Taylor Hicks Writing For Next Album

Good news folks! We heard from Taylor this morning and yes there is signs of life! Seems he has his sexy patooty in motion and is writing all kinds of music for his next album. He said for the past 2 weeks he's been in Nashville and Los Angeles and has about 30 songs that he's choosing from. Oh boy, if this doesn't make you salivate, I don't know what will. I'm absolutely convinced that this looooooong wait will be worth it in spades when we hear the final product. Imagine someone with the soulful vibe of Taylor Hicks having creative freedom without the strangle-hold of Clive Davis!? Imagine if he comes up with another song like "Somehow" (a masterpiece in my opinion), a song he penned for his first album "In Your Time". Imagine if it makes Clive rue the day he and Taylor parted ways? Imagine if he makes the critics eat crow? Yum Yum! Ah! A glorious day for the Soul Patrol, eh?

Personally, I don't care how much or how little commercial success this album has, just as long as there's some good soulful and bluesy tunes to groove and swoon with!

Also, he said his goal on the next tour is to make it up to Canada AND to give the West Coast of the U.S. lots of Taylor luv! Wooo! Europe and Asia is not out of the question either depending on how the new album does! Let's cross our fingers!

Go Taylor! We're waiting with baited breath!

Taylor Hicks - Unqualified Success in CD Sales - Except to American Idol!?

Interesting article from the L.A. Times yesterday. They write what most of Taylor's fans already know (and most people in the music industry know as well). American Idol is not interested in developing artists - all they're interested in is someone who can move millions of CDs instantaneously - they want their pop flavor of the month NOW!

The article, in part, states:
We can ponder while we await Boshnack's appearance next year. So yes, "American Idol" needs a hit, and a hit in "Idol's" world doesn't mean selling 700,000 CDs, as Hicks did, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That kind of number would be considered an unqualified success for many of today's artists, but "Idol" isn't in the business of selling art -- it's about creating the kind of CD cover that looks good on the shelves at electronic stores.

Rest the rest here:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/01/american-idol-1.html

And this article:

Away from the show, those associated with “Idol” are having some major difficulties. Within two months, two former winners – Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks – and a runner-up — Katharine McPhee – were released from their record contracts.

They were dropped mostly because of their terrible sales in comparison to former “Idol” standouts. None of the three’s recent albums went platinum, something expected of “Idol” superstars. The albums of season six’s final two, Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis, have also failed in a way that people aren’t used to

The biggest problem with these events is that the big-wigs behind the “Idol” machine are the ones who are failing, not the talent. It’s as if they don’t realize the landscape of music has changed since the show debuted. Illegal downloading is even more prevalent than it was back then, crippling sales.

The “Idol” people think that this doesn’t apply to their talent, seemingly believing that millions of votes each week equal sales. The labels refuse to re-mold their business plan and instead continuously trot out their talent as “from American Idol” and expect that to work. The thing is, it doesn’t. Not all of the winners’ styles fit the classic “Idol” mold and the labels should have recognized that and promoted them differently.

Amen to that.

Read the rest here:
http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=48419&comview=1