"American Idol" finalist Isaac Cole will be performing at Rides Bar and Grill on Friday.

A finalist from a season of “American Idol” will perform Friday night in Fort Dodge.

Country singer-songwriter Isaac Cole will sing at Rides Bar and Grill, 723 S. 31st St. The show begins at 8 p.m.

When speaking with Cole about his beginnings as an artist, he said “I started singing when I was 4 and then started playing guitar when I was 6. I’ve always wanted to do music. There hasn’t been anything else that I’ve ever wanted to do. “

“When I was in kindergarten, the teacher asked me to draw a picture of what I wanted to be when I grew up, so I drew a guy on a stage with a cowboy hat and a guitar,” he added. “It’s just always been what I’ve wanted to do my entire life. I’ve strived to make that goal happen, and that’s really the only career I’ve ever wanted.”

Cole added “Between growing up and having guitar lessons and other lessons for the other instruments I had picked up along the way, pretty much my entire life has just revolved around training me for music.”

Though Cole is a country musician through and through, music genres are never as simple as a one word descriptor may lead some to believe. Cole describes his sound as “a combination between some ’80s and ’90s country influence along with some early to mid 2000s influence. I take all of that in and combine it together to create my own individual sound.”

When speaking about his performances, Cole said, “When I’m on stage and I choose a song to play, whether it be my own or a cover song, it’s because in some way or another, I feel a connection to that song. So whenever I’m playing that song in front of a crowd of people, it’s almost as if I’m giving them a window into what goes on in my soul, what goes on in my mind, and really just showing people a bit of my heart from the stage. I typically won’t sing songs willingly if I don’t have some sort of relation to the song. So I feel like I’m trying to let people get to know me while I’m playing for them. When people enjoy what I’m playing for them and I can tell they’re really loving it, that’s got to be the most blissful feeling. And it just makes me so happy that people are enjoying what I’m playing for them and they’re enjoying the hard work that I put into my music, but also they’re enjoying who I am as a person as well through the songs that I sing.”

Cole had previously played at Rides Bar and Grill back in 2019.

“It’s good to have good entertainment, be able to get out and listen to some good music and get people together,” said Corey Lombard, the owner of Rides Bar and Grill. “Doing different types of music too is always nice.”

Speaking more about Cole’s upcoming performance and about him as an artist in general, Lombard said “I know from the last time he was here, he is an extremely good performer and this time through he’s got a three piece band that he’s traveled with and he’s doing bigger shows and doing some big festivals throughout the United States, not just Iowa. He’s crossing through Iowa and stopping here.”

Reflecting on his experience in Fort Dodge before, Cole said “It’s a cool town. Everyone there was very welcoming. It was very much what I would expect a kind of country-Midwestern place to be, I mean many friendly faces. And Rides was awesome. Everyone there just absolutely loved the music and enjoyed listening and it was just all around a wonderful experience to play.”

This show marks the beginning of Cole’s first major tour with his band accompanying him. After the show at Rides, Cole will be playing in Wakefield, Nebraska, on Saturday.

The Fort Dodge concert is free admission and runs from 8 p.m. to 11 p. m. on Friday.