Ed Tams is learning to text message.

Until this summer, the middle-aged grocer from Coaldale, Alta., never had the desire or the need to text. But it’s become a necessity to communicate regularly with his son, Canadian Idol Top 4 contestant 23-year-old Theo Tams.

“It’s been overwhelming,” Ed says of his son’s Idol trip. “It’s really exciting. But we didn’t take a 10-step course to deal with all of this.”

The magnitude of his son’s fame, at least in southern Alberta, really hit home over the weekend when Theo and the CTV entourage whisked into town to tape a segment for the show. The young Idol hopeful performed to screaming crowds in Coaldale, a bedroom community east of Lethbridge with close to 6,200 people and at Whoop-Up Days in Lethbridge.

“He’s always had it in his heart and mind to pursue music,” says Ed. “The surprise is that it’s come so quickly.”

Like his dad, Theo is also absorbing the shock of his meteoric rise to notoriety. Calling Friday afternoon from the road to Coaldale, the University of Lethbridge music major told Metro he was fending off serious butterflies. “I’m just nervous because being in Toronto it’s been surreal. Coming back, I’m realizing how much life has changed.”

Before Idol, Theo’s life was like any other kid who grew up in small town Alberta. Well, except maybe for the fact that he didn’t play hockey. Instead, Ed says Theo was a “sensitive little kid” who teachers singled out for solo performances in Christmas concerts as earlier as Grade 1.

And it’s those teachers who both Tams credit for the younger one’s success. “Every single one has had a huge impact on me,” Theo says. “They were the first to notice that I had some talent.” His list of mentors includes his high school teacher Keith Griffioen, who surprised Theo by introducing one of his performances on Friday.

“It’s really quite humbling,” Griffioen says. “Sometimes when you’re a teacher, you don’t always see the end result. This makes the job worth it.”

Tams vies for Top 3 status tonight on CTV starting at 8 p.m.