‘X Factor’ winner Tate Stevens to issue debut album April 23

“X Factor� champ Tate Stevens is wasting very little time in cashing in on his new-found fame.

The Season 2 winner of the Fox singing competition has announced that his debut album will arrive April 23 through Syco Music/RCA Nashville.

The self-titled disc will be the first real test of whether the show’s millions of viewers (and arduous voters) will translate to actual album sales.

Although the U.K. version of the series has spawned hit albums from One Direction, Leona Lewis and Cher Lloyd, the U.S. edition has yet to see a debut for its Season 1 winner, Melanie Amaro, more than a year after she was crowned victor in 2011.

Stevens won the highly rated competition, which came with a $5-million recording contract, in December.

His narrative made him an audience favorite on the show. Though dreaming of music, Stevens put his career as a country singer on the back burner to do what any man would do: provide for his family.

But it was Stevens’ wife who pushed the street crew worker from Belton, Mo., to revisit his dream. At age 37, he was the oldest in the competition, and he routinely garnered the most votes each week, despite being on a show that is largely skewed toward younger, more pop-leaning acts.

“When I started, I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know how I would be accepted. Being the only country guy and a true country artist -- you know, wearing the hat and the whole thing -- I didn’t know how I’d get accepted,� Stevens said in an interview with The Times during the compeition.

The album’s first single, “Power of a Love Song,� was recently sent to country radio. Listen below:

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