By Jeff Matthews

I have something to admit. I am one of those people who hadn’t heard the name “Kris Allen” before January of this year. A lot of you that are reading this probably hadn’t either. Show of hands now, how many are glad you have heard it now? I know I am.

Kris is not unlike many talented people. The kind you will see in a coffee shop with a guitar and a little room to work. The kind you will see in an apartment with friends playing and singing. The kind you would see in front a group of peers leading them in a time of worship. 
Kris IS unlike so many of those people in one sense….he listened. He listened when his brother, Daniel, and his friend, Cale Mills, wanted him to audition for American Idol. So he got in a car for Louisville, Ky. He had no way to know that those 585 miles would change his life forever and impact the lives of so many Arkansans.
My view of Kris Allen mania has been a little unique, I suppose. Being one of the hosts of a morning radio show that focuses so much attention on American Idol has allowed me to hear from thousands of Arkansans as they have ridden the wave of excitement.

At a time when many Arkansans are losing jobs and taking cuts in pay, Kris Allen gave people in Central Arkansas something to be excited about. Not to say that people have forgotten “real life” – but the reprieve that music can offer has been real, only this time it is being made by a young man that grew up knowing what it meant to live with 501 as the first three digits of your phone number.
As much as I love that his success has been a source of positive energy for adults – they are not the Arkansans that I am most excited about. I think about the young people of our state who have an ear for music, who love and sense the art of music. I love that they are getting hope.
Just like every football player won’t grow up to play major college football and in the National Football League, not every young person with a guitar will grow up to be on American Idol. But maybe, just maybe, now they will be encouraged to practice a little harder, to create more art, to develop a creativeness that maybe otherwise wouldn’t have flourished. 
Kris Allen has, without trying I think, given a new generation of Arkansans the license to go ahead and dream big – and who doesn’t want to dream big?
So as this chapter of Kris’ life comes to an end and he moves forward with what I think is going to be a fantastic career in the world of music – I know we can rest assured that Kris Allen will be making music and that we will be listening.

Check out more pics at our Life in Pics page: http://501adsandmags.zenfolio.com/