Idol Chatter & Voice Views

This time of year amounts to a musical scavenger hunt.

I mean, Idol sends all these contestants off to Hollywood and, generally, isn’t all that interested in filling us in on their musical backgrounds.

So I set off in search of music they’ve recorded in some fashion, either under their Idol name, some variation of the name they’re using on Idol or with a band.

Because there are lots of musical gems out there we never get to hear, recorded by artists struggling to be heard.

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be sharing some of that music by featuring an Idol Chatter song of the day.

These will be original songs available on iTunes, so you can download them if you like.

The first song of the day: “Dreamin’ Alone” by Paul McDonald, an Idol contestant we certainly should have met in the Nashville audition episode.

Paul tells Idol he has spent the past four years as a singer-songwriter touring the country and doing “the starving artist thing.”

He’s been lead singer for the Grand Magnolias. Before that, the band was known as the Hightide Blues. Between the two, they released 22 tracks between 2007 and 2010 on a pair of EPs and a CD.

I haven’t listened to them all, but I downloaded this track after one listen. “Dreamin’ Alone” comes off the Hightide Blues’ 2008 “Love Come Easy” EP. You can listen to a more pristine version here.

Editor’s Note: For a look at lots of the Idol contestants from season 10, click on the Contestants AI10 tab above.

Now, a live version of “Dreamin’ Alone.”