Occasionally, American Idol winners are able to maintain a presence in the mainstream Pop music universe. And sometimes the winners seemingly disappear. But every now and then a TV singing-competition winner will go back to the music career they’d started before the hoopla, using the exposure as a lift, but not relying on it. Lee DeWyze, who won Idol’s ninth season, had a couple of albums under his belt before the show. While RCA Records let the singer/songwriter’s Idol-facilitated contract expire after one album, DeWyze’s folksy, acoustic-based Pop Rock sound (which is often compared to Mumford & Sons) caught the attention of Vangaurd Records, which released his Frames album in 2013 to generally positive reviews. DeWyze got another boost from TV when his “Blackbird Song” was featured in an episode of The Walking Dead and appeared on the popular show’s soundtrack last year.
8:15 p.m. Saturday. $15-$50. Live at the Ludlow Garage, 342 Ludlow Ave., Clifton, liveattheludlowgarage.com.
This article appears in Nov 18-24, 2015.