Nov. 28--Erstwhile "American Idol" winner Lee DeWyze may be playing for smaller audiences these days, but he still drew screaming teens and super-fans to his show at the Elk Grove Village tree-lighting ceremony Friday evening.
Pam Brunnett came in from Boston, joining fellow DeWyze enthusiasts Kelly Peet, of St. Paul, Kirsten Petersen, of Palatine, and Thea Wasil, of Bolingbrook. The group became friends through their shared appreciation for the singer-songwriter who was famously working in a paint store in Mount Prospect, his hometown, when he entered the singing competition.
"We travel all over," said Petersen, who boasted that she's seen DeWyze perform more than 60 times. "We saw him in California this year. We're going to Ohio."
"This is my 47th show," added Peet. "He's so passionate about what he does, whether there's 10 fans or 1,000."
Friday, a well-bundled crowd of about 150 gathered in the snow to listen to DeWyze and a three-person band play Christmas carols and some of his own songs before the local holiday tree-lighting commenced.
DeWyze, ever gracious to his audience, expressed gratitude for his regular fans in a brief chat with the Tribune before his performance.
"It's the best," he said. "Even those shows when I think, 'Why do I do this?' -- I see them there and think, 'That's why.' I love them."
DeWyze, 29, is the first celebrity Elk Grove Village has invited to perform at its annual tree-lighting, said Mayor Craig Johnson, who added that DeWyze's father used to be his mailman. Johnson said local leaders want to do something special to kick off 2016, when the community will celebrate its 60th anniversary.
DeWyze won the ninth season of "American Idol" in 2010 but, like many past winners, has had only modest success since and was dropped from his record label a short time later. DeWyze said Friday that has signed with a new label but couldn't yet reveal which one.
Whatever path the folk-rocker's career takes from here, Wasil and company seem prepared to follow.
"His music is the best," she gushed. "And he's a very down-to-earth person."
Jamie Greco is a freelance reporter.
