LAKEISHA JONES IS 'SO GLAD' ABOUT IT: 'American Idol' contestant releases debut disc.

       “I’m just taking it one day at a time and letting things unfold,” Jones told EUR’s Lee Bailey and reflected on her days on the “American Idol” stage.

      “Every time I get a chance to watch the new season, the whole process is memorable for me,” she reminisced. “That platform basically allowed me the opportunity to do what I’m doing right now. I had a great experience and I won’t’ forget it. It certainly opened doors for me that otherwise wouldn’t have been opened. I’m grateful.”

      Unbeknownst to many, Jones actually tried out for the talent completion a few years before being invited to Hollywood for season six.

      “I tried out in 2003 and I didn’t make it. I didn’t tell a lot of people,” she said.

      Shortly after the failed audition, she packed her bags and headed to Baltimore, near family, after being laid off from her job in Houston – but not before taking 2nd place in Houston’s “Gimme the Mic” competition in 2005.  

      “I was working at a bank (in Baltimore) and I had shown them a tape of when I did ‘Gimme the Mic.’ My supervisor told me I should try out for ‘American Idol’ and I didn’t want to tell him that I already had,” she said.

      Jones’ bank boss insisted that she go to New York to audition, so much so that he gave her money for gas and food. She drove to New York, with her young daughter, stood in line, auditioned, and made it to L.A. for the show and eventually to the final four contestants. Jones never returned to her job at the bank – with blessing of her boss and coworkers, of course.

      “It was definitely a blessing. I had only been at the job for four weeks,” she said.

      On May 19, Jones releases her debut disc that she’s titled “So Glad I’m Me.”

      “I am glad to be who God made me to be,” she said of selecting the title of the disc. “I think so many times, when you’re trying to break into the industry, a lot of people are trying to mimic certain people or want to look a certain way. Well, with Lakisha Jones, what you see is what you get. It’s too hard to be two different people. I am so glad to be the size I am, the way I look and being LaKisha Jones. This is who God made me.”

      She assured that her take on life and the title by no means means she considers herself perfect.

      “It means that I am LaKisha Jones; I am not trying to be Beyonce, not trying to be Ciara, not trying to anybody, but me. I don’t want to be anybody else. God made me special. This is me and I’m glad to be that,” she said.

     Jones also talked about the inspirational track “Grateful” which reveals even more of what and how she’s thankful.

      “I’m grateful for having the opportunity that I had, and now being able to do what I’ve always wanted to do, which was to take care of my child and do that by singing. I’m grateful for all the people that voted me on the show. I’m grateful to be alive. I’m grateful for my life, my health and strength. That’s where that song came from.”

      The song, which was the last to be added to the disc, has gospel and spiritual undertones. While Jones explained that she didn’t really have gospel designs for the album, she knows that the track’s message lends itself to an inspirational feel.

      “Right before ‘Idol’ I was laid off from my job. My car got repossessed. I moved to Baltimore and didn’t have any money. I went from that point to living out my dream. I came off of ‘Idol’ and I bought a house for me and my child, I got a car, I’ve done Broadway. I can’t believe it, but I’m so grateful. I’m so grateful, thank you, thank you, thank you. It’s just that type of song. It ain’t nobody, but God, and I’m so thankful. It just pours into that.”

      The first single, “Let’s Go Celebrate” is rather upbeat with a moderate tempo, while Jones is most known as a ballad songbird from her days on “Idol.”

      “This CD is a little different for me,” the now married Jones told us. “I’m a ballad singer. I love slow, powerhouse, all-in-your-face singing. This CD is different for me because [it] doesn’t have a lot of that. It kind of shows a different side of me.”

      The recording process was also a little different for Jones, too. She began recording “So Glad I’m Me” about a year and a half ago just as she was starting work on “The Color Purple.” The disc was pieced together from studio time in Los Angeles, Houston, and Cleveland.

      “I can definitely say that I don’t like the recording process,” she revealed. “I love singing live, but with the recording process, the decisions that have to be made, then other people have their opinion – it’s something. You have people who want you to be who they want you to be and not who you are. I’m very strong in my convictions about being who I am.”

      For more on LaKisha Jones and her new disc, “So Glad I’m Me,” check out www.lakishajones.com or www.myspace.com/lakishajonesmusic.  

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