Taylor Hicks~~and the house is packed! UPDATE...

The perfect frame from Jake Davis.

"Sold Out" matters...

Please read my update!

From the Hippodrome Theatre to Ram’s Head Tavern, Taylor Hicks will perform in sold out venues this weekend. Baltimore’s Grease performances for Saturday, February 7 and Sunday, February 8 are sold out. Taylor’s shadow tour concert in nearby Annapolis at Ram’s Head on Stage Tavern has been sold out for some time.

As Taylor introduces more new music from his upcoming album, The Distance, the crowds are showing up to experience modern whomp music live. And Taylor Hicks owns the live stage! He has said that the live performance is where it’s at and that the interaction with the audience and musicians is his source of high-voltage energy. When you see him in concert, it is evident that he feeds off that connection.

The Distance will hit the streets March 10. Taylor has performed the single release “What’s Right is Right” in Chicago at Martyr’s and 20th Century Theatre in Oakley, Ohio. He has also rolled out the upbeat “Hide nor Hair” and Bobby Womack’s “Woman’s Gotta Have It” from the eclectic track list of the independent release on his own label, Modern Whomp Records. Ram’s Head Saturday night promises more new music from the album which he has described as a “musical journey”.

Taylor talked to blogcritic Sherry Lippman about his musical style: “There's a lot of different styles that I think are reflective of my artistic expression. I think with this record I've been able to hopefully take the listener on a musical journey into the songs I've written, and a lot of them touch on different styles. But the common thread is my voice. There's a lot of storytelling in the songs. I've been able to hop into different genres and pull out the greatest music that I can.”

After the Baltimore run and a short hiatus, Taylor takes Grease and his new soul music to the Southwest for a week in Tucson, AZ, and then on a swing up the West Coast. He will make shadow tour appearances at Roxy’s in West Hollywood and Market Street’s Café Du Nord in San Francisco.

Happy weekend! It is Taylor Hicks live on stage and at his best! He will bring down those packed houses!

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***Update, February 8--

I was pleased to talk with someone this afternoon who was at Ram's Head last night. I was told that Taylor said from the stage:

"Thanks for coming. It means a lot to an artist to see those words, Sold Out!"

Here's to many, many more "Sold Outs!"

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“What’s Right is Right” is available for download at all digital retailers.

Thanks to the Jake Davis blog for the Perfect Frame.


For a complete schedule of Taylor’s appearances, visit:
http://www.thetaylorhickscommunity.com/

Sources: Quote from Blogcritic Sherry Lippman

What's Right is Right~~it's mine today!

We love the music of Taylor Hicks! We listen to it, talk about it, stream it all over, and buy it!

We wait for new music, play the old music, play it again, and talk about it some more. It’s fun. It’s what music does in our lives. It’s what Taylor Hicks has brought to us.

We wait for the lyrics. We brave any elements to be the first to hear and see Taylor perform a new song! We recap, review, and treasure a snippet. We wait for that magical moment when it will be ours!

It’s like knowing you are going to have a good day. It’s like a present you know you can open soon. It’s something coming in the mail. It’s a little party for the heart.

And it’s here~~a new song by Taylor Hicks. It's mine today! I can stick it in my ear, drive with it, walk with it, buy it for friends, learn the words and sing along, and celebrate another milestone with Taylor!

This is what music does for me. It picks me up no matter what is going on. It takes me away. It’s what Taylor has given to me!

Thank you, Taylor, for another gift for the heart and soul!

What’s Right is Right is mine today!

Go get your own ….

http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Right-Is/dp/B001OSG9HA/ref=dm_ap_trk32

Taylor Hicks~a new journey...

Taking along a new sound of blue-eyed soul, Taylor Hicks starts a new journey.

It took off as he performed his new single, What’s Right is Right on stage Saturday night in Chicago. Yesterday the audio was set streaming on his official website, taylorhicks.com. Today the track list for his new album, The Distance, is out, and it showcases a spectrum of songs that will touch our hearts and souls.

The Distance drops March 10 on Taylor’s own record label, Modern Whomp Records in collaboration with the marketing and distribution team of Rocket Science and Artist To Market. Its tracks weave a colorful blend of songs of enduring love, soul searching messages, and fun sounds with the rockin’ beat of Northern soul.

Tracking the new sound of soul from Taylor Hicks~~

The Distance
By Taylor Hicks on Modern Whomp Records

Wedding Day Blues
Seven Mile Breakdown
What Right is Right
Hide Nor Hair
Woman gotta Have It
New Found Freedom
The Distance
Nineteen
I Live on a Battlefield
Yes We Can
Maybe You Should
Once Upon a Lover of Mine
Keepin’ It Real
Indiscriminate Act of Kindness

The Distance will touch our hearts and rock our souls!
It’s available now for pre-order on Amazon.

