Local singer keeps busy after Idol

Local singer-songwriter Martin Kerr is the last person you would have expected to see on Canadian Idol.

The British-born musician writes smart, Crowded House-style tunes about love, marriage and the undiscovered geniuses who don't subject themselves to the rigmaroles of a manufactured reality TV show.

He doesn't want a record deal. He has released two folk-pop albums,

I Know You're Out There and justanotherman, on his own.

Yet there's only so far an independent musician can get without an extra little boost.

"I've been doing this full time for a year now and realized how difficult it was to get press or any kind of buzz going," he says.

So on a whim -- he was busking at a farmers market when somebody told him about the Idol tryouts -- Kerr decided to audition for this year's season. He made it as far as the Top 16 before getting the boot in early July.

"Trying to adapt to the environment of a big, glitzy TV show was really weird and I'm not sure I did it terribly well," he laughs. "I definitely learned a lot and I felt like I got better each week, but it was really the pressure of the competition that got to me. There was just so much riding on it, you know? And it was my first time really being in the public eye and knowing that there were people slagging me off on (Internet) forums and VoteForTheWorst.com. It did get to me a bit."

continue...

Comments