Taylor Hicks Making Hay With Music and Show -

Thursday, March 05, 2009
Special Sections
CHRIS.WELCH@htimes.com

Last week, Taylor Hicks of Birmingham - the Season 5 winner of "American Idol" - woke up in bed in a cold sweat. He put on his clothes and ran downstairs because, you see, he didn't know where he was.

Birmingham? Nope. Los Angeles? Nope. Ummm...

"It happens once every three or four months. I woke up and didn't know where I was," Hicks said during a phone interview from Tucson, Ariz., the city he eventually learned he was in. He is promoting his new album "The Distance," which comes out Tuesday.

"I'm just in so many different cities, sometimes I'm just completely lost. I don't really have a home, I've been on the road so much."

Not that Hicks is complaining, really. Most probably figured things would have slowed down for the gray-haired singer considering his "American Idol" win was three years ago and many "Idol" fans move on to the next big "Idol" thing. Apparently not. Since "American Idol" he:

performed on the "American Idol Tour"

released his debut album, which produced the No. 1 hit "Do I Make You Proud?"

has written a memoir, "Heart Full of Soul: An Inspirational Memoir About Finding Your Voice and Finding Your Way" in 2007

started his own record label, Modern Whomp, in 2008

released a collection of songs from his pre-"Idol" years, "Early Works," in 2008

plays the role of "Teen Angel" in the traveling Broadway production of "Grease" until December

Oh, did we mention that he's also playing small clubs, sometimes doing two shows of "Grease" and a late club gig after that?

"As they say, you have to make hay while the sun shines," Hicks said. "Yeah, it's a long haul and it's hard, but I know this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

"Even as a kid, when I was playing the Mill (a former restaurant on Governors Drive), I knew this is what I'm supposed to be doing. Playing up there in places like Crossroads taught me a lot about the idea of peaks and valleys."

In a stroke of marketing savvy, Hicks comes back for his encores in the "Grease" stage show and sings music from his new album. The first single, "What's Right is Right," is No. 26 on Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary chart.

"I'm exciting about the way we're going about marketing and getting it out there," Hicks said. "It's a pretty cutting-edge way to tour. Five minutes after being a Broadway actor I'm out there being a musician.

"I think all the things I'm doing go hand in hand - each of them complements the other. Luckily for me, the iron is still hot and you have to sustain that, and the main point is the idea of touring."

For more about Hicks go to blog.al.com/go.

http://www.al.com/music/huntsvilletimes/....6190.xml&coll=1