Monday's "Nashville Star" was themed for hometown reunions. The final four remained: Shawn Mayer, Coffey, Gabe Garcia, and Melissa Lawson who were all local heroes returning to their stomping grounds to rally their base.
A really small Midwestern town is where Shawn Mayer hails from; May City, Iowa.
Texican Gabe Garcia returned to his hometown of Lytle, Texas. That town went crazy for their returning prodigal son, he even got a key to the city which he dedicated to his late father.
For his first song, Gabe sang “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere.” Jeffery Steele noted it was a tad shaky, John Rich said, “You are the real deal. I think you’ve got a great chance at winning this show.” Jewel said, “I want to make sure that you’re dedicated to this and being able to be a star for Nashville Star.”
For his final performance, Gabe Garcia sang “Living In Fast Forward.” Jeffery Steele said, “That voice is radio all day long.” John sees him as the missing link to unite hispanics and anglos under the country banner.
Melissa Lawson returned to Arlington, Texas. Melissa sang “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” Jewel and John loved it but Jeffery Steele said, “I get a little tired of hearing those big notes for me, that’s a little too much for me all the time.”
For her final performance, Lawson sang “Jesus, Take The Wheel.” Jeffery Steele came around and said, “When you sing those notes straight and pure like that, I love you, Melissa.” John Rich loves her, “you have a shot at being the Nashville Star.”
Coffey returned to his hometown of Los Angeles, California. For his first song, Coffey sang “Sweet Home Alabama.” John Rich said, “I think you’re a star, and I still doubt that you’re a Nashville Star.” Crowd boos.
While last two low vote getting contestants Gabe Garcia and Coffey wait on stage, host Billy Ray Cyrus announced the Nashville Star dream ended for Coffey.
Coffey said, “If you don’t catch me on tour this summer, you can catch me in a church near you leading worship. God bless you guys, I love you.”
Coffey spoke to some online journalists including Monsters and Critics today about his Nashville Star experience.
Were you born in Texas and then you relocated to Los Angeles?
Coffey Anderson: Yeah. See my dad's from Louisiana.
But I didn't want to just be in Texas and live on a ranch and sing. I wanted to take it on a larger market and I moved to LA and got a chance to be in a couple commercials and things like that and Nashville Star came about and it's just really been a blessing.
But I'm a Texas boy from the heart, just relocated to LA because I wanted to give myself a chance to get on television and get into movies and stuff.
Now, I had a little disconnect with what John Rich, and his argument that you weren't a Nashville Star and he had made the argument that Motley Crue was just amped up country music and to me, your music was country music too.
Coffey Anderson: Thank you.
I don't understand the delineation that's in John Rich's mind, as far as saying that you're not a Nashville Star. Can you talk about your feelings about the judges' overall performances, Jeffrey, Jewel and John?
Coffey Anderson: Yeah. I think they had to get to know me first. And being honest, being black and country music, they haven't really seen too many people like me. I know that J.R. had Cowboy Troy and whatever, but Troy's not like me. Troy does hip/hop. He's a different type of artist and I combine everything.
But I'm a classic, country lover and just looking at the judges, I think that Jeffrey warmed up and got a chance to kind of see my heart a little bit and, he's the warm one. He lets me know that you can be successful in this music industry and still be a nice guy. He is the epitome of a nice guy and still successful.
I think John Rich's opinions were very inconsistent, at times, but I think he's an unbelievable artist. I think he is a producer. I think he's very talented and Jewel was just, she's my mentor and we just connected on a personal level. She's the sweetest.
What was your response to John Rich’s criticism?
Coffey Anderson: I kind of heard it from him this season so my skin was a little bit thick and it's kind of like if you go back to the videotape I just, kind of, breathed in a little bit as he started to talk.
You kind of get used to it but I just wanted to do ‘me’ and that's kind of weird to say I don't want to do anybody else. I wanted to do me this season and I think that was accomplished and so we'll see.
Who imprinted you, musically, when you were growing up? What country artist impressed you the most?
Coffey Anderson: Willie.
Just Willie Nelson?
Coffey Anderson: Hands down.
Anyone else?
Coffey Anderson: The most is Willie and, of course, I love Hank Williams, Sr. I love the Daddy. I think he's just the epitome of class. I just loved him, how he talks. I loved it and just thinking back, I loved the example that Charlie Pride has set for me. I think he is the epitome of class and integrity and 36 number ones, 70 million records sold. I wish I could have had the chance to do one of his songs on there and given him the homage that he deserves. He's a great man.
