Daughtry's "September" Is Most Personal To Him

Chris Daughtry, one of the most successful Idol graduates in the show's history, and his band have debuted the music video Friday night on Vevo for their third single "September" from their platinum-selling sophomore album "Leave This Town." The single that Daughtry has said is the most personal to him and the album's title comes from a line in this song. You may also remember that song from when Daughtry performed it this on American Idol Season 9's Top 4 results show on May 12.
Penned by Daughtry with his guitarist Josh Steely, the mid-tempo bittersweet ballad is inspired by Daughtry' childhood memories growing up with his brother in a small town of 100 people in North Carolina, but knowing that someday he'd have to leave to make something of himself. "Every time I hear that song it takes me back to my summers in Lasker," Daughtry says. "I loved growing up there, but I knew I'd have leave to make something of my life." The song's lines, "Yeah, We knew we had to leave this town, But we never knew when and we never knew how, We would up here the way we are" inspired the title of the band's latest album "Leave This Town," which "explores the different paths we take in our search for transcendence." Said Daughtry: "A lot of it is about how leaps of faith can set us free or tie us down, and how we often find heartache when we run from something and redemption when we run toward something."
The video was directed by Chris Sims, and shot in an empty theater, with the band performing on stage in front of home movies of Daughtry and his family earlier this month in North Carolina. He did a creditable job, growling out the lyrics to "September," a reflective song that showed more maturity and vulnerable side of Daughtry, not as hard-charging, and waxing a bit nostalgic. Like many American Idol finalists, Daughtry had a long run as an amateur musician.
Daughtry made it to the Top 4 of American Idol season 5 and was shockingly eliminated after delivering incredible performances throughout the season, but his appearance in the final did earn him a contract with RCA, who then formed a band for him to front. Just a few months later, they released self-titled debut album. It topped the Billboard 200, and was No.1 of the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart for 14 weeks. The album was certified triple platinum (3 million copies) in just seven months, making it one of the fastest-selling debut rock albums ever. And now Daughtry's "Leave This Town" is a solid follow-up to his hit debut album and featured more of his signature back-to-basics modern rock sounds.