Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Season Six American Idol contestant Phil Stacey presented a free concert to a crowd at Sovereign Bank Stadium in York Friday night.

The occasion was a neat little event called the Advancing Honor Rally, organized by Andrew Tome, who described himself as a guy “with no money and no name recognition,” who just wanted to do something to benefit the community.

The evening featured state Rep. Eugene DePasquale (D-York) talking about the importance of being a good parent, WSBA personality Gary Sutton encouraging attendees to value their neighbors regardless of differences, and Tome urging residents to take some step, however small, to make a difference.

When organizing the event, Tome said he knew Stacey would be the perfect performer. Especially after watching a video of Phil performing one of his songs, “Old Glory,” while touring with Michael W. Smith. So he reached out to him through Facebook.

“He’s a veteran,” Tome said of Stacey. “He was a country artist. Now he’s a Christian artist. It was just a great fit.”

The crowd seemed to agree, as Stacey treated them to a six-song set that included “Round Here,” “It’s Who You Know,” and “If You Didn’t Love Me” from his 2008 country album, plus his Christian hit “You’re Not Shaken” from his 2009 “Into the Light” album.

The other two numbers were from “Faith,” a CD he released earlier this year and that he said should be available in stores this summer. Those included his next single, “More Than That,” and a song truly fitting for the occasion, the rousing “Be Good To Each Other.”

After Tome saluted veterans and their families, Stacey returned to the stage along with all the youngsters in the crowd for a three-song patriotic set. That was capped by “Old Glory,” a song he wrote pre-Idol, while serving in the Navy. His job at the time: Singing at memorial services for fallen soldiers.

For his part, Stacey said he was happy to help deliver the evening’s message.

“They told me about the idea behind it, the idea of turning observers and spectators into participators,” he said. “Whatever you’re doing, do something to make a difference. I’ve tried to do that, based on my dad’s example and my mom’s example. They’ve always been active members in their communities.”

Tome said he was pleased with the turnout of a couple of hundred considering the rainy evening.

And he said he ‘s open to doing something like it again next year.

Editor’s Note: I’ll be including more from Phil Stacey about his music and his thoughts on American Idol in a future blog. In the meantime, if you’d like to get a copy of “Faith” before it’s available in stores, you can find out how here.