For Phil Stacey, there was life before his Grand Ole Opry debut, and then there was life after.

“It was life-changing for me,” he said. “I went from the day before, when someone would come up to me and say, ‘Where do I know you from?’ It was ‘Oh, I was on “American Idol.”’ The next day, I’m a country singer.”

It was a transformative experience for the performer — a Navy veteran and former “American Idol” contestant who is set to headline Saturday’s festivities at Joplin’s Boomtown Days.

But that’s not to say that his time on “American Idol” wasn’t important as well.

“More than anything, (‘Idol’) encouraged me to be who I am,” the Nashville resident said. “It’s not set up as an artist competition, it’s set up as a karaoke competition.

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