Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Scott MacIntyre had a simple explanation for playing electric guitar while singing Survivor’s “The Search Is Over” on American Idol earlier this week.

During the judges’ lukewarm critiques of his Tuesday night performance, Scott said it was his “punk side coming out.”

That made everyone laugh.

Turns out, Scott MacIntyre has a punk side. Or so he told the media during his exit interview Thursday afternoon.

We all knew Scott has aspirations of becoming a pop singer-songwriter. Anyone who reads this blog knows he has performed with his brother and sisters as the MacIntyre Family Singers, doing classical, gospel and Broadway music.

But I had no idea he and his brother were also members of a band called The Glutes, performing what Scott describes as “punk, power pop music along the lines of Jimmy (Eat) World, Yellowcard and Blink 182.”

Guess who writes music for The Glutes?

That’s right, Scott MacIntyre.

So it wasn’t as odd as it might have seemed to find piano man Scott on the Idol stage, belting out licks on his electric guitar. Nor was it simply a matter of following a judge’s advice. Paula, after all, had suggested he step out of his comfort zone.

“My decision to play guitar this week was more based on the fact that I wanted to shock America a little bit than Paula’s comment about coming out from behind the piano,” Scott said.

“Honestly, I have no regrets. I’m so happy I brought my shredder out to go out in a blaze of glory the last night. It’s all good things from here.”

Which wouldn’t be surprising for a guy who has accomplished so much musically (six independent CDs) and scholastically (a master’s degree, for instance) by age 23. All in spite of a severe vision impairment.

The judges called him an inspiraton, over and over.

And that’s what Scott said he hoped to share by competing on Idol.

“If I can get to this point out of almost 110,000 auditioners and end up in eighth place, I hope it encourages everyone to reach for their dreams,” he said. “I hope it encourages people never to give up. And that’s the message I have for people.”

Scott surely doesn’t plan to rest on his laurels.

What’s the first thing he’ll do upon returning home to Arizona?

He plans to take another look at all the original music he’s written “and put together the best album I can in theory, on paper. I’m going to try to be prepared when the time comes, for whatever happens with record deals, with management deals. … I want to be prepared to give you more to listen to as soon as possible.”

And would that be punk or pop?

Well, time permitting, Scott says he’d love to continue performing as part of The Glutes and the MacIntyre Family Singers.

But a post-Idol Scott MacIntyre album is probably going to be closer to the music of John Mayer, Bruce Hornsby, Gavin DeGraw. Scott describes it as “pop-rock, singer-songwriter meets adult contemporary” with every song telling a story.

Plus, there’s the Idol summer tour to look forward to. The top 10 finalists make the tour. As this year’s eighth-place finisher, Scott qualifies.

“At this stage of the game, everyone has won in their own right in this competition,” Scott said. “And there’s not much difference between finishing eighth and finishing third. It’s a small difference. After that, some things change. But it’s really what you do with the opportunity you’ve been given.

“I have this incredible platform now, and America knows a little bit about my story. And I’m going to do everything I can to make the transition from being known as Scott on American Idol to, in a couple of years, being known as Scott MacIntyre, the singer-songwriter.”