People: Taylor Hicks (Interview)

The Associated Press

Taylor Hicks is starting over with his new CD, The Distance.



SETH WENIG/The Associated PressAfter parting ways last year with Arista Records, the winner of the fifth season of American Idol launched his own label, Modern Whomp Records, in January. The Distance came out last week.

Hicks, 32, talked recently about music – and romance.

What is your new album like?

This is the representation of me as an artist right now. I think the key for this particular project was time. I had the time to create the songs, time to record the music, time to really think about the producers that I wanted to work with.

How do you think Idol helped you?

A lot of my time and effort pre-American Idol was spent on the road as a live performer. American Idol gave me that chance to better learn how to be a recording artist.

Do you stay connected to the show in any way?

I do keep in touch with a lot of my fellow Idols. We e-mail, text-message each other back and forth; when we see each other in person it's always nice.

Finally, you had a little Bachelor experience of your own recently when Regis and Kelly set you up on a date on their show. What was that like?

We had a great time. ... We went on a date, there were some sparks and who knows! We've kind of thrown a couple e-mails back and forth to each other.

The Associated Press

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