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Monday, August 31, 2009

So We Have a New Taylor Hicks Official Site: New, Yes Improved?

Taylor Hicks has opened a new site, he announced it on Twitter last week and it can be found at Taylorhicks.ning.com. He's incorporated his Twitter feed into a side panel and "Seven Mile Breakdown" video, front page.

Apparently there is to be some live chat activity as well with this message posted on August 29th:

Happy Saturday everyone!

Now that we're up and running with the new site, Taylor wants to become an active member. We'll be launching a live video chat with Taylor next week (exact time TBD). Taylor will be logged onto the site, reading questions from the chat board, and answering them live! Get those questions ready, and stay tuned for more info on the exact date/time.

-Team Taylor


This new Taylor Hicks site from what I'm understanding is to be a Social netowrking site, rather like some form of Taylor Hicks facebook; we'll see how this works with the way some of the members of his fan base tend to view one another and treat one another. Might be fun.

I went ahead and signed up but was having issues doing modifications to my personal site so I'll hit that again another time.

I did take a moment to hit chat to see what was shaking. Over 20 people were in the room but I didn't stick around. Time constraints today.

Taylor Hicks is in town this week, "Grease" playing in Ft. Worth. Am I going? Not at this point. Looking forward to B'Ham concert in the Fall, though.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Going to Disneyland. Wait, Actually "World", Again.

Taylor Hicks returns to Disney World in Orlando, Florida this November. He's performing in the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival and will be featured on November first and second.

This year, the 14th Annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, seventeen “Eat to the Beat” musical acts perform September 25 thru November 8. Acts showcase everything from rock to jazz, funk to pop. This is all taking place at the America Gardens Theatre stage, and the festival runs a lengthy 45 days. (That's a lot of food and vino!)

In the lineup of performers for this year's festival there are six new faces besides Taylor Hicks; Richard Marx, Better than Ezra, Vanessa Carlton, John Waite, Billy Ocean. Admission to the shows are included in your price of Epcot admission and there are scheduled three shows daily; 5:15, 6:30 and 7:45 p.m. There is a notation the lineup can be subject to change.

Taylor Hicks at Smith's Olde Bar: 2006 Shadow Tour
"Hell of a Day"


Video c/o JenniJaco

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Taylor Hicks' Vimeos from Smith's Olde Bar

Taylor Hicks' performed in Atlanta, Georgia the weekend before this one at Smith's Olde Bar. There have been many enthusiastic replies regarding the performance he and his band gave the crowd so I've hit several of the videos to watch what the buzz is about.

This particular video, surprisingly is one of my favorite. I am not in love with the song presented on the latest Hicks' CD, "The Distance" but I do like this rendition. Hicks' playful delivery, the minimalist delivery with the acoustic guitars and harmonica really work well. I must add the videographer did a great job, there's fantastic audio, no camera shake.

Taylor Hicks' "Wedding Day Blues"

Wedding Day Blues - Smith's Olde Bar - RagsQueen from RagsQueen on Vimeo.



"Seven Mile Breakdown" another good vid and song that transfers well into this minimalist format. Watching Hicks carefully on that tambourine for pointers... I'm going to send this video out to the guys and see what they'd think about covering a version of it for the City concert coming up in the Fall. I think our singer, "R." could do it some justice.

Taylor Hicks, Smith's Olde Bar:

Seven Mile Breakdown - Smith's Olde Bar - RagsQueen from RagsQueen on Vimeo.


videos provided by the grace of RagsQueen

For anyone who is unable to view vimeo, hit this link Taylor Hicks on Youtube for a vast selection of vids from this concert.

Looking forward to B'Ham in September.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Taylor Hicks Cone Ranger: Saga of the Cone - Getting Soggy?

Okay, so it was cute initially. Taylor Hicks selected to make a little fun about his time riding the large plastic ice cream cone prop in his current gig as Teen Angel singing "Beauty School Drop-Out" in the national touring company, "Grease". He's been tweeting out various flavors in his tweets on Twitter to the fans who have come to congregate on that site. Why Twitter? It's 140 characters of brevity and it it seems fans find more information on Twitter about him than almost anywhere. Wait - there is that Boogie site. If you dare go there. Understand treading into the land of Boogie you may get access to some information and videos, but word: best to just read or to see and be not heard.

Anyway so we have Twitter and Taylor Hicks with my focus on the subjects of Mr. Hicks' Twitter tweets. (Say that five times fast.) As we've gone along on Twitter, Mr. Hicks has journeyed from seldom to never posting to actually knocking out about a tweet a week. Does he actually talk to his fans like I see other musicians and celebrities do? Not so much. Instead he relegates his tweets increasingly to naming ice cream flavors. Yes, flavors, like Cookies and Cream or Boysenberry. Hilarious reading some of the responses who immediately start vowing that flavor their favorite, or they don't like it but what about another flavor; it goes on and on. Apparently, from what I'm reading, some fans are even imagining he's sending secret messages with his flavors. I imagine Mr. Hicks sends those flavored tweets out then sits back reading and laughing at the result. I know I would.

Again, granted in the beginning, Mr. Hicks' ice cream tweets were a witty little concept, the tweets had the flavor, from time to time of "Where in the World...", or a hint of what might be coming up next in the Hicks' ice cream career field. The thing is - that's about all he does - the ice Cream tweets. That or he's promoting his next show with dates and places. There are, occasionally, some vague references to where he might have dined that day... Frankly for me it's getting redundant and downright soggy. It would be different if he'd intersperse the tweets about ice cream flavors with tweets with concert pics, an occasional short video or say something actually TO the fans not AT the fans. There's a big difference in "To" and "At". One guy who talks 'to' his fans, Chris Daughtry. Now I'm not using Daughtry as a jab at Taylor or anything idiotically related to the asinine A.I. battle but rather as an example since they both hit mass public consciousness around the same time. Talking "to" your fans works to attain connection, talking "at" your fans embodies a rather superior feel, incorporating a Distance...

I for one am glad I've other interests on Twitter and other interests in my life, period. If I were one whose main interest on Twitter was a person who once a week shouted out "Strawberry pimping" or some such, I'd likely lose interest. If I were a potentially new fan I'd be thinking by now, 'What in the Hell?". Of course, the old diehard fans from the American Idol days won't be thwarted; if Taylor Hicks just tweeted odd noises such as "ARGH" or "PFFFT" or "GAAAH" they'd likely be as entertained, respond back in kind and have a happy-jolly laugh about it all.

Now I know some of you dear readers will say there I am trying to tell Taylor Hicks what to do, but if you read carefully I'm doing no such thing. Instead I'm writing about what I am finding swirling into a boring little soft served idea from what, if utilized with other Twitter tweets might actually be worthy of two scoops in a sugar cone. So to those who disagree with me on my thoughts about the ice cream pimping, PFFFTTT! Oh, and by the way, lately my favorite ice cream flavor is coffee.

Life and death of and Ice Cream Confection:


Captain Beefheart - Ice Cream for Crow (HIgh Resolution)