A Capitol Fourth - This Land is Your Land

As I listened to Taylor Hicks' rehearsal of "This Land is Your Land" for Friday night's live performance of a Capitol Fourth, I thought about last year's tour and all the places he performed. It made me think about the different marquees with Taylor's name in the center, which ones I had captured and which ones that eluded me. I thought of how far Taylor Hicks had come since winning American Idol in 2006, from a major head-lining tour in 2007 of the US and then on to several places in Asia before the year was out. His first major-label CD, his first Christmas of TV appearances and specials after the win, now with his stint on Broadway in "Grease", and finally tonight on "A Capitol Fourth", an annual PBS special.

It occurred to me that the song is more than just a traditional song to help celebrate our great nation's birthday. It's also about Taylor's travels and his determination to move forward with his career and take advantage of the opportunities he has. After all if the US didn't have the freedoms that we enjoy and often take for granted, talented performers like Taylor Hicks wouldn't have the opportunity to show their talents.

But more importantly is that whenever Taylor Hicks is involved in something like this, he pays tributes to and thanks the men and women of our Armed Forces for fighting to keep our country free. That to me is rare indeed. Taylor does it as effortlessly as he does his "Soul Patrol" greeting.

So enjoy the song that Taylor Hicks will sing tonight, try to remember those marquees of last year, and buried like the treasures they are, enjoy a few pictures, courtesy of PayTheDevil, from Taylor's rehearsal last night.

This land is your land, this land is my land....let us protect it and never take it for granted.

Happy Fourth of July!

Tags: Taylor Hicks, American Idol, Soul Patrol, RagsQueen, Traveling Circus, Taylor Hicks Community

Happy Fourth of July!

Since our Independence Day is near, I wanted to celebrate by trying to learn something new, like making a video from some of my Taylor Hicks concert pictures, adding an audio to it, those fun things that others do, but I haven't tried yet. I can't say I was all that successful, but after several attempts, I managed to make at least a montage of Taylor Hicks pictures from the Spartanburg, SC perform for Red, White and Boom! After several tests of the videos, I discovered my cat had caused my sound to mute, voila, there was Taylor Hicks, singing our National Anthem from his Talladega performance a few months ago!

A very special thank you to Gypsee and The Taylor Hicks Community for the use of the following spectacular video of fireworks with Taylor Hicks singing our National Anthem when he was at Talladega a few months ago! The fireworks are from last year's Capitol Fourth show. So if you want to watch fireworks while listening to Taylor, this is a great video to watch!

Happy Fourth of July, Everyone!

A very special Happy Birthday to my Daughter who celebrates her birthday on July 4!

And a heart-felt THANK YOU to men and women who fight on a daily basis in our Armed Forces to preserve our freedoms!

Support our troops with a donation through JewelrySpout's "Taylor Hicks Proud of Our Troops Drive"! Please visit http://www.jewelrysprout.com/taylor-hicks-cd-drive.html for more information.

Tags: Taylor Hicks, American Idol, Soul Patrol, RagsQueen, Traveling Circus, Taylor Hicks Community