Part of reaching your dreams is simply hard work and knowingyour trade, said American Idol finalist Chris Sligh during his stopin Brookhaven Thursday.

Sligh, 30, was eliminated from American Idol’s Season 6 on March28, 2007.

Since then, he has climbed the ranks of contemporary Christianmusic. His single “Empty Me” rose to number six on the Christianmusic charts.

The Franklin, Tenn., resident said the NewSong Christmas TourCelebration, which stopped at Brookhaven’s Easthaven Baptist ChurchThursday night, has been a great opportunity to get to know hisfellow artists. The tour also includes contemporary Christianartists NewSong, Rush of Fools and Ayiesha Woods.

“We’ve done six stops so far,” he said. “They’re all kind of thesame sometimes, so the best part has been hanging out with friendsand making new ones, as well as getting to perform an originalChristmas song I wrote for the troops overseas.”

Sligh said he grew up a minister’s son, and through his life hehas been a worship leader and a youth pastor. He said “Empty Me”was not only about his experience under the bright lights of”American Idol,” but he also wanted it to be a song that listenerscould all relate to on a very personal level.

“I wanted to deal with it in a universal way,” he said. “It’sbasically a prayer to be emptied of ourselves and filled withChrist.”

Part of his ascension, he said, was knowing what he wanted – andthat was a life in music.

“I don’t know that I so much saw myself working with thesespecific guys,” he said. “But my goal was to make a living doingmusic full-time, and now I’m living that dream.”

It takes heart and practice, he said, to even start to move upthe ranks of the music scene.

“American Idol” was a good opportunity, but he said he’d alreadywritten two award-winning songs that were still not good enough toget recorded. The point, he stressed, is to keep working.

“I just kept trying to take what I learned from experience andapply it to practice,” he said. “It’s about learning your craft andworking hard at learning more every day.”

And the “Idol” experience was something Sligh said is hard foranyone besides “Idol” contestants to understand.

“Outside of those 24 people, I don’t think anyone can reallyidentify with the pressure, or the fun, or the elation you feelwhen you’re up there,” he said. “I don’t think I even realized thepressure until I’d been off for a few weeks.”

And Sligh said that in spite of the fact that he was a littleunder the weather during the time he was in Brookhaven, he enjoyedhis brief stay in the Homeseeker’s Paradise.

“I haven’t gotten to see a lot of it,” he said. “But we went tothe drug store, and it was nice, and I really liked Rusty’s FamilyRestaurant, where we went for dinner. Everything I’ve seen, it’s anice town.”