Taylor Hicks - Taking it to the Streets with Grease and Independently

For those who still do not know who Taylor Hicks is, he is the Season 5 American Idol winner. Taylor has a huge fan base called the Soul Patrol. After winning American Idol Taylor released his first album "Taylor Hicks" through Arista records with producer Matt Serletic in December of 2006. The album has since sold 801,000 copies worldwide and has been certified platinum. All this was done with little radio airplay. In January 2008 Taylor Hicks and Arista records mutually parted ways.

But Taylor Hicks has not been idle since becoming hugely popular on the stage of American Idol. He took it the streets after the release of his CD and toured all over the U.S and in Asia as well. He's played with Willie Nelson, rapped with Snoop Dogg among many others. He has performed on Christmas in Washington, Christmas at Rockefeller center and A Capital Fourth just to name a few. HDNET aired Whomp at the Warfield, which is the concert footage of a concert held at the Warfield Theater. This is also going to be released to DVD soon.

For three months this past summer Taylor starred on Broadway in the hit musical Grease as Teen Angel. A role made famous by Frankie Valli in the classic Grease movie. Taylor wowed audiences all summer long and made the role his own even adding some harmonica playing to the role and at the end in the curtain call.

Taylor's time on Broadway came to an end in August but Grease is not over for him. Taylor Hicks will take on the role as Teen Angel again in the show's new national tour, which begins December 2nd, 2008, at Rhode Island's Providence Performing Arts Center. Check www.taylorhicks.com for a show near you.

Last year news that Taylor Hicks parted ways with Arista created havoc online as fans wondered what this would mean for Taylor's career and Non- fans assumed it meant the end. Taylor Hicks however knew that wasn't going to happen.

In the new age of music more and more artists are turning to Independent labels where they get full creative control and they get to keep more of their money. A press release that was released October 7^th explains how Taylor has taken advantage of this great new way to have control over his music and still get the final product out to the public. His sophomore CD will hit stores February 10^th 2009.

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- He's "Takin' It to the Streets" on "American Idol" -- now Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks will be takin' it more directly to the people. Celebrating his birthday today, Hicks has tapped the independent artist services company Artist To Market (A2M) to release his much-buzzed-about new album, due in stores on February 10, 2009. The platinum-selling singer-songwriter will be releasing the new title with complete control of direction and ownership of his masters on his solely owned and operated, Modern Whomp Records label. Hicks is currently in the studio with producer Simon Climie (Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Faith Hill).

"In this digital age, when artists can connect more directly with audiences, this is a partnership that makes a lot of sense," says Hicks. "I'm very much enjoying being in the studio with Simon working on the new album and look forward to releasing it through A2M early next year."

"We at A2M are very excited to be working with the team at Modern Whomp Records on this release," said Paul Ignasinski, General Manager of A2M. "As the industry continues to evolve, it's exciting to see significant artists approach the marketplace in a new way, and truly take control over their own destiny. This is exactly why A2M was built in the first place -- to provide a service platform for these artists to prosper on their own terms."

During the last two years, Taylor Hicks has seen his self-titled Arista debut album certified platinum, performed with the likes of Willie Nelson, Widespread Panic, The Allman Brothers and Jackson Browne, toured through Asia, penned the brisk-selling Random House memoir Heart Full of Soul, spent time in NY this past summer for his three-month Broadway debut as "Teen Angel" in Grease, and will take Grease on a national tour beginning December 1.

In August Hicks' Modern Whomp Records released Early Works (a reissue compilation of his two independent albums, In Your Time and Under the Radar) through the Welk Music Group. Hicks is also planning the release of Whomp at the Warfield, a DVD showcasing a live performance by Hicks and his band at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco.

About Artist to Market Distribution:

Launched in 2005, Artist to Market Distribution (A2M) is an independent music distributor and artist services company designed to work directly with artists, labels, and content owners to streamline the supply chain, provide flexible service solutions, and deliver new product to the marketplace at a lower cost. Over the past two years A2M has partnered with a diverse group of platinum and multi-platinum artists including Dolly Parton, Tracy Lawrence, Tommy Lee, John Michael Montgomery, Sinead O'Connor, Unwritten Law, and Tracy Byrd, in addition to critically-acclaimed newcomers, The Cool Kids. More information can be found at http://www.artist2market.com.

SOURCE Taylor Hicks

More great news is that Taylor gets to do something unique to promote the single off his upcoming CD. Taylor is being allowed to sing his single in the Grease show on tour. To read more about this go here.

So if you are thinking Taylor Hicks is down and out because you haven't read or heard anything about him you have obviously been looking in the wrong places.