Taylor Hicks ~~ Jamming in Denver!

The real Taylor Hicks showed up in Denver Friday night!

And showed up in a big way, with funk-infused jam band music that grabbed you and dragged you to new musical places.

The Rocky Mountain Power Jam in the Mile High City with Ivan Neville, Taylor Hicks, Erik Krasno, Adam Deitch, Daniel Hutchens, and the DyrtyBryds delivered as promised—funk in epic proportions!

Watching video of “Love the One You’re With,” with Taylor Hicks and Ivan Neville, I literally leaned into the music as Taylor poured more and more into a screaming harp and almost took to his knees.

I wondered how he could hold two or three harmonicas in his hand! That’s how it sounded—an explosion of multiple harps from the mouth and hands of this Bama boy, a long way from home and breathless in the high mountain air.

Play That Funky Music, White Boy!

Taylor’s fun and funky set list included Them Changes, Ain’t Gonna Hurt Nobody, Medicated Goo, Love the One You’re With and jamming with other performers.

If the beautifully acoustic “Border Song” from Madison last year was Taylor’s East, “Love the One You’re With” in Denver was his West. In between is the immense talent and appeal of Taylor Hicks on stage in concert.

Simply, he does it all.

MJ’s Big Blog summed it up pretty well today:

“…as I watched him totally jam out with Ivan Neville, Erik Krasno, Adam Deitch on Stephen Stills’ “Love the One Your With” at the Rocky Mountain Power Jam at Cervantes in Denver Friday night (6/25) I’m once again reminded of why I was a fan in the first place.”

No matter how far roads take him from it, this is his soul, his core, his grounding. It is what he always comes back to.

Though he was far away from Alabama last night, Taylor Hicks came home to his roots and the reunion was huge!


"Love the One You're With" ~~ Taylor Hicks and Ivan Neville
courtesy of Lh1100




Thanks to Lh1100 for fabulous video and to Cath for screencap.

MJs Big Blog:
http://mjsbigblog.com/taylor-hicks-performs-at-the-rocky-mountain-power-jam-denver-co.htm#more-29978

Taylor Hicks~~ A voice for the Gulf Coast

“The beaches are open. The restaurants are open.”

That was the message Taylor Hicks wanted to get out today as he appeared on MSNBC News Live talking about the oil spill disaster on the Gulf Coast.

“The states are taking action to keep all those tourist dollars from being lost because of the oil spill,” host Chris Jansing said on the cable news program today. “In Alabama the Tourism Department is launching a new advertising campaign with one of its favorite sons.” Birmingham born singer, Taylor Hicks of American Idol fame, joins us.”

His message was personal.

“The Gulf area is my home… I want to protect it as much as possible.”

“It’s a sad situation but I think the people down there are obviously resilient. And I believe that the summer should be fun. The beaches should be fun."

The crisis is significant.

“ 9.3 billion dollars in the state of Alabama is spent on tourism and 35% of that is spent on the Gulf. The beaches are very important not to just Alabama but to all of the Gulf states. We want to get the word out that the beaches are open, the restaurants are open. …and although it is very heartbreaking, we want to see it through…we want to see the media stay on the situation…”

Last week Taylor was on the beach shooting a PSA for Alabama tourism. He spoke today of flying over the Gulf of Mexico and seeing the globs of oil hitting the beaches.

The new commercials should start airing in July.

A Gulf Relief effort hosted by Ryan Seacrest and organized by CNN and Larry King Live, is in the works for Monday, June 21st.

“We just want to be able to see the whole thing through from beginning to end.”

Taylor Hicks gives a passionate voice to the Gulf Coast.

Our thoughts and prayers continue to embrace the people there.

Thanks to MSNBC for "staying on the situation."

Taylor Hicks on MSNBC_6-18-10 from Gypsee L on Vimeo.

Thanks to Gypsee for capture of Taylor on MSNBC.

For more discussion, visit our message board:

http://taylorconnections.com/topic/3473398/1/#new

Taylor Hicks in new audio interview!

Taylor Hicks talks about the music, songwriting, the future and more!

