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Image credit: Chris Daughtry: Kelly A. Swift / Retna

CHRIS DAUGHTRY Eager to put all the ''Idol'' speculation behind him

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Chris Daughtry

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It's probably a good sign for Chris Daughtry that many of his fans still care enough to be outraged over his fourth-place finish on last season's American Idol. But the bald-headed rocker from McLeansville, N.C., says his early ouster from the competition was a blessing in disguise, and in fact, adds that it's now time to separate himself from Fox's reality competition and focus on making a pure rock album (slated for release later this year on RCA). EW.com caught up with Daughtry during a break from this summer's American Idol tour to discuss his favorite performances, his A-list songwriting collaborators, his reaction to criticism that he's a one-note singer.

A lot of people felt [season 4 runner-up] Bo Bice really rocked throughout the show, but when he released his album, it seemed like he got defanged. Do you worry there's a risk of that happening to you?
I can't really speak on his behalf. However, when I had my meeting with Clive [Davis], I played him my material, and he was impressed and wanted me to write the album. So that could be a big difference in what happened with Bo.

But what if you get into the studio, and a bunch of marketing execs descend on you and say, ''This stuff's not going to sell. Here's a Diane Warren ballad for you!'' What do you do?
[Laughs] I don't think my A&R people would go for that. So far everybody's on the same page of what we're trying to accomplish. And what we're trying to put out is a great rock album, and nothin' more.

So you're not getting steamrolled by the Idol machine?
Absolutely not.

Any chance your album will be released against the glut of Nov. 14 releases by your fellow season 5 alumni Taylor Hicks, Kellie Pickler, and Katharine McPhee?
We're shooting for November. But until the album is right and ready and we're happy with it and feel like we've got something, it's probably not going to be released.

Are you in the process of recording it now, in between tour dates?
Not right now, just writing and meeting with people. Collaborating as much as I can.

Can you say who you're working with in terms of writers and producers?
I'm not gonna talk about the producer right now, but as far as writers, I've collaborated with Ed Kowalczyk from Live, Carl Bell from Fuel, and me and [Matchbox Twenty's] Rob Thomas are talking about coming up with something. There are a lot of others that haven't been mentioned yet.

Well, how about mentioning a couple of 'em?
[Nickelback's] Chad Kroeger.

So what's it like writing songs while you're also on a hectic tour?
The earlier weeks when we were rehearsing for the tour, those first three weeks, when I wasn't rehearsing I was writing. I was [staying up until] 2 or 3 in the morning every night, just with different writers, trying to get as much material as we could, because it is time-sensitive right now. We don't have a whole lot of time to sit around and see what comes up.

On Idol, we saw several sides of you. You tackled the Creed-Nickelback modern rock vibe, a slightly more old-school side with Johnny Cash and Elvis covers, and also some ballads with ''What a Wonderful World'' and ''Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman.'' Which side is going to emerge in the studio?
I think no matter what I did, I always tried to deliver it the way I would do for my own album. And I think that's the common denominator among all those performances, that I didn't really change how I delivered it, and I didn't try to sound like a certain person. What you heard was me. I think honestly, even when I did Elvis week, that was me, and that's what you're gonna hear.

Actually, Elvis week was one of my favorite weeks for you.
It was mine too.

Your detractors tend to say, ''Everything Chris does sounds the same.'' How do you respond to the criticism that you're a one-trick pony?
You can't please everybody. I think a lot of the people who said those things…just don't like that style of music, and there's nothing you can do about that.

We're in an era where contestants are supposed to say things like, "I feel blessed" or "I was happy to have the opportunity." Not "I'm devastated" or "it doesn't make sense," as you did when you were booted. What prompted those remarks? And do you have any regrets about saying them?
That was how I felt at the time. There was no way of me masking that. Looking back, though, it was probably the best thing that ever happened to me.

Why do you say that?
I think as a rock artist it was better for me not to win and be put in a solo artist category that would have inevitably been considered pop. And now I get to have my band and do what I wanted to do.

Not to rag on Taylor and Katharine, but did that moment of clarity come about after hearing "Do I Make You Proud" and "My Destiny"? They're not exactly Chris Daughtry kind of songs.
[Laughs] They're definitely not me. However, I'm sure they would've tried to mold something closer to fit me.

Was there any one song you wanted to sing on the show but couldn't get cleared?
I don't know if it was a matter of being cleared or if there were just so many other songs that beat it out in different categories, but I wanted to do ''Rocket Man.'' I just never had the opportunity. If we'd had an Elton John week, I would've liked to have done that.

On the same note, what night did you think you weren't at your best?
When I sang ''I Dare You'' from Shinedown. That was my worst night vocally, just because my voice was worn out.

How intense is the stress level on your voice during the Idol process?
There was always something to do and you never had time to really rest it. And I'm not exactly the kind of person to be silent when there's nothing to do either. I think my biggest weakness is I'm a big talker, and that's one of the things that hurt me. The vocal coach on the show was always telling me I needed to find a spot, sit down, and chill out, and just rest my voice. But I never listened.

You mentioned you're going to be working with a band. Any of the people you played with back in North Carolina?
We don't have a band set yet. I know we have to audition some people, and my guys will get an audition, but we don't have any members in place yet.

Any chance you'll work with Elliott Yamin? Your duet of ''Savin' Me'' is one of the highlights of the current American Idol tour.
I think everybody's gonna be focusing on their own career right now. And as much as we love each other and we enjoy working together on the tour, I think I'm speaking for all of us who want to separate ourselves as much as we can from Idol, as far as the show is concerned, and focus on our own creative projects, and make it about us.

So there's a need at this point to define yourself as an artist apart from the Idol experience?
Obviously we're all grateful for the opportunity, and to the show for getting us where we are, but there comes a time you have to…I mean, I came into this as a songwriter, and I want to leave a songwriter. I can't foresee any of us collaborating right off the bat. I don't think that'd be a wise move.