Taylor Hicks ~~ Another Song...

When you do what you love, you can know the future.  When it's music...

It's another song.

When you are a fan, you know what to expect…

Another song.

Taylor Hicks, who more than anyone I have ever run into, knows what he loves to do—perform music on any stage, anywhere, anytime.  He left Las Vegas last week after almost a two-year residency there on the Strip, first at Bally’s and then at Paris Las Vegas—from June, 2012, through April, 2014. 

It isn’t just about his music.  Taylor Hicks is also a fan!

Just before he left Las Vegas, he sat in with “funkjammers” Galactic and long-time favorite, Robert Randolph and the Family Band. 

  

@TaylorHicks:

Great nite @BBowlVegas with @rrtfb last nite! Thx for the pic @CitonePhoto! pic.twitter.com/W2mZuSdxMw

  

Thx again @GalacticFunk! Had a blast @BBowlVegas. For those of u who missed it... youtu.be/XlJpMU6_v-w #goodtimes

 @GalacticFunk thanks for letting me sit in.. Always a an honor.. Tell Ben thank u for letting me use the harp rig!

Follow @TaylorHicks on Twitter and you get to know this talented artist and music fan!

He attended other artists’ shows in Las Vegas and is engaged in the entertainment community wherever he is.  He joined the music party at his own restaurant, Saw’s Juke Joint in Birmingham, this past weekend.

Few people can take what they love to do, their profession, and their creativity anywhere.  Taylor will be back in Alabama—back home, Nashville and a recording studio, and on the road for appearances, some already planned. 

How lucky!  It isn’t where you are—it’s who you are, and Taylor is a musician.  That doesn’t end as he flies out of Las Vegas one more time. 

Don’t cry for Las Vegas!  Except that visitors won’t be able to enjoy the soulful sounds and roadhouse jammin' of Taylor Hicks on the Strip any longer.  But Taylor will be on another stage. 

With another song…

We can’t wait. 

And we’ll be there!

A sincere thank you to Taylor Hicks , Brian Less, Amory Harwell, all the musicians in the band, Bally’s, Paris Las Vegas, Ceasars Entertainment, Las Vegas media, and all who made it a great run in Las Vegas! 

We’re just waiting for the next great adventure!

The Taylor Hicks Community

~~~~

Stay tuned @TaylorHicks on Twitter and www.taylorhicks.com

~~~ 

Thank you to Paris Las Vegas for sharing via Twitter the stunning photo above of Taylor's final performance in Napolean's Lounge! 

Taylor Hicks ~~ "Favorite Fare at ORE Drink and Dine" Poll

You have been to Ore and sampled the fare.

You have not been to Ore to sample the fare, but you plan to go.

You live too far away to go to Ore, but you are contemplating telling your children you are flying to Birmingham just to go to Ore.

You tweeted about your dining at Ore with picture.

You don’t tweet about what you eat.

You don’t take pictures of what you eat.

No, this is not the poll.

We’ve seen pictures and reviews of the fare, including Taylor’s Paella. We thought it would be fun to know what you would order from the menu if you go to Ore or go again.

We found a sampling of what’s been talked about, so tell us what would be the one favorite you would definitely order. Take our poll to the right.

Enjoy our second-ever unofficial just-for-fun poll “Favorite Fare at Ore” !

If you have been to Ore, feel free to give us more information or pictures on Twitter!

A “Southern Eclectic” menu, wine menu put together by Sommelier Alexis Douglas, live music, and special community events creates the total culinary and fun fare at Ore. American Idol and Birmingham native, Taylor Hicks, part owner of Ore Drink and Dine, occasionally appears on the entertainment stage. Chic industrial decor celebrates Birmingham's past connected to the mining of iron ore.

Taylor Hicks and Executive Chef Joey Dickerson at Ore Drink and Dine.

For more information follow Ore Drink and Dine on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/ORE4747 :


And on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/ORE-Drink-and-Dine/192755817442277

More Happy Summer!

Taylor Hicks ~~ Making a Difference

“With our voices, we can really make a difference.”

Taylor Hicks returns to Linn Park in Birmingham, Alabama today with fellow hometown American Idol, Ruben Studdard, for a free concert supporting the food drive for storm victims.

In a way, it started in Linn Park.

In 2006, Taylor Hicks was headlining the most successful American Idol tour ever or since. The stop in Taylor’s hometown of Birmingham, was more than a victorious rock star’s homecoming. Among all the hoopla of instant superstardom, there was a rather quiet gathering in Linn Park to meet Taylor. A group of fans had collected a significant donation for Studio by the Tracks, a charity in Irondale, Alabama that Taylor had supported since a teenager and still does today with events at his new restaurant, Ore.

He said, in part, to the gathering there on that beautiful August afternoon:

“Never in my wildest dreams would I realize, as a musician, what an impact that not only I can make, but what we can make as a whole.

For you guys, and all of us, to be able to give back in any small way…that’s what makes a difference.

...It’s amazing the impact that we have, not just my voice but everyone’s voice. I want to thank everybody that’s been able to put that out there.

With our voices we can really make a difference.”

He closed with what would be a promise for many of his future efforts:

“…I think this is just the start of something bigger...

This is just one of the first of many causes that I think that we can make an impact on.”

From that day in Linn Park, Taylor and his followers have supported too many good causes to highlight here—from children’s cancer research, the American Red Cross and Birmingham charities, Studio By The Tracks and Kid One, to Gulf Coast Relief. Today, back in Linn Park, and Tuesday night at BamaRising at BJCC, he appears for tornado recovery.

