Lacey Brown

Lacey Elizabeth Brown  (born August 13, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, violinist, painter, model and fashion designer. She is from Amarillo, Texas. She was the twelfth place finalist on the ninth season of American Idol.

Early life
Born on August 13, 1985, Brown is the daughter of the pastors of Victory Church, a local Christian Church, in Amarillo. There, she served as Venue (Victory's college-aged group) director and taught civics and Christian values to Victory's internship students. During her childhood, she learned how to play the violin. She also spent time in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she had Bible schooling. Her education includes studying art. Her musical influences include folk and country, as well as rock music, such as Lady Antebellum, Kings of Leon, Coldplay, and U2, apart from Patsy Cline, Joni Mitchell, Dolly Parton, and Pete Yorn.

American Idol
Brown first auditioned for the eighth season of American Idol, where she made it into the Top 54 of the Hollywood rounds. Brown later auditioned in Orlando, Florida with the song "Over the Rainbow", from The Wizard of Oz, by Judy Garland. The judges all loved her performance, including guest judge Kristin Chenoweth, and she made it through to the next round. During Hollywood week, her performance of "What a Wonderful World" was featured as a montage for contestants who made it to the Top 24. She performed "Landslide" on the first night of the semi-finals but did not impress the judges. The judges did not like her performance of "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer during the second week. Despite this, it was well received by the band's lead singer, Leigh Nash. Her cover of Brandi Carlile's "The Story", on the final night before the finals, was considered to be better. Brown eventually made it to the Top 12.

Brown's performance of "Ruby Tuesday" by The Rolling Stones (she stated that her version is the one by Melanie Safka), was described by the judges as not having energy, but Simon Cowell added that there was nothing wrong with her vocals. Brown was eliminated from the show on March 17, 2010. The song "What a Wonderful World" was played at the beginning of the episode, with a montage of the Top 12's journey, setting the tone for her elimination. Her elimination caused problems after Ryan Seacrest tweeted the results. Angry fans did not watch the show which had "the smallest audience among 18-49 year-olds for a regularly scheduled in-season episode in "Idol" history".

Brown thanked her fans for their support and plans to return to her hometown, after doing interviews in New York. She says she will try acting (from a criticism to her by Simon Cowell) as well as a career in music. In her final moments on the show, she said she might try country music although her MySpace page lists "pop" and "folk" as her genres. A notable line of Brown in the show was: "You've got to take no's and turn them into yes'es"

Performances/results

Career after Idol
After leaving Idol, Brown gave several media interviews with Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, People, several Fox affiliates, MTV, E!, with Ryan Seacrest on his radio show (On Air with Ryan Seacrest), with Ellen DeGeneres on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, along with several in New York, including the Wendy Williams Show and The Late Show with David Letterman, where she performed "What a Wonderful World". Among the finalists, her closest friends are Paige Miles and Lee DeWyze although she is friends with all of them including Siobhan Magnus and Katie Stevens. She said in these interviews that she is planning to continue her career in music but she is also open to any offers that may come to her. She now lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She released an EP entitled Let It Go on May 31, 2011. In 2011, Brown signed a management contract with Tracy Lawrence and she will be touring at the CMA Fest in Nashville in June 2011.

Discography

Let It Go (2011)

The alternative country EP Let It Go, with five songs on it, was released on May 31, 2011 through the independent (self-owned) record label LEB Records. Brown's voice was described as a mix "...of sweet, yet haunting tones with a hint of Brenda Lee". Her writing style was described as "...pop lyrics resting on a bed of American Bluegrass."

Track listing
The official track listing released through the iTunes Store and Amazon.com on 31 May 2011.

References

Other websites
Lacey Brown  at American Idol
Lacey Brown at FOX News Radio

1985 births
American Christians
Models from Texas
American painters
Singer-songwriters from Texas
Living people
American Idol contestants
People from Amarillo, Texas