Taylor Hicks Still Rockin' the Roadhouse!

You can take him out of the roadhouse, but you can’t take the roadhouse out of Taylor Hicks.

Taylor Hicks returns to the roadhouse this weekend for “Shindig on the Sand” celebrating Gulf Coast musicians at the Flora-Bama, Perdido Key, Alabama.

The Flora-Bama is a music landmark on the Gulf Coast renowned as The Last Great American Roadhouse. In his autobiography, Heart Full of Soul, Taylor Hicks calls the Flora-bama “fabulous” and describes it as what Alabamans call a “real good time.” And it’s gotten shout outs from his Vegas show.

He knows it pretty well. It became somewhat of a regular stop for him traveling the South as a young musician on the ‘miles-from-Vegas’ chitlin’ circuit.

“Let me tell you, there is nothing remotely glitzy about life on the chitlin’ circuit…” Yet, Taylor says, “…you’ll find some of the most discerning and enthusiastic audiences there nonetheless.”

And although they were struggling times, they served him well.

“The lessons I learned in those sweaty roadside clubs—often for close to no money and too many times in front of almost no people—are the same exact lessons that helped me capitalize on the biggest break imaginable when it came my way. Playing the chitlin’ circuit any chance we got …we learned the simple rule that I still live by to this very day: either you entertain people or you go home.

“I remain proud to have cut my teeth as a performer at some of those less than glamorous southern joints long referred to as the chitlin’ circuit….I’m talking about the same sort of down home fantastically greasy southern clubs and roadhouses where great artists like my hero Ray Charles and the Ike and Tina Turner Review and countless other R&B greats played once upon a time.”

It was a long and winding road from the chitlin’ circuit to the club circuit: winning American Idol, touring, starring on Broadway, and now, headlining in a “glitzy little” club on the Strip at Paris Las Vegas.

“…but you can’t take the roadhouse out of Taylor Hicks.” .

And it served his well when he became the first American Idol to land a residency in Las Vegas.

“The kind of rootsy rock that is Hicks’ bread and butter is simply too rare on the Strip. You’ve got plenty of Rat Pack pastiches, big-ticket headliners and impersonators galore, but few entertainers who approximate what it’s like to be traveling through a backwoods town and stumble across a smoky roadhouse with a hot band. That’s Hicks.” –Las Vegas Magazine

With its 'rootsy rock' and 'searing soul,' #TaylorHicksinVegas has been named one of the "hottest shows in Las Vegas!"

There may be little resemblance in the Flora-Bama and the Parisian flavored Napoleon's Lounge in Paris Las Vegas, but they both breathe with good music from an artist who has kept it real wherever he goes.

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While more than miles may separate Paris Las Vegas and the Gulf Coast landmark, it should be noted that the Flora-Bama has global stature as the 17th BEST roadhouse in the WORLD!

Ceasar’s Entertainment might want to check it out!

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The chitlin’ circuit can be proud of its alumni. Check out one this weekend headlining at Flora-Bama’s “Shindig on the Sand”
Tickets and more information: http://store.florabama.com/fun-stuff/shindig-on-the-sand-a-salute-to-gulf-coast-musicians-weekend-pass.html

See how roadhouse plays in Vegas when Taylor returns to Napoleon’s Lounge at Paris Las Vegas on June 17 at 8:00 p.m. where he headlines through November, 2013. Check calendar for show dates.
Tickets: http://www.parislasvegas.com/shows/taylor-hicks.html

And catch Taylor Hicks this summer at:
July 3-7 ~ Harrah’s Reno, NV – Sammy’s Showroom
Tickets:  http://www.ticketmaster.com/venueartist/189318/1092763/

August 29-September 1 ~ Harrah’s Laughlin, NV
Tickets:  http://www.harrahslaughlin.com/shows/taylor-hicks.html

For all Taylor Hicks news, events, and appearances, visit www.taylorhicks.com

Follow on Twitter @TaylorHicks

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Photo Credit:  Dave Morton, via al.com; Taylor Hicks on stage in Las Vegas. 
Blog Quote Sources:
“More Than a Matter of Pride” Las Vegas Magazine
http://lasvegasmagazine.com/2013/04/12/more-than-a-matter-of-pride/

Heart Full of Soul, by Taylor Hicks with David Wild. Random House. 2007.

Taylor Hicks and friends at the Flora-Bama ~ In a word, eclectic!

As the name suggests, the Flora-Bama sits on the Florida-Alabama state line on the Gulf of Mexico. It warrants a lot of descriptions from “It’s a dive bar like Jordan was a basketball player” to “America’s Last Great Roadhouse!” Much of it was destroyed in Hurricane Ivan in 2004. It was rebuilt, but did not lose its unique character.
Taylor Hicks, Rollin’ in the Hay, and Spoonful James play the Gulf Coast landmark today with beach party concerts, a football viewing extravaganza, and perhaps, with a tropical storm in the area, a wet and wild last shout out to summer! As Taylor added to a tweet about Flora-Bama this week: #justlikeoldtimes!

Shortly after winning American Idol in 2006, People Magazine talked with someone who “knew Taylor when” and knew Flora-Bama.

“Back when he was singing on the bar circuit in 2003, ‘he would get the crowd going,’ says Donna Slater, entertainment director of Flora-Bama Lounge, a popular watering hole on the Florida-Alabama border. ‘At first he was a curiosity, with all his dancing and twitching around on stage, but then everyone realized this guy could really sing.’”
Donna Slater had been hiring bands and musicians for the Flora-Bama Lounge since 1993. She started hiring Taylor and his college band in the late 1990s.

In a later interview, she talked about getting to know Taylor and his band.

“They were a college band with a lot of energy and talent, so I hired them during spring break of 1999? Late ‘90s.

“I kept hiring him through several band incarnations…this continued up until Hurricane Ivan hit in September, 2004. Taylor played the Mullet Toss in 2004. You have to remember that I met him when he was 19 or so. I believe that he always had that pull to perform and to play music whenever and wherever.”

There’s probably one song that will be on the set list tonight: Taylor’s own song, “Soul Thing.” It talks about this time when “the road can be your friend or the devil in disguise.” And it is Donna’s favorite. “It is that true R&B sound that he does so well.”

If you are in the Southeast today, the place to be is the Flora-Bama! Spoonful James with Wynn Christian, Quinn Borland, Eric Baath, and Patrick Lunceford plays at 2:00 p.m.

Rollin’ in the Hay with John Kulinich, Stan Foster, and Rick Carter takes the stage at 4:00 p.m.

At 6 p.m. Taylor Hicks returns to a stage he knows well. Difference is, there will be a few more people in the audience today as loyal fans fly in, drive in, and listen in as a Flora-Bama favorite son “brings it on home.”

There have been many different stages and shows since Donna Slater hired Taylor Hicks and his band in their college days. There is one constant for this great American roadhouse and these talented artists.

Music is their heart and soul.

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And a shout out to those who were there in the beginning!
Yes, America voted. But those who were in those first audiences at Flora-Bama…they, too, make tonight possible.

Rock the Bama, Boys!

The party started early as Taylor tweeted this from inside the Flora-Bama Dome Friday night. With inclement weather in the area, the beach party moves inside.
On the beach for Alabama Department of Tourism photoshoot.

Quotes by Donna Slater from:
"Soul Survivor" by Mike Lipton, People Magazine

TTHC/TMO_Media Interview