How did you just try to show them that you were a country musician?
Coffey Anderson: Well, I just tried to show them who I am and country music is what I love. It's the foundation of what I write and where I come from and country music has so many different faces,
You have everything from Little Jimmy Dickens now to Jessica Simpson. I mean there's so many different faces with country music and the country/soul thing has been great. It's what I hear, it's what I make and it's been good to me thus far.
Do think there's a spot for you in the country music world?
Coffey Anderson: Every day. Every day,it's as good a spot for me.
How tall are you?
Coffey Anderson: Man, I'm only 6'5". I'm 5'17".
How long have you lived in LA?
Coffey Anderson: I've been living in LA for almost four years, about three and a half years now, and I have been there and that has been my home for the last three years. And Bangs and Brownwood has supported me and backed me so much but when they were giving me a day to pick somewhere to go I wanted to go to LA to see Savannah.
I didn't want to move her too much because I'm divorced, so it's not only me but I have to get the okay from my ex-wife, as well, and we're partners and we work together. And I've asked her enough to help me with me being gone for two and a half months, so I wanted to go out to Los Angeles and make it easier on them. So just kind of go out there and make it easier for me to just to go out there and rock it.
You've got to have help and especially when you have a situation like divorce you have to learn to work together and our marriage didn't work together but raising a child has so it's been good and we're a good team.
Are you at this point, a lay pastor or are you a youth pastor?
Coffey Anderson: Well, I said if you don't catch me on tour you can catch me at church leading worship. I sing in churches and that's what I've been doing and I do that and I do country music and so it's kind of neat. It's kind of a good combination, similar to what Amy Grant, what Randy Travis has done, you know, what Josh Turner does, as well.
Either way I'm still going to keep singing in the church and I think we have room for family-friendly artists. You know, every song doesn't have to be about drinking and about this and that and there's a lot of people that enjoy music from the grandmas to the kids. Everybody can come to my show and have a good time.
What did Savannah think about seeing her dad perform in front of that massive crown in Los Angeles?
Coffey Anderson: Well, she loved me on TV, especially when I would say her name or wave, okay? She's is a little shy. We're working on her. No, she loves the attention and I want to give it to her. I love it.
I think she's the best thing that's ever happened to me and being able to go to LA, she wanted to get on stage so I actually pulled her up on stage at the concert with me and the crowd was chanting her name and she just smiled and we thanked the church for their support of me and how they've backed me and Savannah as a father and daughter.
Is your daughter Savannah musically inclined?
Coffey Anderson: Yes, I'm scared of it. Because I just want her to run my music empire and be the business mind and let Daddy go out and work hard and make all this money and you just sit back and enjoy it. She doesn't want that. She wants to be on the stage.
Do you think that the lines between country and pop music are, sort of, blurring a bit?
Coffey Anderson: They really are blurred and when you think of music from our country is what people are looking at it now. Taylor Swift is great. She came on the show, she's a sweetheart.
She's now on Ryan Seacrest's show. She's in syndication on pop radio now. So there's a lot of things that cross over with what country music is doing. You look at Jessica Simpson. Look at Jewel. She's one of the judges, and my knock was not being country enough.
So country has a lot of different lines from all different faces and that may be the knock but America loves what I do and they love my heart and they've backed me up this far and they're going to do the same thing on record sales.
The Dream Center seemed to play a big part in your return back to LA. What exactly is The Dream Center and what's, sort of, your involvement with that place?
Coffey Anderson: The Dream Center is a service organization and they serve 2,000 hot meals a day, on campus. There is a nine-story, soon to be 15-story, hospital there. People can go and get treatment, get check-ups for free. If you're off the street, people that don't have money, they can come in and get clothes for free that have been donated and it's only kept alive by donations. So there's a lot of people in Hollywood that donate to this because they see where their money is going.
We have kids that we bus in from Jordon Downs, from Crenshaw, from Compton. There is a single mothers ministry that people go out and help and help them with funding.
It is just a great outreach that I have fallen in love with and it's people that are privileged that are helping those that aren't and I always wanted to always put myself in that position. And I've been blessed, man. Even though I'm an independent artist, I've been blessed and then talking to the kids has been a great opportunity at The Dream Center.
How does it feel to know that Sinbad and Patricia Heaton are fans?
Coffey Anderson: Isn't that crazy? Patricia flew in from Chicago. She's raising money for her new film, with her son Sam and came in and as I'm getting ready to go up she walks in and she hasn't went - she didn't go home. She came off the plane and came to the show, brought her son, he plays guitar.
