always saying don’t ask me one more (bleeping) question about this show,” he said. “I don’t mind.”

He wouldn’t be talking to journalists or DJs without it. He also wouldn’t be in the middle of his first proper headlining tour since – including a Wednesday stop at Detroit’s St. Andrew’s Hall – finishing third on the show last year. Nor would he have a self-titled solo album out, which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard charts after its March 20 release, selling 90,000 copies in the process.

The first single, the ballad “Wait for You,” steadily has been climbing the charts, receiving a major boost from his performance of it May 16 on “Idol.”

He’s also the first high-profile “Idol” finalist to spurn contract offers from major record companies to navigate the tricky but potentially profitable waters of an independent record label. “Elliott Yamin” is the first release on the revived Hickory Records imprint, a unique partnership between, among others, his publisher, Sony/ATV (which has the Lennon-McCartney catalog), his manager, Jeff Rabhan, and cousin and co-producer Josh Abraham, who has worked with Pink and Linkin Park. “He knows everybody in the business,” Yamin said.

The album is being distributed by a division of major label SonyBMG, which helps promote it to radio. The arrangement allows Yamin much greater creative control than any of the three major label offers he received after his “Idol” commitments ended last November. It also allows the potential for more profit and a much bigger peace of mind for the unassuming young singer from Richmond, Va., whose heartfelt vocals won over millions of “Idol” fans last year.

“I don’t want to be somebody’s puppet,” Yamin said from Atlanta a few days before his recent “Idol” appearance. “You hear all these great bands who sell serious amounts of records, but that money goes into other people’s pockets. It’s not just about the money, but you’ve got to eat, too.”

He may not sell as many records as his buddy Chris Daughtry, last year’s fourth place finisher, but he’s feeling pretty good about the choices he’s made so far.

“It’s definitely been the unconventional method, but I think we’re kind of now proving to a lot of people that certainly, of course, the fan base I established from the show helps, but I don’t believe you need a major (label) behind you to be successful in this business, especially in my case,” Yamin said. “It’s great to be able to go out and sell millions of records, but in order for me to make some money, I don’t have to do that. I don’t have to do that in order for my music to be successful.”

In addition to a better paycheck, Yamin, who has grown out his hair and had his teeth straightened since he was a contestant, wanted more input into the records he makes. He co-wrote five of 11 songs and worked with five producers – including Limp Bizkit’s DJ Lethal and last year’s “Idol” compilation CD producer Derek Bramble – to better display his versatility as a singer.

“I’ve been singing all my life, man, at shows and karaoke back home. I’ve always known how to sing. I’m a fan of all genres of music. I’m talking about all genres,” he said. “One of the things I looked forward to on the show every week was getting to cover different genres. I’m able to do that, and it helped my confidence in wanting to sing different kinds of music. I’m a soulful singer. I always have a soulful stamp on things, but I wanted to have different sounds on this record.”

“Wait for You,” for example, was produced by Stargate, the New York-based Swedes who have crafted hits for Beyonce, Britney Spears and others. The duo was unfamiliar with him at first. “They thought I was some kind of castoff, wannabe pop singer,” he said with a laugh. “I didn’t know what I was working with until I got in the booth.”

The producers were so impressed, he said, that they asked him to cut another one of their songs, “One Word,” which could wind up being one of the biggest hits. They were so impressed with what he did with “Wait for You” they offered him a second song, and another potential hit, called “One Word.”

Yamin is proud of the record he’s made but knows that going the indie route means working that much harder to get the word out. He doesn’t have the voluminous promotional budget that a major label would lavish on him. “It is a little harder in terms of having to go out there and hustle and self-promote,” said Yamin, who’s done countless interviews and made numerous radio appearances to push the record.

So when the CD finally came out, he didn’t fret about how it might sell. He said he was “laid back,” just like he was on results nights on “Idol.” But he doesn’t deny that the CD’s success so far has put a smile on his face.

“I’m proud we got it done and I actually have music I could call my own. That’s what I was most concerned about,” Yamin said. “The rest is just icing on the cake. But there’s been a lot of icing since it.”

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