Phillip Phillips coming to Santa Rosa’s Wells Fargo Center Phillip Phillips coming to Santa Rosa’s Wells Fargo Center (w/video)

Listening to Phillip Phillips’ hit recordings isn’t adequate preparation for hearing the singer and songwriter talk. There’s a bit of a twang in his conversation that’s not on the discs.

“I talk really country,” he said in rich Georgia accent, “so people think I’m a country singer, but I’m not, really.”

Instead, the 24-year-old winner of season 11’s talent competition on “American Idol” delivers new songs he either writes or co-writes, with fresh lyrics that are literate, succinct and powerful.

For example, consider this line from “Home”: “Pay no mind to the demons; they fill you with fear.”

Touring westward, on his way to a nearly sold-out show Friday, Dec. 12, at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Phillips took time to talk on the phone about his career and his work.

Q: Your tour has six dates in California, ending with your show in Santa Rosa, before you head for Canada, is that right?

A: Yeah, I’m on the bus right now, watching the road pass me by.

Q: That sounds like a lyric.

A: Thank you.

Q: Have you played in California much before?

A: Not really. I played a couple of dates with John Mayer in California, but not headlining or anything.

Q: Do you still live in Georgia now that you’re a national name?

A: I still live in Georgia. That’s my home. I love Georgia. I’m from Leesburg and Albany. I’ve kind of figured out there’s quite a few places that I would love to live, but all my family and friends are there. When I have vacation, I usually just go home.

Q: Other “American Idol” winners from the South seem to play a lot of country music, but you don’t. Why is that?

A: I love old country music like Charlie Daniels or Hank Williams Sr. and Hank Jr., but I never got into music to be a country singer.

Q: If not country, what music do you like most?

A: I like rock. That’s what inspired me to pick up a guitar and write songs. That’s how the live show is, too. It’s rock, but not hard-core, not screaming.

Q: Your lyrics don’t sound like typical rock.

A: For me, it’s not like hard rock, but it’s not pop, either. Genres are so weird.

Q: What do you aim for when you write songs?

A: For me, it’s gotta be honest. There are some artists who just want to have songs out there. But you’ve gotta to show people who you are, and let people get to know you as a musician, singer and songwriter. Maybe somehow they’ll connect with a song that you’ve written. They don’t want to just hear it; they want to feel it. This new album really shows that.

Q: “Behind the Light” is your second album. What did you try to achieve with it?

A: It’s not all happy music. It has some sadness to it, and a little bit of a darker side. “Raging Fire” is the first single off the new album.

Q: How do you go about crafting such powerful lyrics?

A: You just get lucky. It’s hard work, but then you get those lines, or that phrase, and it really works. Then you’re pretty blessed to have that to call yours.

Q: You grew up working in your parent’s pawn shop. Is that where you got your first guitar?

A: Yes, that’s where I got my first guitar, and I’m still playin’ it.

Q: What’s your ultimate career goal?

A: I just want to keep writing songs and recording and touring and playing live shows.

You can reach staff writer Dan Taylor at 521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. Read his Arts blog at arts.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.

Listening to Phillip Phillips’ hit recordings isn’t adequate preparation for hearing the singer and songwriter talk. There’s a bit of a twang in his conversation that’s not on the discs.

“I talk really country,” he said in rich Georgia accent, “so people think I’m a country singer, but I’m not, really.”

Instead, the 24-year-old winner of season 11’s talent competition on “American Idol” delivers new songs he either writes or co-writes, with fresh lyrics that are literate, succinct and powerful.

For example, consider this line from “Home”: “Pay no mind to the demons; they fill you with fear.”

Touring westward, on his way to a nearly sold-out show Friday, Dec. 12, at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Phillips took time to talk on the phone about his career and his work.

Q: Your tour has six dates in California, ending with your show in Santa Rosa, before you head for Canada, is that right?

A: Yeah, I’m on the bus right now, watching the road pass me by.

Q: That sounds like a lyric.

A: Thank you.

Q: Have you played in California much before?

A: Not really. I played a couple of dates with John Mayer in California, but not headlining or anything.

Q: Do you still live in Georgia now that you’re a national name?

A: I still live in Georgia. That’s my home. I love Georgia. I’m from Leesburg and Albany. I’ve kind of figured out there’s quite a few places that I would love to live, but all my family and friends are there. When I have vacation, I usually just go home.

Q: Other “American Idol” winners from the South seem to play a lot of country music, but you don’t. Why is that?

A: I love old country music like Charlie Daniels or Hank Williams Sr. and Hank Jr., but I never got into music to be a country singer.

Q: If not country, what music do you like most?

A: I like rock. That’s what inspired me to pick up a guitar and write songs. That’s how the live show is, too. It’s rock, but not hard-core, not screaming.

Q: Your lyrics don’t sound like typical rock.

A: For me, it’s not like hard rock, but it’s not pop, either. Genres are so weird.

Q: What do you aim for when you write songs?

A: For me, it’s gotta be honest. There are some artists who just want to have songs out there. But you’ve gotta to show people who you are, and let people get to know you as a musician, singer and songwriter. Maybe somehow they’ll connect with a song that you’ve written. They don’t want to just hear it; they want to feel it. This new album really shows that.

Q: “Behind the Light” is your second album. What did you try to achieve with it?

A: It’s not all happy music. It has some sadness to it, and a little bit of a darker side. “Raging Fire” is the first single off the new album.

Q: How do you go about crafting such powerful lyrics?

A: You just get lucky. It’s hard work, but then you get those lines, or that phrase, and it really works. Then you’re pretty blessed to have that to call yours.

Q: You grew up working in your parent’s pawn shop. Is that where you got your first guitar?

A: Yes, that’s where I got my first guitar, and I’m still playin’ it.

Q: What’s your ultimate career goal?

A: I just want to keep writing songs and recording and touring and playing live shows.

You can reach staff writer Dan Taylor at 521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. Read his Arts blog at arts.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.