Celebrities On My Bike: Taylor Hicks

“I gotta get on one of these” is what American Idol Taylor Hicks said while getting his picture snapped with my bike and I at a radio station tour stop to promote his appearance as Teen Angel in the musical Grease at the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati through February 1st and his concert at the Century Theater in Oakley, Saturday January 24th.

Mildly admitting he may have had one too many Memphis BBQ sandwiches, Taylor Hicks whirlwind hasn’t stopped since he got off the plane in Hollywood. He actually had to have his dad pick up his car at the airport where months before he had left it to fly out for Idol auditions. The call to accept the role in Grease came during a five minute lunch while recording the new CD due out this spring. Think we all can relate to careers encroaching on exercise time and the pooch encroaching on the beltline.

I know what you may be thinking. Truthfully, I wasn’t a big fan of the big grey haired guy when he was on Idol either. I too thought the Soul Patrol was kind of corny. However, that was Idol. Now he’s doing his own thing, his own niche of music. Being a fan of the blues, I’m warmly impressed. I listened to a few cuts on his myspace page. Good stuff if you’re into heartfelt soulful blues-ish music. You can feel the emotion in the songs. He said his band is full of seasoned players, some who’ve played with Clapton, another a virtuoso on the big Hammond B3 Organ. Bands don’t lug one of those things around the country unless they mean business. His new single “What’s Right Is Right” is due out in the coming weeks.

Hey, he was cool enough to take a goofy picture with me and my bike. If he can see a Les Paul in my Jamis Xenith, I can at least appreciate his passion for blues and soul music.

For more celebrities on my bike, click here to see the band The Bravery.