Sinbad was filming a comedy special. He came in, grabbed a limo, they drove him over, he said hello to me and then he just gave me a hug and told me, "Hey, young brother do your thing." Gave me a hug and left to do his thing.
And Stephon Marbury, you didn't get a chance to see him, from the NBA - from the New York Nicks, brought in 300 pairs of shoes, jeans, T-shirts, jerseys and gave them out to those kids that we bused in that I talked to from the projects.
Brought them - gave those kids the shoes. Realize in urban settings a lot of kids don't have shoes so they actually have been killing each other for clothes. He took care of that and Brian Clay, the Olympian, came in, as well, who's going to be competing in Beijing. He's the new Dan O'Brien. Great, great guy. It was nuts, man.
Shawn, she had a wisdom tooth problem, Gabe had a cold. Do you think you would have done better if you were on the mend?
Coffey Anderson: You know what? I'm built for this. I'm built for this. I travel and I sing all types of different places. My immune system is strong, I take Vitamin C and I drink water, it's a grind and they have to understand that. Maybe I would have got a better rating if I'd of had a cough. I don't know.
Was there a song that you wanted to get to that you never got a chance to sing?
Coffey Anderson: 'Good Hearted Woman', Willie Nelson. I really wanted to sing that and I wanted to do that the last week. I was actually going to do that and 'Sharp Dressed Man'.
Did you play basketball in school?
Coffey Anderson: I played both. I played high school basketball at Bangs High School, The Dragons.
Where did you play college ball?
Coffey Anderson: I played at a private school called Howard Payne University and we were The Yellow Jackets and I was a two guard there.
Did you go out for acting roles, too, then? Did you get any acting roles?
Coffey Anderson: Well, the music kind of took - overtook everything and, now, looking at entertainment it's about branding on an entertainment level. You look at Jennifer Lopez, did great in music but she does really good in movies. Look at, you know, my - one of my people that have really influenced my life is Will Smith and look at him and what he's done in music and then he went to movies and television, as well.
So it's about doing all of them. My mother was a drama teacher and also did music, as well. So I'm just combining what she taught me and what I have in me and I want to give myself the chance to succeed in all fronts. I think that as you live you have to maximize your potential on every level. I don't think you should be just this one-trick-pony.
There seems to be less African-Americans in country music than there used to be. Now, does this discourage you or why do you think this is?
Coffey Anderson: I think that in our culture that a lot of the urban settings like BET, 106 & Park and a lot of networks, Ebony Magazine, they will show pop artists that are black and rap artists that are black more than they would show a country artist that's black.
And I don't think it's anything to do with the media, I just think that we have to be more accepting of country music in the black market. And so with me playing and singing, they say, well you did a Rhianna song. Well, I did a Rhianna song because these black kids that are in these urban settings, that is what they relate to. So then, once I get in with the umbrella, I can introduce them to Waylon Jennings.
So it's a difference and I think that every little black girl that I talk to needs to listen to 'Fancy' by Reba McEntire. I think that there's so much that country music can give to African-Americans and that we can learn from, because it's about storytelling. And when you look at gospel music and how it has strengthened us from slavery up until now, country music can do the same thing.
Who do you think will take this thing?
Coffey Anderson: Wow. Well, I think a Texan's going to take it. I really do. But let me give you my dilemma, This is the deal. When you look at what Shawn Mayer has done in the last three or four weeks, she's come on strong. The first week she was here it was hard because she was just going through a breakup. She had a lot of things that was going on with her personal life and now all that stuff is just squared away. It's put behind her and she's come on strong.
Melissa is just seizing this thing. She is just grabbing the thing by horns. She looks at it as her opportunity to get ahead and to make it happen and then you see Gabe who gave up his job, took out his retirement, came out here, rented an apartment in Nashville and everybody here has paid their dues. Everybody here deserves this thing.
So I'm pulling for a Texan because that's just how we are in Texas. We think we can secede from the United States and be fine. So we just pull for each other so my money's on a Texan.
Would you ever come back to this show and be a judge afer your career takes off?
Coffey Anderson: It depends on the situation. I love Nashville Star. I think that Nashville Star changed my life and not only made me a better person but it's also furthered my career. I believe in it. I think that the people behind it are good people and they have good hearts and they got a lot flak for adding pop music to country and things like that, but they really just wanted to broaden country music's mind and also broaden the fan-base.
So I think it's a great vision with Nashville Star and it really saved my career and it got me off the street hustling for Savannah put me in this type of setting so to be able to give the type of lifestyle that she deserves.
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