But then, it really started long before Linn Park. Before most of us had heard the raspy, soulful voice of Taylor Hicks, he gave a small donation to Kid One and told them that someday he hoped it would be more.

He has made good on that. And more.

With Taylor’s inspiration and leadership, it is amazing what has been accomplished together.

Isn’t that the way it is...

Together.

For this American Idol who believes in giving back and making a difference, it is still just the start…

Support today’s free concert in Linn Park with donations of canned food.
More Information:
American Idols Taylor Hicks and Ruben Studdard Team Up for Outdoor Benefit Concert

If you can’t attend BamaRising Tuesday evening, you can make a donation here:
BamaRising

Taylor in Linn Park, August 8, 2006:




Top photo by: Maria3731

The Distance Between Us Will Fade

Last Friday and Saturday night, I watched Taylor Hicks give two of the best performances I have seen him give in all the time I have followed him. These nights were made much more special because I had the privilege of joining forces with SOS, NFF and TOSP to bring Workplay to our members who couldn’t be there via a new type of cellcert. We pulled it off, albeit with a couple of false starts and some glitches along the way … we will do it better next time, but for less than a week of coordination, we did ok.

It isn’t the cellcert I am proud of, although I am really glad we didn’t flop! It is the admin/owners from the 4 boards, boards with different members, different philosophies and definitely different opinions, putting all that aside to bring fans together to celebrate Taylor. It is the members of the four boards who embraced the idea and supported it from the word go. It is the SPIRIT I saw in everyone who participated. There wasn’t concern over what board would get credit for anything, efforts were made to share media with everyone at the cellcert as it came in, and the members interacted with people from other boards as if they were old friends. It was all the right things a fan base can be.

I got a lot of feedback from people about how great they thought it was that the boards were working together and that it was TIME. I think it’s past time, and I hope we can keep that spirit alive going into 2010.

I want to thank everyone who participated in the cellcerts, the people who expressed encouragement and offered kind words, and especially the admin teams from the other boards, as well as my own. I am proud to have been a small part of such a dedicated and enthusiastic group. I think we were all reminded how much fun it is to share the magic that is Taylor Hicks…. And Taylor was right, the distance between us DID fade away.

That Legendary Music Icon ... Ellen ???

If you are a seasoned old timer like me, you long ago realized that AI is less about a "singing competition" and more about making some 19 and Sony/BMG folks richer.

It's about the ratings, stupid !!

AI could not have said it clearer than when they recently announced the addition of Ellen Degeneres to the judging panel. I'm sure Ellen loves music, probably owns some CD's, and certainly has the power to promote anyone she chooses. What I'm not sure about is what exactly qualifies her to judge musical acumen. She doesn't sing, doesn't produce, doesn't write or do any of the things that would give her musical opinion any credibility.

What Ellen does do is bring star power. She comes on the tail of a long time, highly rated talk show with lots of viewers. And there is the rub ... drawing new viewers and saving the ratings that have begun to slide since Season 5. She has shown her ability (a la Clive Davis) to tell America they got it wrong.

Be sure to check out this great blog piece for a deeper look into what Ellen brings to AI:

Idolizing Ellen
http://www.writeonnewjersey.com/2009/09/idolizing-ellen/

By the way, if you don't know, Rewind of Season 5 is just starting to air. Watch Taylor's victory again, even sweeter now that you have followed him and know his story.

Taylor Hicks ~~ Roads home...

Taylor Hicks goes home to Birmingham this week!

In 2007, as I prepared to fly to Birmingham for Taylor’s Solo Tour, I wrote about returning to the South:

“I’ve never been to Birmingham. When I step off a plane there on March 5, I will be coming home.

“Growing up in the South in the 40s and 50s was as idyllic as Opie in Mayberry. We lived in beautiful white farm houses, and my brothers and I played in the woods. We didn’t own the house or the farm; my father was a tenant farmer.

“The future then was in the cities and, like many Southerners, we moved away. I was eight years old when we left the South with everything we had in an old Chevy. My long journey began.

“Our family never lived in the South again. Roads took me to the gray, frigid winters of Michigan, sunny beaches and Hollywood hills of California, and the scorching deserts of the Southwest.

“I returned to the South only twice since leaving all those years ago, once for my father’s funeral in the white country church I attended every Sunday as a child, then again for my mother’s funeral in the same small church a few miles from the Ohio River.

“I have always known that I must see Taylor in the South. I know now that even though I left the South, the essence of the South is still in my heart. For me, Taylor personifies that unchanging character of a world I knew as a child--a quieter, slower time and place where hearts could dream, and a boy could dance and sing in his grandmother’s kitchen.

“It has been said, ‘Home is where the heart is.’ When I step off that plane in Birmingham, I will close the circle started when I was eight. I will be coming home.”

For me, going to Birmingham felt like reclaiming that connection with the South that I had never really lost. Growing up there was a magical time and place that will always be in my heart.

A lot has happened since I first flew in over Birmingham over two years ago with my face pressed to the window looking at football fields thinking I might see one that said “Hoover.”

Taylor has a new stage, a new album, a new genre, and many new fans. He still commands an audience. He still has fans flying across the country to see him.

I’m going back to Birmingham…

And I will probably, once again, press my face against the window and look for anything that says, “Hoover.”

Make the sweet tea and fried green tomatoes…

Thanks, Taylor, for bringing me back to my roots.

See you in Birmingham!


“Birmingham,” was first published in Taylor’s fan e’zine, The Soul Connection, February, 2007.