LISTEN to the single release What’s Right is Right at:
http://www.taylorhicks.com/

What’s Right is Right

When there’s sadness in your eyes I see it

You can’t hide what’s weighing on your mind

When there’s trouble in your life I feel it

What’s wrong with you is wrong with me

What’s right is right

When there’s joy inside your heart I’ll share it

When you got a dream I say reach for the sky

And if you ever fall I’ll catch you

What’s wrong with you is wrong with me

What’s right is right

I don’t want to go a single night without you

I don’t want to know what an empty bed is like

When you laugh I’m laughing and when you cry I’m crying

What’s wrong with you is wrong with me

What’s right is right

This I promise you forever

I’m with you all the way to the finish line

And we’re gonna’ cross that bridge together

Marching step by step walking side by side

I don’t want to go a single night without you

I don’t want to know what an empty bed is like

When you laugh I’m laughing and when you cry I’m crying

What’s wrong with you is wrong with me

What’s right is right

I don’t want to go a single night without you

I don’t want to know what an empty bed is like

When you laugh I’m laughing when you cry I’m crying

What’s wrong with you is wrong with me

What’s right is right

I don’t want to go a single night without you

I don’t want to know what an empty bed is like

When you laugh I’m laughing when you cry I’m crying

What’s wrong with you is wrong with me

What’s right is right.

What’s wrong with you is wrong with me
What’s right is right.

