Scotty McCreery has never been to 蜜柚直播, but a buddy of his filled him in on the University of 蜜柚直播 and the town.
His buddy: Former UA Wildcat Rawle Alkins.
From what Alkins told him, 鈥淚t seems like it鈥檚 a great town,鈥 he said.
So how does a choir kid from North Carolina become friends with a top recruit basketball player and now NBA hopeful from Queens, New York?
Timing.
Alkins played basketball his senior year in high school in neighboring Raleigh, a stone鈥檚 throw from McCreery鈥檚 hometown of Garner.
鈥淗e played basketball at Word of God in Raleigh for a little bit and I got to meet him,鈥 he said.
Too bad Alkins is no longer on the UA Wildcats roster; he would likely have made a great tour guide when McCreery performs his first-ever 蜜柚直播 concert on Wednesday, Oct. 24, with UA Presents. The concert at Centennial Hall on the UA campus is the first country concert programmed in the UA鈥檚 performing arts series.
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McCreery, the season 10 winner of 鈥淎merican Idol鈥 in 2011 when he was 17, comes here with his monster ballad 鈥淔ive More Minutes.鈥 The song, off his months-old album 鈥淪easons Change,鈥 is his first No. 1 in his seven-year career. It鈥檚 his third studio album 鈥 he also released a holiday album 鈥 and his first on the small Sony imprint Thirty Tigers.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e been kicking butt. They鈥檝e had three No. 1s in a row as of this week,鈥 the 25-year-old said of the small label. 鈥淚 honestly like it a heck of a lot better (than being on a major label.) I feel like they pay attention to me and we get things done.鈥
The irony is he pitched 鈥淔ive More Minutes鈥 to his old label, Mercury Nashville, but they rejected it.
鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 want to put it out,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 see, I guess. I loved it. The day I wrote it I tweeted out, 鈥業 think I just wrote my favorite song.鈥 I was all about it. This new label I鈥檓 with, they heard it and I think there was some tears shed. And they said this is the one. It鈥檚 just cool to have folks support you.鈥
McCreery was inspired to write the song after his grandfather died. He was sharing his feelings of the loss with his co-writers when one of them, Monty Criswell, said, 鈥淢an, it鈥檚 just like you want five more minutes to talk to the guy.鈥
鈥淭hat鈥檚 kinda where the title came from,鈥 McCreery said.
The song immediately struck a universal chord.
鈥淚 think everybody can relate to it,鈥 McCreery said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those things, everybody knows what it is to love and to lose somebody, a friend, a family member or even just a memory from school that folks just want to go back to. ... I think that鈥檚 what country music is all about, real people telling real life stories.鈥
McCreery wrote all of the songs on 鈥淪easons,鈥 including the latest single 鈥淭his Is It,鈥 which is in Billboard鈥檚 Top 30 county charts and climbing.
鈥淚t just feels different with this record, different than the other two,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t came from the heart, it came from my mind of where I was at that day. Every time I sing it it just feels real. The albums before we just kind of threw on songs based on if they sounded cool or not. With this one, there鈥檚 a lot more heart.鈥
McCreery said his live shows are energetic parties that celebrate how far he鈥檚 come in his relatively short career.
鈥淲e鈥檙e where we should be,鈥 said McCreery, who calls 2018 the best year of his life in part because of the record鈥檚 success and because he recently married his high school sweetheart. 鈥淲e finally rung the bell and got our first No. 1. Things are careening in the right direction. It鈥檚 feeling good; I can鈥檛 ask for much more. We鈥檝e been having a blast.鈥