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Phil Stacey is a man of many perspectives. A preacher's kid and product of a Bible college, he joined the Navy after 9/11, made it to the Top Five of American Idol, signed with a secular label, made a country record, and is now reintroducing himself to the Christian music world via Reunion Records. A new album is planned for later this summer.

Phil Stacey

You've been on quite a journey lately.

Phil Stacey: The past year has been fantastic. Coming off of American Idol, I immediately signed with Disney, and they wanted to release a country record. I told them, "I've got a message I want to share with people." I was able to put John Waller songs on my record, and I was able to share my faith with people, and I think it got to a point where most of the people around me were like, "Phil, you're a Christian artist, this is your heart." I missed singing in church. That's where I grew up singing. I was touring churches when I was 13. So I realized that's where I need to be. My label and I parted ways early fall last year. I was ready to travel to churches, just share my heart with people.

So you had a peace with that transition?

Stacey: Absolutely. I booked up a whole bunch of churches. I thought maybe my whole label dreams were gone. Whether they were or not, I was satisfied in knowing that God's plan is still relevant to my life. And even though I was scared and I didn't know exactly what I was going to do, I started doing some ministry at churches. Michael W. Smith asked me to sing at an event of his—I'm in the Navy so I got to sing in my uniform—on "There She Stands." I was scared to death, because it was a big anniversary thing for Smitty. [Provident CEO] Terry Hemmings was there, and so was Brown Bannister. For some reason, they both contacted me after the concert and said "I want to do a record with you." So it all worked out.

Is there a difference between being a country singer and a Christian singer? Where do you fit in?

Stacey: I have always loved country music. I was born in Eastern Kentucky. I grew up listening to the greats—Bill Monroe, Roy Acuff, these guys did more hymns than anything else. The Grand Ole Opry used to end every single episode with a hymn. And that's the music I was allowed to listen to as a kid. It's funny talking to artists about genres. Within Christian music you're got a vast array of different genres.

Do you care about genre?

Stacey: I don't care so much about genre as I care about speaking to the body of Christ. In writing songs, anytime you hear one of my songs, you'll realize that it's probably more like a sermon or a lesson that I put to music.

So each song is 25 minutes long?

Stacey: Absolutely! Actually, my grandpa used to say if you can't preach it in 15 minutes then you shouldn't preach it. But that's my calling. I see it more now than ever before. And here I am today, on this mountaintop. You can clearly see that God has been orchestrating this entire thing. But now I can see so many places along the road, and other people are there in their journey. They may be in this dark place and they don't know where they are, so this whole record, it's about encouragement.

Is that the purpose of your music?

Stacey: That's the purpose of this record [due later this summer], for sure. The theme is Psalm 46:1: the Lord is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in times of trouble. So many people need to hear this message. I think it's just relevant.

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