In a candid audio interview with TTHC, Taylor shares his excitement about writing and recording a new album where he can…

“…really explore writing, enjoy the creative process again, get excited about writing music again, get excited about recording music again, and get excited knowing I’m really going to have time to really sink my teeth into this next record…”

Thanks, Taylor, for taking the time to answer our questions and talk about what’s ahead.

Check out Taylor’s favorite song to perform live in the first installment of his audio interview:

http://taylorconnections.com/topic/3461267/1/#new

Enjoy!

Photo by Syracuse.com Post Standard: Taylor Hicks wowed the crowds at the Syracuse Balloon Fest Sunday evening.

Taylor Hicks ~~ Call it touring...

Taylor Hicks added two new shows to his concert schedule this week, and I wondered when we should call this a tour.

Fans on twitter just pleaded for a show in their area.

After the closing of the Grease Tour last month, we expected and knew about some appearances and shows. Then dates appeared on Taylor’s website for more.

From the Rocky Mountains to New England to Florida, Taylor is hitting the stage like he has for 15 years. Did we really expect this music motion machine to slow down?

Call it touring?

~Flying high in New England this weekend, the Syracuse Balloon Fest, Jamesville Park
Sunday, June 13, 6:45 – 8:45 closing concert
http://www.syracuseballoonfest.com/
Call it colorful!

~A mile high in Denver, the 7th Annual Rocky Mountain Power Rock Jam with Ivan Neville, and other funk-infused musicians
Saturday, June 25, 11:45 p.m. to Sunday, June 26, 3:00 a.m., Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, Denver,CO
http://www.cervantesmasterpiece.com/artists/detail/taylor-hicks
Gotta call this one funky!

~Rocky Mountain high at beautiful Lake Tahoe, 80 celebs playing golf for LiveSTRONG, Lance Armstrong’s foundation to inspire and empower people affected by cancer; popular golfing event runs July 13-18th, and televised by NBC
Tuesday, July 13th ~ 21th Annual American Century Championship - Celebrity Amateur Tournament
http://www.tahoecelebritygolf.com/playerlist.html
Just call it good fun!

~High Line Ballroom, New York City, in the trendy Westside Meatpacking district, and starting to look like “touring”
Sunday, July 25, 8:00 p.m. 431 W. 16th St.

http://www.highlineballroom.com/bio.php?id=1568
Call it more Big Apple bonding!

~High in the Green Mountains of New England, a vintage venue from the 30s
Saturday, September 18, Paramount Theatre, Rutland, Vermont, 8:00 p.m. http://www.paramountvt.org/eventscal.php?month=9&year=2010
Call it historic!


~Highlighting the plight of homeless and orphaned children globally and supporting 436 villages in 132 countries, Around the World Kickoff Concert for SOS Childrens’ Villages, with Taylor Hicks and Matt Cusson
Sunday, September 26, Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, PA. http://www.kimmelcenter.org/events/?id=3814
Call this important!

~High in the rankings last year as the No. 2 most attended concerts, it’s a return to Epcot Center’s "Eat to the Beat Concert Series" - at the 2010 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival
October 9th and 10th - 5:15 p.m., 6:30 p.m., and 7:45 p.m. performances at the America Gardens Theatre stage, included in Epcot admission price. http://disneyworld.disney...go.com/parks/epcot/special..-events/epcot-internationa..l-food-and-wine-festival/?..int_cmp=SOC-intDPFY10Q2Con..cert22-04-10@0001
It’s a call back!

The SOS blog, “Funkity Funk, Don’t Funk Me Out,” called it “The Taylor Hicks Summer Tour of 2010.” I looked on Taylor’s site to see if that was official. Nothing official, but someone else was thinking “tour” as I was.

Whatever you call it, it’s Taylor Hicks on stage and on the road entertaining fans and making new ones.

It’s doing what he says he loves the most.
Call that touring!

Happy touring, Taylor!

Happy Summer, Everyone!


For more information on all of Taylor’s events and concerts visit our Fetes, Festivals and Happenings forum:
http://taylorconnections.com/forum/1573907/

Reference: Season of the Soul Blog:
http://seasonofthesoul.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/funkity-funk-dont-funk-me-out/

Taylor Hicks ~~ PSA for Alabama Tourism

Taylor Hicks worked on the beach today as he shot a PSA for Alabama Tourism.

