“Black Sun” by Death Cab For Cutie isn’t the song you expect to hear during an American Idol audition.
But it’s the one Kerry Courtney, 23, of St. Petersburg, Fla., chose to try out with.
And he made it work, earning a unanimous golden ticket to Hollywood.
Harry Connick Jr. called his performance “quirky and different,” adding “what I just heard was an interesting piece of art.”
Jennifer Lopez labeled the performance “a little dark” and said she isn’t sure how American Idol voters will respond to Kerry. But she also said “the sound of your voice was very beautiful.”
Kerry is the contestant who was introduced to us by talking about how close he was to his mother, who home-schooled him as he was growing up.
Then, when he was 19, he learned she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. She died soon after.
“I play (music) for her and a lot of the songs I write are inspired for her or about her,” he told Idol.
If you want to hear Kerry’s original music, there’s plenty of it. He’s lead singer for a Florida-based, pop-rock band called Goodnight Neverland. The band also includes Jordan Tellone, Christopher Brickman and Jeremy Tellone, according to its Facebook page.
Goodnight Neverland released a six-track EP called “Ocean in the Clouds” in 2011 and an eight-track project called “Old Tree” in 2014.
I’ve embedded two tracks from the latter album below.
You can follow Kerry on Twitter at @KerryNeverland.
“Keep Singing” from the 2014 album “Old Tree”
“Wild Summers” from the 2014 album “Old Tree”
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