Bits and Pieces
According to Elliott Yamin's publicist, Elliott is currently considering some label offers and gearing up for his upcoming concert at the Virginia State Fair. Elliott begins rehearsing with Taylor Hicks' band LiMBO (who will be backing him) on Monday:
Fresh off the “American Idol” tour, Elliott Yamin is ready to get to work after a short pit stop in Richmond.
The “Idol” finalist took a breather in his home town this week to hang out with his mom, Claudette, and is currently pondering offers from two music labels, his publicist told us yesterday. Yamin plans to head to Birmingham, Ala., Monday to rehearse with Taylor Hick s's band, Limbo, who will back the singer during his first post-“Idol” concert at the Virginia State Fair on Oct. 8.
Yamin plans to release an album early next year.
According to this week's Rollingstone magazine–hip-hop producer Nate Hills is working on some tracks for Katharine McPhee's upcoming album, due to be released November 21st:
“Timbalands's Secret Weapon – Meet Nate Hills, the one-man band who helps shape the producer's biggest hits.
For the past three years, Timbaland has had a secret weapon in the studio: Nate Hills, a twenty-five-year-old fellow Virginia Beach native. Hills, a church-trained keyboard player, was working a day job in construction and making beats on the side before Timbaland made him his protege, now partner. “He's just ridiculously talented, ” Justin Timberlake says. Hills' role is often to refine Timbaland's raw ideas, but they also write songs together. For example, Hills came up with the beat for “Promiscuous, ” and Timbaland created the hook. Lately, Hills has begun working on his own as a producer and songwriter with acts including Britney Spears, Diddy and Katharine McPhee. His most distinctive style is the spacey synth-rock sound he employed on the Nelly Furtado track “Maneater” – which he also applied to a new song with Duran Duran and an upcoming solo track from the Pussycat Dolls' Nicole Scherzinger. “I'm just a musical guy, ” says Hills, who unlike many hip-hop producers has the chops to jam with live bands. “So I definitely want to venture into rock and stuff like that – where I can be free.”
It will be interesting to see how The Powers That Be package Katharine as a current pop artist. Nate Hills appears to be a hip-hop producer looking to broaden his appeal. It could be an interesting combination.
thanks to Lisa B, Soma and Idol Maniac
