He’s the bright-eyed, blond-haired, country crooner from small-town Alberta who’s been taking Canadian Idol by storm.

One might think Jaydee Bixby’s newfound fame would be daunting for the 16-year-old Drumheller-bred boy.

Tuesday night Jaydee became part of the show’s final six contestants and performed with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor.

But Bixby’s mom, Shelley Bixby, says her son is taking it all in stride.

“He’s like ‘Mom, it’s just a TV show’, ” Shelley told the Sun yesterday morning from their Toronto hotel room as Jaydee watched TV and tried to relax a little before more taping that afternoon.

“A couple of weeks ago when the judges beat him up a bit, I said, ‘Doesn’t it bother you?’ and he said, ‘Not really.’

“He is really strong an unaffected by the whole thing,” said Shelley. “We’ve always been a musical family — he’s been on stage since he was a little boy. He’s ready, and we’re ready for the ride, we’re ready to be part of it.”

Shelley, her husband Bud, and Jaydee are part of a country-rock family act, aptly titled, The Bixbys.

“Very creative of us,” says Shelley, laughing.

She says her son grew up in the spotlight, sitting in his playpen on the sidestage, while she and Bud performed at venues around the Drumheller and Red Deer area.

As soon as he uttered his first few words, Jaydee was grabbing at the microphone like a natural.

By 11 years old he was drumming and singing with the family act. His father, as well as close family friend (and Bixby bandmate) Joe Cragg, taught the teen his guitar skills.

“Joe, who Jaydee calls Uncle Buck, passed away last September of cancer and Jaydee decided to take over on the lead guitar,” says Shelley. “I think that when Jaydee is performing now he probably does consider that Uncle Buck is watching over him.”

Jaydee comes from a big family — five sisters — one of whom, Dolly, is battling leukemia.

Shelley says neighbours and family members are used to seeing the teen perform around town — his favourite performance piece being the classic Blue Suede Shoes — his favourite singer is Elvis Presley.

“The community here and the town has been unbelievably supportive. His oldest fan is about 102 — they all head down to the Sunshine Lodge in Drumheller to watch the show and vote,” says Shelley.

“There’s one ol’ girl in town who’s about 78, she called my husband one night asking for the Canadian Idol telephone number after the judges had criticized Jaydee.

“She said she wanted to phone up (Idol judge) Zac and give him heck for being mean to Jaydee. Him being on that show really means a lot to them. The support is overwhelming.”

Jaydee will perform on Monday night during the top-six contestant show.