I watched Kelly and fellow contestant Justin Guarini belt out different songs in front of judges Paula, Randy, and Simon. America had to vote. We had to dial the number of our favorite singer that week on a landline. Text messages for 10 cents did not arrive until the second season. What a time to be alive!
Felissa Battle, my good friend and fellow English teacher at Fike High School, would text back and forth with me on our Blackberries about the show. In the fourth season, I was all for Bo Bice beating Carrie Underwood. It wasn't until Felissa told me to listen to Carrie’s first single, “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” that I realized how wrong I had been.
My interest began to wane at the end of the fifth season, the one in which Chris Daughtry exited the show in fourth place. Taylor Hicks won that season, and, quite frankly, I was never the same. We all felt America got it wrong.
I have been a Daughtry fan since then. I will admit that my tastes in music have changed, and I stopped listening to his music regularly. That’s about growing up, right? Still, I have my own “All Daughtry” playlist on Amazon Music, which I regularly update with his new songs I like.
Musicians that we enjoyed in the past are like old friends who stop by for a visit to talk about old times. They aren’t really there with us, but they bring back memories we shared a long time ago. When we listen to the old music, we go back to who we were.
So, sitting three rows from the Capital Music Hall stage, staring at a microphone stand adorned with pink roses that wound their way to the bottom where a huge skull rested on the floor looking at the audience, I had to take a picture to text to Felissa.
STOKED ME: Wheeling. Chris Daughtry. 20 years unplugged.
FELISSA: Oh. That should be so good!!!
When I heard Daughtry was coming to Wheeling, excitement sent me to the website to buy a ticket, the best one I could find. This concert was going to be perfect. He brought a more intimate setting with all-acoustic instruments and a dark, candlelit stage. He came to reminisce with all of us about his twenty-year journey in music.
I did not care that I was a 60-something concertgoer. I dropped any pretense of being out of place and bought a Daughtry: 20 Years Unplugged concert shirt. I settled into my seat with a Pepsi and stale popcorn, awaiting a reunion with an old friend - myself.
Throughout the concert, my visiting friend Chris told me about how life had filled him with incredible joy and tremendous sadness, the kind of stuff that happens to many of us. He shared how the stories connected so much to the songs he had written and performed over the years. Chris did not disappoint.
Beyond enjoying the songs, I found that his wholehearted transparency about his life gave me the freedom to reflect on the moments that connected me to his songs over the years. Ironically, the show was not just a twenty-year retrospective for him but one for me as well. Sure, I felt the connection found in my seat’s proximity to the stage. But the connection went beyond that.
Chris’ music took me back to times of hope, loneliness, and a deep longing for home. The story behind one song was particularly poignant. The song is “September.” In his story, he talked about how much this song captured the feelings and emotions of leaving his home in North Carolina to take his music career to the next level.
Summer's never looked the same
The years go by and time just seems to fly
But the memories remain.
In the middle of September, we'd still play out in the rain
Nothing to lose, but everything to gain
Reflecting now on how things could've been
It was worth it in the end.”
As I grow older, I think about how time pulled me out of the carefree nature of youth where life seemed simpler. It pushed me to change, to make adult decisions, to move forward into adulthood, whether I wanted to or not. That is life, and to be honest, sometimes life feels fantastic, while other times, it does not feel too good.
Chris reminded me in this song that, despite all the changes I have experienced in my life, there are things time can never take away. Those are the memories and the feelings of freedom and promise that life held in my youth. Those are also the memories of people and places I have met and been to throughout my life. Those memories will always be there as a constant friend and companion that time can never take away.
I am glad I can always look back. I revisit them every time I hear a song like “September.” Thanks for the visit, Chris Daughtry.
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