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Singing sailor’s debut album out

The Navy doesn’t pay Phil Stacey to sing and dance anymore — these days, it’s his day job.

Stacey, the Navy’s ex-“American Idol” contestant and ex-frontman of Navy Band Southeast’s rock band Pride, releases his self-titled debut album today, less than a year after being voted off the Fox reality show and just a few months after moving from the active component to the reserves.

But even though Stacey told Navy Times last May that he hoped being voted off the show would get him more time with this family, “that hasn’t happened for me yet,” he said. “I’ve been on tour since the show was over.”

First, Stacey spent last summer with his other “American Idol” candidates on the 55-city “American Idols Live” tour, performing in uniform. Then, in September, he joined the Navy Reserve, and now works every few weeks at the Naval Operational Support Center in Millington, Tenn., “basically doing office stuff,” he said, “no performing.” All the while, he was recording his album, making appearances around the country and trying to make time for his wife, Kendra, and his two daughters.

“That schedule can be pretty hard,” Stacey said. It’s been like that for awhile — Stacey was in boot camp at Naval Station Great Lakes, Mich., when his first daughter was born, and he missed the birth of his second daughter to audition for “American Idol.” So Kendra gets a special shout-out in Stacey’s first single, a ballad called “If You Didn’t Love Me,” and she even makes a cameo in the music video.

(The Navy gets a shout-out, too: the main character in the video is a man in a “Navy” T-shirt shown coming home with a sea bag over his shoulder.)

The rest of the songs on the album represent a variety of country-music flavors, Stacey said, although overall “it’s definitely got a rock flare to it.”

“Each one of the songs represents a story out of my life. Musically, the range is pretty broad: there’s some hard-hitting stuff, some very gentle stuff. Overall, I think after you listen to it, it’s a feel-good record.”

Stacey said he doesn’t mind that his identity as an artist, for most people, comes from his time on “Idol.”

“This whole ride started with ‘American Idol,’” he said. “I’m not anywhere near upset that people relate me to the show. I haven’t thought about a strategy to break away; I’m just enjoying the time I have to share this music with people.”

Watch the “If You Didn’t Love Me” music video