Musician Matt Zarley has had a busy year – and it’s only half over. His song, “Here I Am,” was selected as a finalist in the Top 20 “American Idol” songwriter’s challenge, and now, the out singer is prepping his pipes to support his EP, Here I Am, which will be available Aug. 5.

Zarley performed at Los Angeles Pride last month and will be making stops at other Pride event this summer. He also has a number of appearances scheduled on gay cruises and the club circuit.

On July 27, the official CD release party for Here I Am will be held at The Upright Cabaret at Mark’s in West Hollywood at 9 p.m. Plus, the title track is in the process of being retooled as a dance track by Los Angeles-based remixer Scott Anderson of Solar City Productions; and the video for another track off of the CD, “Had I Known” is due to hit the airwaves and can be previewed on YouTube.

Luckily, the Gay & Lesbian Times caught up with Zarley before his whirlwind summer got any more frenetic. We talked about his creative process and time spent in the spotlight, including being the first openly gay bachelor in People Magazine’s “Hottest Bachelors” issue.

For Zarley, making music is making a statement about where he is at in life.

“As a songwriter, and coming from a writing standpoint, it’s important to reflect where I am,” he said.

Zarley’s anthem, “Here I Am,” does just that. It’s an aching melody ripe with emotional resonance, assuring listeners he is in a good place in his life. Why wouldn’t he be?

The song managed to crack the Top 20 in the “AI” competition, which receives more than 20,000 entries each year.

“I was proud to be among it and it was nice to be recognized,” Zarley said. “There would have been a part of me that would have been sad, in a bittersweet sort of way, if I would have had to give the rights up, which you have to [do] for 10 years. In a way I didn’t feel like I lost in the end, even though it was disappointing at first. And now I get to sing it. It’s kind of a win/win. I won either way in my opinion.”

Zarley hasn’t always enjoyed the spotlight – he walked away from it for a bit, after starting his career at age 12, when he danced with Tony The Tiger in a Frosted Flakes commercial.

Soon enough, teenage Zarley was Broadway bound with a role in A Chorus Line. This led to roles in Cats, Chicago and Kiss of the Spider Woman, before he achieved leading man status in The Who’s Tommy and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Zarley also appeared on television in “Annie,” “Gepetto” and “Cinderella,” starring Whitney Houston and Brandy. Plus there was the dance-oriented album, Debut, he released in 2002, which he described “as disenchanting, just a little bit, of how things turned out.”

Despite the impressive resume at a young age, Zarley chucked it all and reinvented himself as a successful realtor – but he couldn’t stay away from the spotlight for long.

“I did a performance last fall at The Ford Amphitheater; it’s called ‘Broadway Unplugged,’ and I sang this great song that Henry Kreiger wrote, and he wrote Dreamgirls,” Zarley said. “And, it was one of those great 11 o’clock, money-note songs that just had a great payoff; it gets applause in the middle of a key-note change – it’s a very ‘Star Search’ kind of moment. And I got off stage and I just started weeping, in a great way. It was like, ‘Why am I not doing this still?’”

So, Zarley re-embraced his performing career with an even stronger voice.

“I feel it’s important for me to be who I am, and be honest about it,” he said. “I’ve always been out to a degree, but I’ve never really hit it hard. With the video for ‘Had I Known,’ it was important that my love interest was a guy, because I wanted it to be completely honest.

“I always came from a place, in the past, when I first started writing, where I didn’t want to be gender specific,” Zarley said. “I didn’t want somebody to have a close-minded idea of what the song was about; I wanted them to be able to apply it to their own story. But, I felt like this time around, even though I feel that the lyrics apply to many different situations and really doesn’t have to be my own experience, it was important for me to convey my own perspective.”

Zarley not only has the chops to inspire with his music, he’s got the looks. In 2002, he was the first gay bachelor to grace the pages of People Magazine’s “Hottest Bachelors” issue.

“I was very proud of that little moment!” he said. “I had grown up looking at People Magazine and looking at it every summer when that 50 bachelors list comes out. And to be the first openly gay bachelor, because it was the first time, it felt kind of special in a way.”

For the record, though, he’s no longer bachelor material.

Zarley has also worked with Whitney Houston, Gladys Knight, Vanessa Williams and Chaka Khan, whom he singled out as “the most amazing person I’ve worked with – she’s like a master class in musicianship. What she does musically is so crazy and sophisticated, and she’s still unbelievable.”

As for any other up-and-coming divas he might want to work with, Zarley was quick to respond.

“I love Carrie Underwood! I’m a huge ‘La Underwood’ fan,” he said with a laugh. “I have to call her ‘La Underwood,’ because I love her.”

But for the time being, any plans to duet with “La Underwood” will have to put aside. He’s got a full schedule. Of the lineup of activity he has this summer, Zarley is most excited for his video’s debut.

“I am really proud of it, and I’m looking forward to that coming out and getting some exposure, and seeing what the reaction is,” he said.

When things calm down, Zarley will remain plugged into his creative outlet.

“You need that creative outlet, or your spirit kind of dies in a way,” Zarley said. “It just nurtures your soul, when it’s a part of who you are, and it really is a cathartic experience when you have that creative outlet.”