Idol Chatter & Voice Views

This week we get the first American Idol album release of 2013 — Jason Castro’s “Only a Mountain.”

It’s the second album and first since April 2010 for Jason, who finished fourth back in Season 7.

But he’s released a couple of EPs in the interim. In fact, five of the 11 songs on “Only a Mountain” — including the cover track — were included on a “Starting Line” EP that came out back in August.

This also marks Jason’s first album with the Nashville-based Christian label Word.

Since Idol, Jason, 25, has gotten married to Mandy Mayhall; the couple had a daughter in August 2011.

And in answering fan questions last week, Jason said many of the songs from his new album where drawn from his experiences from the past few years.

“I’ve been telling people lately that this album is a snapshot of the last few years of my life,” he said. “I always draw from my experiences and my stories and hope that my stories can help somebody along their journey.”

Jason will be playing some of those new songs live this week in Pennsylvania.

He’s part of the Winter Jam 2013 Christian music festival, headlined by Toby Mac.

The tour lands at the Sovereign Center in Reading on Thursday (6 p.m., admission $10) and at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center on Friday (6 p.m., admission $10).

Jason also has a Wednesday night show at the Rockwood Music Hall in New York City that will serve as an album release party, Idol Season 12 premiere viewing party and fundraiser for victims of Hurricane Sandy.

As for the album, if you haven’t ordered your copy yet you might want to check out the special offers on Jason’s website.

Now, here’s the video for “Only a Mountain,” followed by “I Believe,” my favorite track from the “Starting Line” EP.