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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Blake Lewis takes control of his music 12/5/07 • First album showcases Lewis' skills 12/5/07   CONTACT THE HERALD Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com   Published: Wednesday, June 6, 2007 'Idol' finalist updates beat boxing style By Glenn Gamboa / Newsday It looks as if Blake Lewis isn't content just bringing beat boxing to a wider audience. The "American Idol" runner-up plans to take a whole suite of electronics on this summer's tour that will allow him to record loops live onstage and then use them as the backdrop of his performance. He unveiled the process on "Live With Regis and Kelly" last week, using the loops as the backbeat for Maroon 5's "She Will Be Loved" and then using other loops to sing harmony with himself. Lewis says he had been using the electronics setup before "Idol" and is looking forward to using it on the tour. It will undoubtedly be a new musical technique to most of his audience. Just like beat boxing, though, it didn't start with Lewis. Singer-songwriter Howie Day, best known these days as Britney Spears' possible new boyfriend, used it on his early tours, back when he was on stage to support such hits as "Perfect Time of Day" and "Collide." But it was singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur who helped bring it into the rock world in the late '90s on tours for his breakthrough albums "Big City Secrets" and "Come to Where I'm From" (Real World/Virgin). Arthur has ironically just started touring with a full band, The Lonely Astronauts, to replace all the electronic looping, but maybe he and Lewis could go head-to-head using the loops the way Lewis took on Doug E. Fresh with beat boxing in the May 23 "Idol" finale.

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