Kendall Phillips: 'There's a country song for every situation'

By Odeya Pinkus
Country singer/songwriter Kendall Phillips, who will be performing at Music in the Park on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., talked to the Courier about her musical journey.
When did you start playing music?
From the time I was four years old on a stage, My mom entered me in all sorts of signing competitions and fairs and such, but professionally since I was 16 after I did American Idol.
Was it crazy to be on American Idol that young?
It was insane. I mean it was my first real experience of what the entertainment industry is like and it definitely gave me a thicker skin and gave me a lot of exposure, and that was an invaluable stepping stone in my career.
Who was your favorite judge?
Honestly I think Simon was the one that put me through to Hollywood, he was the one that really offered constructive criticism to help me become a better artist, and he was the one that believed in me and told me, “You’re young, and don’t take it to heart what people say but if you work really hard you’re going to be an artist worth watching.”
What was it like going through the American idol process?
The first experience was beautiful but it was hellacious at the same time. A lot of not sleeping, a lot of just tension. There’s just so much behind the scenes that you don’t actually see on TV, that I think it’s less of a talent competition and more of a reality television show — which is nothing negative to say about the show at all. The show gave me my jumpstart and I’m eternally grateful for that. When I went back this time around, there were 16-year-olds, 15-year-olds who were devastated by something, and I’m like, "Sweetie, your talent is beyond amazing but you just didn’t have a great story or you just didn’t blend well with the background." There are so many things that are trivial like that that have to do with reality television, that you don’t think about when you’re 16.
What is it like to hear yourself on the radio?
As far as just driving along and then hearing my song pop on, that’s only ever happened once, and it was awesome, and I almost wrecked my car. People were probably like "What is she doing, get this moron off the road," but I was excited.
When kind of things do you write about, what inspires you?
I write all sorts of songs. Sometimes I’m like, oh I love this and it’s extremely personal but it’s not very commercial, and so I scratch that. I have thousands of songs that I’ve written and only a few of them I feel like are really, really good songs. I have songs I’ve written for other people. I write different genres. I’m a country singer but I still write songs that I think would be cool pop songs, or R&B songs, or Broadway songs. I travel all the time, touring, so most of the time it’s just what pops into your head at 12:30 at night when you’re on the road and you’re exhausted. It’s a different process, each song. Sometimes it starts with a guitar, sometimes it starts with lyrics. Sometimes it’s just how you’re feeling.
What do you think is the biggest defining factor of what country music is?
I would say just the stories behind the music. When I write a pop song it’s more what rhymes and what’s catchy, but when I write a country song it’s what am I feeling, and how can I make somebody else know that they are not alone. And it doesn’t matter if you’re out partying, it doesn’t matter if your heart’s broken, it doesn’t matter if you are a first-time mother and you’re terrified. I mean there’s country songs for every one of those situations and it’s what soundtrack do you want in your life when you’re going through that experience.
What is your favorite part about touring?
Two things, just about everywhere I go I get deep-fried Oreos, which is really awesome. If you’ve never had that you should try them — they will change your life, I promise. And then just getting to meet the people, and getting to experience what each city has to offer. If I get a rare day off, I love to just go out and explore.