Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Luke Edgemon made it to Hollywood on Season 9 of American Idol and to the knockout round on Season 4 of The Voice. Now he’s released his debut EP, Sweeter Ground.

After all, he’s been able to make a living singing.

He was under contract as a background vocalist for the FOX hit “Glee” for five seasons.

Heck, he even sang background for Lady Gaga during the Super Bowl halftime show earlier this year.

Just one thing was missing: music of his own.

“I’m extremely thankful for those moments,” he told Voice Views, “but it’s easy to get pigeonholed into only doing that one thing — background vocals. And, I don’t know, I’ve been watching my friends get famous for seven years while I work my ass off polishing diamonds that belong to someone else.

“I guess I felt like I couldn’t wait anymore. Time to make some diamonds of my own.”

Those diamonds landed on iTunes Friday in the form of a five-track EP called “Sweeter Ground.” Actually, one song — the single “Same Stars” — landed a week earlier.

And Luke certainly shows impressive range on the project. “Same Stars” is a straight-up addictive pop song. The title track, “Sweeter Ground” has a nice rock edge. Then there’s a lovely ballad “Don’t Try to Make Me Feel Better” with a mystery female duet partner.

Luke says the project was a collaborative effort with friends Daniel Weidlein, Ryan Amador, Kyle Barnett and Daniel’s girlfriend, Divya Maus.

He calls the “Sweeter Ground” the most message-driven song of the five.

“It was written after recent political idiosyncrasies began to run rampant in the U.S. during a time when many people who are a part of my generation feel unsafe,” Luke explains. “I hope it offers a feeling of solace, as we’re all really wanting that ‘grass is greener’ place.”

The song includes an assist from gospel singer Crystal Lewis, who Luke describes as “an incredible friend” and one of his favorite vocalists since he was young.

Meanwhile, “Same Stars” was tapped as the lead single because it’s one of the catchiest songs on the EP. Luke says he wrote it with Daniel and Ryan.

“I think the inspiration behind that song comes from a really honest place that most everyone can relate to, which is pretty simply looking up to the sky and wondering if someone you love, have loved or will love some day is looking at the same (stars),” Luke said.

Luke was 24 when he appeared on Season 4 of The Voice. After years of working to make other people’s songs sound better, he says it feels “surreal” to release his own.

Not that he’s likely to forget those past experiences. Especially not being front and center, dancing and singing right behind Lady Gaga at the Super Bowl.

“I’m still waking up and pinching myself to make sure that one was real,” he admits.

You can follow Luke through his Facebook page. On Twitter, he’s @LukeEdgemon. And you can head to Instagram, where he’s posted a video that includes snippets from all the songs on the EP.