Alabama Department of Tourism announced recently that it will refocus its efforts from the beach to other attractions and destinations around the state. They also said expect to see new faces in their ads, like American Idol Taylor Hicks, who called them and volunteered to help.

Taylor was there today and tweeted pictures of the shoot.

The Montgomery Bureau reported on June 6th:

“Alabama tourism officials have launched a campaign to remind tourists of the state's many attractions along the coast and elsewhere. The department has a $15 million grant from BP for a campaign that will include advertising, commercials, media visits and social media use. About $1.5 million of the grant will go to special events and tourist attractions in Baldwin and Mobile counties.

“ Sentell, [Lee Sentell, Travel and Tourism Director] said the campaign's goal is to help combat a drop in tourist travel to the Gulf and in communities that depend on the seafood industry.

“The idea is to allow these attractions to have a surge in marketing funds in what should be their peak tourist season,” Sentell said.

“…the BP money cannot take away the oil spill's impact, but it can help provide alternative ways for hardest-hit communities to weather the worst.”

A national news team was in Gulf Shores, AL, today with pictures of the oil deposits on the beach. People from the area were there too with their own clean up efforts.

It was reminiscent of the people of Nashville after the devastating floods hit only a few days after the massive BP oil rig explosion and oil spill. Overshadowed by the news of the oil spill, Nashville received little national attention and began its own campaign to deal with the devastation.

They took care of things.

People along the Gulf Coast are, in many cases, taking care of things themselves.

Today, Alabama set about to do that with the help of a native son, Taylor Hicks…

…an “American Idol” in the best sense of the title.




Photos: From TaylorRHicks on twitter.

Taylor Hicks ~~ "The Long Haul"

It had a familiar ring to it.

I had heard this many times from Taylor Hicks, who has said he is in the music business for the long haul. This is a marathon not a sprint.

And seeing the sender’s name, Bob Lefsetz, in my emails I knew I would be reading more about the music industry and longevity.

Reading this music blogger’s informative take on the business, I often think, Taylor is doing that or Taylor has done that or that is true of Taylor Hicks.

The best, but by no means all, of “The Long Haul:”

1. Focus on the music. Get it to the point where the audience only needs to hear it once to get it.

5. You must work live. It's the best way to connect with people. You've got to be so good, you close the audience. Performing is a different skill than playing in a studio. Start honing your chops now. Play anywhere and everywhere you can. Not focused on the money, but the development of stage skills.

8. Experience counts. Everybody gets better the longer they do something.

We're never going back to the sales figures of yore. Not because of theft, but because no one can get that kind of mindshare.

But you can get some traction. If you're willing to work really hard, continuously, always leading with your music.

Then this morning in my emails from Blogger Lefsetz. “Personality Counts,” which sounds like Part Two:

1. Are you willing to work?

5. Be nice to your fans.

8. Money isn't everything.

11. Passion is everything.

In your music. In your team. In your fans.

People can't manufacture passion. And human beings can sense hype and fake interest and belief a mile away. … We know when someone is testifying for real


Lefsetz references an article we saw earlier this week from Billboard that showed Taylor Hicks would be way into the top 2.1 percent of album sales with his 100,000 units of The Distance in 2009.

I could analyze, reiterate and say much about all of this, and perhaps I will another time. For now, this all speaks very well for itself.

I’ve said it before. If you want to know about music and the music industry, read this blog.

Even if you don’t subscribe, PLEASE read both of these blogs if you care about any artist wanting to “make it” and stay around for the long haul.

Lefsetz often touts the importance of the fans as he does again in these two blogs.

Are you in for the long haul?


Sources and references:
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i4ad94ea6265fac02d4c813c0b6a93ca2
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_24/b4182092762328.htm?campaign_id=rss_topStories

Note: At this publishing, the second blog, “Personality Counts” is not yet archived on Mr. Lefsetz’s site. You can read the entire text of both blogs on our message board at:

http://taylorconnections.com/topic/3418479/1/#new

Photo: Courtesy of NikkiNelson: Taylor Hicks on the Red Carpet at Season Nine American Idol Finale 5.26.10