What’s wrong with you is wrong with me
What’s right is right.
~~~

Taylor Hicks--across four Januaries...

January 17 has been a good day for Taylor Hicks.

January 17, 2006~~American Idol Season 5 premiered with a two hour special. Unknown to the rest of the world at the time, Taylor Hicks, struggling to make his voice heard, had in his hand the golden ticket to Hollywood and the competition that would change his life forever. It was a year that would change many of our lives.

January 17, 2007~~“Taylor Hicks,” his first post-Idol album, was certified platinum by RIAA. With a grueling American Idol tour behind him, “Taylor Hicks” on the street, and his first Modern Whomp Solo Tour ahead, this platinum-certified artist and his fans prepared for travel, travel and more travel. This year was headed out on tour with Taylor Hicks, who set a new standard for touring musicians that said never phone it in, and you can still sing your heart out when you are sick. It was a year that few of us will ever forget!

January 17, 2008~~ A relaxed and smiling, Taylor Hicks played a respectable game of golf in the Bob Hope Classic in Palm Springs. The beautiful day in Southern California was the calm before the storm. Broadway was waiting! This year was going to sparkle on the Broadway stage. 2008 was indeed another memorable year!

Today, January 17, 2009, Taylor will do what he loves most…entertaining people with his music. After his Grease performances, Taylor will take the stage at Martyr’s in Chicago where it is presumed that he will perform for the first time his new single release, “What’s Right is Right.” If anyone can warm up a cold Chicago, it is Taylor!

As Taylor proudly brings to Martyr’s his new music, this year promises a new journey paved with Taylor’s own incredible music, more travel, and more amazing memories.

Not bad for four Januaries!

Congratulations, Taylor! You’ve come a long way in three short years. Revel in this day at Martyr’s with a new song for another exciting journey!

It’s a good day!

“What’s Right is Right” impacts radio play on Tuesday, January 20. “The Distance” released on Taylor’s own record label, Modern Whomp Records, will hit music stands on March 10. Taylor Hicks—still making his voice heard!

Grease~sweet home, Chicago!

Taylor Hicks warms up this town…

Chicago loves Grease and Taylor Hicks!

Chicago has loved this show for years. It’s loving it again—the music, the young cast (Danny and Sandy leads, Eric Schneider and Emily Padgett, are from Illinois), and Taylor Hicks as Teen Angel. The original tale of life at Taft High was told by Jim Jacobs in the musical that opened at Chicago’s Kingston Mines Theater in 1971. It hasn’t been the same since, evolving to a hit movie starring John Travolta and Oliver Newton-John, the original Broadway show, and the recent 2007 Broadway revival production.

Grease is still Chicago’s baby. Jacobs sat in the audience on opening night and spoke to the media about his original memoir of life in the 50s at Taft High as edgy and racy. “There would be a sign in the window, ‘If this were a movie, it would be R rated.’” There was even an appeal in the press last week for the return of the original, more realistic Grease.

While the show and cast have been well received in the Windy City, the star billing was undeniably for Taylor Hicks. He was everywhere—appearing on early morning news shows, talking with media, and looking for the ultimate cheeseburger.

Take a look at some of the press, as modern whomp meets Northern soul and produces pure entertainment.

From Andy Argyrakis at hearsay.cc:
“Of course before anyone could dig too deep into the storyline, all eyes locked on Hicks, who descended from the ceiling as Teen Angel (aptly following in the footsteps of Frankie Avalon and even Chubby Checker) for a short but sweet rendition of “Beauty School Dropout.” The 2006 “American Idol” winner added some soulful flourishes to the number thanks to a short harmonica solo at the end and had no problem hamming it up with his campy flair burning brightly, despite no prior acting experience.

“After all the actors bowed, fans were treated to a concert-like encore featuring a medley of the show’s greatest hits led by Hicks. He broke out the harmonica yet again for the title track, while reprisals of “Born To Hand-Jive” and “You’re the One That I Want” had so much pep they matched the dynamism of Less Than Jake’s unconventional covers collection chronicling the same soundtrack.”

From Steven Oxman at “Variety”…
“While ‘Grease,’ the touring version of the recently closed Broadway revival, lacks the inspiration and emotional sincerity needed to be more than merely peppy and puerile, it does come alive from a sheer kitsch perspective when Taylor Hicks of "American Idol" fame emerges from a giant ice cream cone to sing "Beauty School Dropout." In fact, the biggest laugh of the evening comes when the flirtatious Frenchy twirls Mr. Hicks' exposed chest hair and purrs, ‘I voooted for you.’

“The line, delivered deliciously by standout Kate Morgan Chadwick, has layers of significance beyond a single moment of self-conscious humor, since this "Grease," directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, was originally birthed on the NBC reality show "Grease: You're the One That I Want," in which the television audience selected the previously unknown Max Crumm and Laura Osnes to become Rialto headliners in the revival.

“The ensemble boasts plenty of chops, particularly an ability to capture the melodic elements of the songs. And they do their best to amp up the comedy. But, the little love stories that drive the plot have no dramatic force whatsoever. All the scenes have the same energy, the emotions are all plastic, and the characterizations, purely generic.

“This is where Hicks separates himself, creating his own little show-within-a-show, lifting us out of the manufactured quality of the production to enjoy a few moments of an over-the-top oddness that's decidedly individual. Yes, he delivers on pre-ordained expectations -- he even plays the harmonica and dances …like he's a father at a party trying to embarrass his kids.

“But, to his credit and to the audience's enjoyment, nobody else could be this Teen Angel, and there's no point in even trying to compare him to Frankie Avalon.”

Weekend media included a Sunday morning interview on WGN Radio with Dean Richards who earlier in the week gave Grease and Taylor’s performance an “A” and raved about the production. He and Taylor chatted about Grease, Taylor’s new music, his admiration for Buddy Guy, a childhood memory of Bozo the Clown from WGN, and Taylor’s quest to find the ultimate cheeseburger. Taylor even expressed his appreciation for the Chicago snowfall, a novelty for the Alabama native.

Come blizzard or heat wave, Grease continues its Chicago stay through Sunday, January 18.

As Chicago embraces the soulful, “campy” Teen Angel, Taylor is giving back the love…he is doing a video shoot while in Chicago for his new single, “What’s Right is Right,” which impacts radio play and is released to iTunes January 20. The album, “The Distance” is out March 10. He takes his modern whomp soul music to the Lincoln Park club, Martyr’s, for a late show on January 17 where it is reported that he will “try out new music.”

As Taylor has said, “either you entertain people, or you go home.” At this rate, Taylor won’t be going home any time soon!

After Dean Richards reiterated some of Taylor’s current projects, Taylor ended the interview with what struck me as a profound and prophetic comment: “I’m around.” Well said.

Goodbye, Alabama…

(sources: hearsay.cc, variety.com, leisureblog.chicagotribune.com,nwitimes.com, WGN Radio)

"What's Right is Right" by Taylor Hicks

the smooth new sound of blue-eyed soul…

All’s right with the new sound of Taylor Hicks music!

“What’s Right is Right,” the single release by Taylor Hicks from his new album hits the streets this month with a video and radio play. This launches a whirlwind of media and appearances in the next couple of months, including a People Magazine feature and an appearance on Jay Leno, as well as almost every other talk show on television.

Taylor manages to do it all—release a new single and album in the middle of the national tour of Grease. He will perform the new single on the Grease stage after each performance and appear in local club venues in an after-hours show in the cities he visits on tour through May.

Stay tuned for more blue-eyed soul from Taylor Hicks!