Wade on Birmingham

UPDATE: Taylor Hicks, take 3

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The good folks at Scripps Howard News Service have picked up this profile on Taylor Hicks for the news wire. (Thanks, Karen!) Meet Brad Hicks, Taylor’s father and best friend. And learn what Taylor has in common with “American Idol” winner Ruben Studdard.

Look for it in print and online in your favorite news sites, such as the Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel, the Albuquerque (N.M.) Tribune, the Abilene (Texas) Reporter-News, ABC 15 (Phoenix), the (Wichita Falls, TX) Times Record News, the Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times, the Decatur Daily and the (Fort Wayne, Ind.) Journal Gazette.

And be sure to kindly ask your local newspaper and TV station to run the story from the Scripps Howard News Service.

Taylor Hicks

Taylor Hicks sings ‘Living for the City’ on March 14.

Gray-haired Hicks brings soul to ‘Idol’

By WADE KWON
Scripps Howard News Service

17-MAR-06

“American Idol” has seen its share of pop singers, country crooners, R&B divas and rock stars, but one finalist this season stands out as a soul man.

Taylor Hicks describes his sound as pop-soul, singling out Ruben Studdard as his favorite from seasons past. Studdard, who won the title in 2003, “was one of the most soulful contestants on the show,” Hicks said by phone from Hollywood.

Their styles aren’t the only similarities: Hicks’ middle name is Reuben.

And unlike Bo Bice, Huntsville, Ala., native and 2005 runner-up, Hicks, of Birmingham, Ala., said his sound is more soul and blues than rock. It’s what separates him from Bice, and from this year’s other finalists.

“If you listen to the heart of soul, from Otis Redding to Sam Cooke, there’s an art to that,” he said. He also Redding’s performance of “Try a Little Tenderness” had to be seen as well as heard to be fully appreciated.

Hicks, 29, is the second-oldest contestant this season; Mandisa, a songstress from Antioch, Tenn., is older by just five days, he said. Those extra years might give Hicks an advantage over the others, some as young as 16.

“Considering I’ve had more years performing, playing every honky-tonk imaginable in the Southeast, that’s helped a lot,” he said.

His father, Brad Hicks, agrees, having watched his son perform at clubs and festivals around Alabama, sometimes to nearly-empty venues. “He had an uncommon interest in music as a child. He was 5 or 6 years old and wanted to sing and dance for everybody.”

Even though Taylor plays guitar and harmonica in addition to singing, he’s never had formal music lessons, said Brad Hicks, who works in nearby Jasper, Ala., as a dentist.

“We’re a pretty grounded group, we’re just plain folks from Birmingham,” Brad said.

Given the choice of any song, Hicks said he would cover “Sweet Home Alabama,” quickly adding, “Just kidding.”

“There’s so many great songs. You’re talking about the whole spectrum of music.

“I’d pick ‘Just the Two of Us’ by Bill Withers. It takes you back to the soul AM radio days. I really like that style of music.”

Hicks also listens to R&B, hip-hop and country, citing favorites such as Ronnie Milsap, Kenny Chesney and Montgomery, Ala.-based Dirty South rapper Deuce Komradz.

His colorful musical choices aren’t unlike his colorful stage presence, from his salt-and-pepper hair to his harmonica jams.

As for his plans — from his image to his dating life — he is open to possibility. He said he’d even consider dyeing his distinctive salt-and-pepper hair, but “it would take a large sum of money from a (hair color company) sponsor.”

Hicks mentioned that he’s not dating anyone at the moment. “The only thing I’m attached to is my headphones, listening to the song I’m going to perform.”

(Contact Wade Kwon at www.wadeonbirmingham.com.)

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Read more on Taylor Hicks.

2 Yips for “UPDATE: Taylor Hicks, take 3”

  1. Ginny
    Sunday, March 19, 2006, 4:26 pm
    1

    I’m also publishing it in my ‘zine.

  2. Jeannette Armstrong
    Friday, May 26, 2006, 11:02 am
    2

    Hey Taylor its COLUMBUS, Ohio… And can’t wait to see YOU and the others.

    P.S. Do not dye your hair, PLEASE!!

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