He’d uploaded some cover tunes and originals to YouTube, but Noah Thompson’s had never sung in front of a live audience before his audition for season 20 of “American Idol.”

Thompson hadn’t even signed up for “Idol.” A friend had.

It all worked out for Thompson, a construction worker turned country singer. He ended up winning “Idol” 20.

On Saturday, Thompson will perform at Rock the Dock, a free concert at City Harbor in Guntersville. Matt Stell, known for country hits like “Prayed For You” and “Everywhere But On,” is the headliner. Mattie Pruitt, who reached the top 10 in season 23 of “Idol,” opens the show, which starts at 6.

On a recent afternoon, Thompson, now based in Nashville, called in for a phone interview from his home state of Kentucky, where he’d been spending time with his young son. Edited excerpts below.

Noah, what’s the story behind the title track on your new EP, “Kids Like Me”? The acoustic guitar intro reminded be a bit of Alice In Chains.

Noah Thompson: That song right there really set up the whole project. We wrote that song about two years ago, and I instantly just fell in love with it, man. I knew I wanted it to be this acoustic, raw kind of thing.

Lyrically, I wrote it with two of my buddies. I sat down and explained to them what I wanted to say, without telling them what to say. We more or less sat down and had a conversation. We all three kind of had similar upbringings, but in different dynamics.

It was just a song about growing up quick and not knowing which way to turn. You don’t really necessarily have anybody else to lean on other than yourself. That was what the song said for me, anyways, and that’s why I instantly fell in love with it.

For the production, we went with a Stephen Wilson Jr. kind of vibe. I don’t know if you’ve heard of that guy yet, but he’s blowing up and he’s amazing.

Several of your tracks have organic sounding intros and verses. Then the verses are bigger, sleeker sounding. What about that kind of song arrangement appeals to you?

When we sit down and write the song it’s more about the message for me than anything. Just making sure I get across to the audience about what it is I want to say, and make sure we capture that as much as we possibly can.

But with the production, we figure out where a moment where people can go, oh, wow, I didn’t sense that was coming. That really grabbed me it, engaged me and I want to keep listening to the song. Those moments are very important.

It’s kind of your version of Nirvana’s loud-quiet-loud dynamic, which they got from the Pixies.

That’s the kind of stuff I grew up on. Nirvana, all that stuff. Growing up, with my dad I’d listen to Foo Fighters, Daughtry, Nickelback. I had those kinds of guys to look up to on the rock side.

And then I had a mix of guys like Ryan Adams and David Gray, those songwriters who were deep lyrically. Guys that could just write a song, sit there and just sing and play guitar and hold a whole room.

During your run on “American Idol” you covered Jason Isbell’s song “Cover Me Up.” Why’d you pick that song to cover on “Idol”? And how does Isbell’s songwriting feed into what you do?

To be honest with you dude, I forgot I sang that song on the show. But I love Jason, man. He’s such a storyteller. And so is Tyler Childers, we grew up in the same hometown.

The cover of Rhianna’s hit “Stay” you performed on “Idol,” a studio version of which was released in 2022, was well done. A mix of country, R&B and rock. What drew you to that song?

There was a little clip of me singing a verse in the chorus of that song, which that was the only bit of the song that I knew. The producers knew that I could sing it, so therefore they were asking me about singing. I was like, nah, man. That’s a girl song, you know what I mean?

But then we ended up talking it through, and I learned the rest of the song and it ended up becoming my whole moment on the show. That song changed things for me and kept me in the game.

You made your Grand Ole Opry debut recently. Were you more nervous for that or your first time singing on “Idol”?

“Idol” for sure. I’ve got so much experience now with performing and whatnot. But don’t get me wrong, I was still nervous for the Opry because it was just the most incredible thing I’ve ever gotten to do. I enjoyed it a lot. But performing on national television every day of the week with “Idol” was a little bit different.

Carrie Underwood gave you the invitation to perform at the Opry, when you both returned to “Idol” this year. What was that like?

It was incredible. Obviously, Carrie Underwood is amazing and she’s an Opry member. We flew out to L.A. and got to go back on the show.

She’s the sweetest human being. Before we even started filming, she was holding my hand, talking to me. She’s got the best soul. But for her to be the one to ask me, that was a big deal for me, man. I thought it was super cool.

After being on “American Idol,” what’s the strangest place you’ve gotten recognized in public?

It has to be in the bathroom at the Nashville airport about a year ago. Iwalk out of the stall, and some dude was like, hey, man!