At the age of 25, Rex Goudie has already experienced more than many young artists ever will. Auditioning for Canadian Idol in 2005 on a dare, the 19 year old came in second place in the contest, and went on to release two albums: Under The Lights in December 2005 and Look Closer a year later in 2006. Keeping with his release-an-album-in-December trend, and never mind the slight delay, Goudie releases 100 Pages Later on December 7th.

"Right after the show was done, it was into the studio right away. I didn’t know what to expect from any of it," Goudie told GayCalgary & Edmonton Magazine. "To turn around an album in a couple of months is pretty unheard of. I went on tour and they optioned a second record. I thought, great I have some time to do it and they said, no we want it out on December 14th. So it was three months to write and record again. With the third record I took a fair bit of time, it has been four years since my last release. Having taken the time to be introspective with the music and decide exactly how I wanted to record it, it translates a lot better than the first two records."

Goudie was in Calgary recently with stops at Mount Royal University and SAIT, on a promotional concert tour for the album. Between Calgary shows he drove up to Edmonton for a show at NAIT. This was during the first big snowstorm in Calgary, but the Newfoundlander was up for the challenge.

"It has gone pretty smoothly. It has opened up my eyes to a different way of touring, it is just two of us in a car: me and Billy the Kid. It has been pretty nice to do the coast-to-coast drive. Canada is a gorgeous country even in winter. We get to drive around and do a show every night. When we were driving around Calgary the other night, there was a lot of snow on the ground, but growing up in Newfoundland with four or five feet of snow you learn how to drive on it."

100 Pages Later is the first time that Goudie has been himself on an album. A complaint by artists who do come through the Idol franchise is that of being "Pigeonholed" into a certain sound or style by the label; songs are written for them, and they are not able to express themselves. This has resulted in a poor post-idol showing for a lot of talented artists.

"That was entirely my experience and an accurate observation. With the Idol franchise I guess the record label feels that you don’t know anything, and I can appreciate that. But they push you to be exactly what you are on TV and never change and push that market. With 100 Pages Later, I had time to develop my own sound. It is definitely the most personal and true-to-self record I have done so far."

On November 25th, 2007, Goudie announced that SonyBMG had dropped him, writing on his MySpace, "Here’s what’s goin’ on. As most of you probably know, I’ve been dropped off of SBMG’s roster. No biggie, I can survive." Having started his own independent label, Goudie was involved in all aspects of the new album.

"There were a lot more people to answer to with Sony. It is great all the built-in marketing that comes when they are doing their job, but I was handcuffed into doing exactly what they say. Being my own boss and starting my own label to release this record independently, I had more leeway and control and learned a lot about what goes on behind the scenes. Everything came down to if I approved it or not - that was a damn good feeling."

In addition to the glare of the spotlight on himself as an individual, he also had to deal with being in a public relationship. Although it was kept quiet early on, the pair did eventually go public. The challenges of their careers made it difficult to keep the relationship going, and it eventually ended.

"As much as anybody can say that we tried to keep business and personal lives separate, it is kind of impossible sometimes. We were on tour together, there was all sorts of speculation around us before we said we were in a relationship, everyone was asking questions. I didn’t want to be tabloid friendly stuff. Both of us were very young and had a lot to work out in our lives. Part of the reason why it ended, but also why we were together, was because we went through a big stepping stone in our lives at the same time."

Goudie wrote the song Burn It Down about the end of this relationship.

"I was in Nashville when I was writing it. The fellow I was writing with had written on Melissa’s first record and both of mine. Every morning I got up, and it was a fresh wound at this point, and I would walk through the door and see her gold record on his wall - a fresh reminder of who’s not in your life. That is the beauty of music, that you can release what is on your mind without having to go and say it. The song is quite literal, it is exactly what happened the moment she said she was done. The second verse I wrote on a cruise ship that I go on every year. I was in the same stateroom she and I had shared a year before. It was exactly what I felt when I woke up that morning."

His personal life is a big influence on his songs. Save My Life is about his brother working the oilfields in Alberta, while Get Out Of My Head deals with the trials of his father being an independent businessman.

"I have a very close family. My brother and my Uncle’s personal experiences, they are what anyone experiences when you are away from home, where your heart is. I identified with it myself, living in Toronto and wanting to get back to the island as fast as possible. Even the stories that come from my family, Get Out Of My Head was about my Dad being owed by a company an exorbitant amount of money for his trucking. As much as he couldn’t do anything about it, just writing that song from his perspective helped him say what he wanted to say."

On Idol, Goudie was the man of many nicknames, including "Rowdy Goudie" and "Sexy Rexy." Initially being a 19 year old heart throb had its downfalls for Goudie as an artist, but now the more mature Rex finds it not an issue.

" I have been playing small college venues and people come to see the Canadian Idol guy play the same junk pop music that we’ve heard forever. Being able to say I wrote every song on this record and just go up there with a guitar and play them and have it translate well, that helps immensely to get over that heartthrob stigma and stereotype."

His current tour takes him across Canada, wrapping up in Newfoundland December 19th. He’s unsure what the future holds after the album comes out. 100 Pages Later is fantastic, and he hopes others will pick it up for Christmas.

"I am going to take a few weeks off in January and spend time at home with my family. I am back on the coast now - finally got a chance to move back about a month ago. I am not really good at bragging, but this is the most honest body of work I have done in five years of being a professional musician. Anybody who wants to find out exactly who I am, [it] is right there on the record, which would be a good reason to put that in someone’s Christmas stocking this year."