Taylor Hicks was serious on Twitter this week, the Gulf Coast on his mind:
@TaylorRHicks: Hi all! Had a great time with Jax press! Please keep the Gulf Coast in your thoughts and Prayers. Thu 29 Apr 13:05 via txt
@TaylorRHicks: Studying the oil spill. This has not been contained. There is a catastrophic event taking place. Thu 29 Apr 23:04 via txt
@TaylorRHicks: Gulf Shores Al. Putting Boom out http://twitpic.com/1k2jjy Sat 01 May 14:20 by twitpic
The Gulf Coast has long been vulnerable to Mother Nature. Today it waits in the sights of a manmade disaster of mega proportions. Morning news sources describe the situation like “waiting for a slow moving hurricane” as the oil spill makes its way onshore and inland.
Appearing in “Grease” in neighboring Jacksonville, FL, Taylor no doubt was remembering a long history on the Gulf Coast. He has said many times that he cut his musical teeth at the FloraBama roadhouse on the Coast at the Florida/Alabama line. He occasionally reminds us that he wrote “The Deal” on the Gulf Coast.
Early whomp on the water at The FloraBama...
I was on the Coast in 2007 for Taylor’s Biloxi concert.
But my memories go back much further to a vacation trip I took with my family in the 50s when my older brother was stationed at Keesler Air Force Base. For some kids from the Midwest, the Gulf was a pristine vacation paradise.
As I drove the Coast highway from Biloxi to New Orleans in 2007, the devastation from Hurricane Katrina was still evident. Yet, it was still a paradise!
Taylor was back in Biloxi on 9/11/2009 for a sold-out Shadow Tour show at the beautiful Gulf Coast Beau Rivage. His song, “Nineteen,” was a stunning tribute to 9/11 and the nearby military at Keesler.
Taylor at Beau Rivage, 2009.
In his autobiography, “Heart Full of Soul,” besides his many gigs on the Gulf, he recounts partying there in younger days. He returned recently to the Coast to relax in his down time.
The Coast holds special memories for many of us.
Our thoughts are with the Gulf Coast as it waits again. Not for Nature’s test this time; this time it’s man’s.
Taylor rocks the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, 2007:
Beau Rivage photo by raj6; Biloxi pics by San.
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