Taylor Hicks drops a few more clues about his upcoming album…

Here's a short but informative interview with Taylor Hicks from Entertainment Weekly.com.  Here is what we learn:

• Taylor is currently “collecting and writing” music.
• He's using ONE producer.  His name is Matt Serletic.  More about him here and here.  Serletic, once a member of the band Collective Soul,  has produced Matchbox 20 and Willie Nelson and Carlos Santana's “Smooth”.  He's also co-written songs with Rob Thomas and Bernie Taupin.
• According to Taylor, his album is “going to be soulful, very old-school-R&B-flavored, but it's also going to have a new-wave edge to it.”
• Taylor is currently writing a song that will go on the album.  Michael McDonald sent him some songs.  And, he's co-written a song with John Mayer.  Taylor is writing the lyrics,   Mayer the music.
• Taylor is hoping to write music with bluesman Delbert McClinton.
• Expect the CD to be different than the music Taylor sang on Idol.
• Taylor says, “There's a certain room that I'm going to be recording in that nobody's recorded in in quite some time.”  Hmmm….
• The timeline for the album: “I definitely want to have it out toward Christmas. Even then, the quality of the album and the work has to be really good before I release it.”

Angie Aparo is also writing music for Taylor's album.  And as you can see here, producer Matt Serletic produced Aparo's album “The American” in 1999.  Connections, connections…

thanks to Lisa B. D-504 and griz.  I have the bestest and most awesomest commenters in the whole wide world…