Prior to coming into American homes on American Idol’s Season 5, Taylor Hicks had been a working musician for over 10 years. Working the bars and clubs of the southeastern US, Hicks honed his craft, becoming the seasoned performer we saw in our living rooms each week. As Season 5 progressed, many fans began to discover the pre-AI Taylor Hicks, and they liked what they saw and heard - a singer and songwriter than transcended what they saw on their TV screens.

Fans discovered that Hicks had recorded two CD’s prior to AI, In Your Time, released in 1997 and Under the Radar, released in 2005. Both CDs were recorded independently and were made under very tight budgets. In Your Time was actually recorded live to save money. Neither CD was widely available, but ended up in the hands of fans through various channels. But now, songs from those two CD’s have been remastered and released by Hicks’ own Modern Whomp Records, under the title Early Works.

The compilation includes six songs from each of the previous CDs; all but two songs are Hicks originals. These songs have been in my possession for two years now, but I was anxious to hear these remastered versions. Would they lose that raw, stripped down, hard working musician quality that I found so attractive? The answer is no, they’ve just made them better, bringing out Hicks’ vocals and the great performances of his backup musicians. “Nostalgic” and “endearing” are the words Hicks uses to describe the compilation, but I’d like to add original, warm, creative, versatile, and passionate.

For those who did not follow Hicks beyond his AI performances each week, or may have heard Taylor Hicks, his post-AI release, Early Works may be a pleasant surprise. Though two of his original songs, Soul Thing and The Deal were included on Taylor Hicks, they were highly produced versions of the songs. What you get on Early Works are songs written and recorded by a young Hicks, taking all he had been exposed to from his immersion into the world of music, that started at the age of nine with the theft of a friends’ Otis Redding album. Hicks tries to set the tone of what it’s all about for him with the placement of Soul Thing on track one - “It ain’t no groove thing, it ain’t no country twang, it’s a just a simple refrain, it’s just a soul thing.” But it is all of those things and more on Early Works. You feel his love of music, no matter what the genre on this CD – the bluesy sound of Somehow, the country feel of West Texas Sky, the calypso beat of Hold Onto Your Love, the New Orleans vibe of My Friend, and the groove of Tighten Up. Most of all, what you discover is that not only is Hicks a great singer and performer, but a damn good songwriter.

Though not written by Hicks, one song on the compilation deserves particular attention. The cover of Georgia, with Billy Earl McClelland on guitar, is worth the over seven minute listen. Hicks eases into the song, handling it almost reverently as a nod to his idol, Ray Charles. But as the song goes on, he makes it his own, taking us to every corner of his vocal ability, from soul wrenching growls to smooth falsetto. For anyone needing an introduction to the vocal abilities and the creativity of Taylor Hicks, this is the song to listen to.

The release of Early Works makes this music more widely available, but it also sets the stage for Hicks’ next CD, which is in the works. According to Hicks, we can expect something more raw and more organic than his post-AI release. I see it as a possible continuation of where he was going before the sharp left turn of AI. At least all of us who are fans of that raw, bar singer side of Hicks hope so.

Early Works is now available exclusively at Target.