Elliott Performed With LiMBO Taylor's Band!

[TaylorHicksRocks]

Elliott Yamin Speaks on Post American Idol Career
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By Shirley Kennedy
Oct 20, 2006

I’m a writer; yet, I find myself struggling for the right words to describe Elliott Yamin’s performance at his first solo concert on Sunday, October 8. I could say that he was “fabulous,” “awesome,” or “great,” but those words fail to fully capture the performance Elliott gave his fans. Elliott did not merely give music; he gave himself. I for one hope this concert is but one of many “firsts” for Elliott.

The day after Elliott’s (second) triumphant return to Richmond, I sat down with him to discuss his music and his future in the industry. Elliott was so accommodating in this interview that one article cannot sufficiently cover our discussions. In part one of the interview, Elliott and I reviewed where he is now in his career and revisited some of the issues we discussed in our telephone interview in June. Part two focuses on Elliott’s bright future.

When I asked Elliott how it felt to have his first post-Idol experience behind him, his face beamed with the memory: “It feels great. I didn’t know that I was the only—I read some stuff on-line last night when I got home, and apparently, I’m the first Idol finalist to have his own solo concert. It just feels—it feels great! It was such a special night, and I just had a great time up there on stage. The band was great, and I think the atmosphere was awesome. I mean, anytime I play here at home, it’s going to be special.” He was still flying high from the night before, which was a real treat for me. Interviewing Elliott is an adventure. He has a great sense of humor, he’s a quick thinker, and he may just turn the tables on the interviewer by making his own inquiries. He doesn’t promote himself; he is himself. He is officially tops on my list of all-time favorite interview subjects. We began Elliott’s interview by revisiting our prior conversations.

One of the questions I asked Elliott in June involved the type of CD he hopes to make. At that time, Elliott shared that he wanted to make a “raw R&B/soul CD.” Specifically, I asked Elliott whether he is now considering ballads, dance tracks, easy listening, or a mix of all of the above, for example. Given his experience from touring and performing with LiMBO, he has found his niche and is now more specific on this topic.

***

Yeah, there will be some ballads on there, but I want to definitely have a live feel, a live sound to it; meaning, when I go in the studio, I want to have live drum tracks. I want to use piano. I don’t want too many overproduced, studio kind of tracks, you know what I mean? . . . I would like more of a live band feel to it. That’s really what I get off on is that live stage and live instruments behind me.

Again, specifically, I was curious as to whether Elliott’s debut CD will reflect the Elliott Yamin that all of his fans have grown to know and love:

I’m sure it will. Definitely. I just can’t wait to start writing and co-writing with some great writers that I have—that are in store to work with. When I get back, I’m going to be working with Derek Bramble. He—actually—I just talked to him on the way over here. He sent me a couple of tracks via MP3, and I heard them over the phone. . . . Derek Bramble is the gentleman that produced the Top 12 compilation album. He’s done work with Faith Hill—a lot of big artists in the business, but he’s really an R&B/soul guy.

***

Derek Bramble has worked with such artists as Nona Gaye, Vanessa Williams, Gerald Albright, Lalah Hathaway, and David Bowie and played bass for Heatwave, a popular band in the late seventies. Working with a producer/musician such as Derek Bramble is helping Elliott to focus on and mold his project in a way that truly reflects who he is as an artist. Because Elliott mentioned writing and co-writing new songs, another question I asked him in June, we further discussed the topic of songwriting. I wanted to know what, if anything, Elliott has done toward creating his own new music.

I’m really good at—when it comes down to recording, I’m really good at arranging vocals, just because I have that ear for it. As far as my writing, I’m kind of a rookie writer, just kind of starting out and getting used to writing. I wrote a song before we left L.A. for the tour, and I recorded it with DJ Lethal. It’s not finished yet. We laid down the scratch vocals and everything on it. DJ Lethal is, of course, Limp Bizkit’s DJ, but before that, he was in House of Pain. He’s a lot of fun to work with. He’s a good friend of my cousin, who is managing me—Josh Abraham—so I hung out with him all week, and we recorded a song and worked on a couple of other tracks that he had.

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For those unfamiliar with Leo (or Leor) “DJ Lethal” Dimant, he is known as the turntablist for Limp Bizkit, worked with Sugar Ray on their debut CD, and is currently involved with Darryl “DMC” McDaniels (formerly with “Run DMC”) on DMC’s solo project. He is likely best known as a member of House of Pain, whose 1992 hit “Jump Around” became quite the popular crossover hit. I have a feeling that I am going to get my wish of hearing Elliott singing the hooks on some hip-hop style tracks, which is another issue we earlier discussed. I can’t wait; I think Elliott might like that as well:

I would love to sing on some hip-hop tracks. That will be really hot. I mean, I want to have kind of a blues, soulful rock kind of sound, but at the same time, I’d love to do some songs like, with Jermaine Dupri or something. I’ve recorded quite a few hip-hop kind of tracks here in town, and before Terry [Thompson] got saved he was still in secular music, so I’ve worked with him on a lot of songs, too. I grew up with hip-hop and R&B. My mom was a soul singer, and she always played soul music around the house, so it was instilled in me at a very early age. I just love it. It’s really inside of me, you know? It’s part of my soul. I think that’s where it comes from to be honest.

While Elliott possesses a voice suited to all these genres, he realizes that he needs more than just his voice to be successful in this business. Our discussion thus moved from singing to Elliott’s growth as a performer and the obvious increase in his comfort level on stage.

***

S: You looked like, to me, like you’ve really come into your own now. I mean, when the show first started, I saw that it was new for you.

E: Oh, yeah.

S: But I don’t see that anymore.

E: I’ve definitely grown a lot, and I’ve come a long way since the beginning of the show, from the beginning of the tour, and going out and on these after-shows that we’ve been doing in the clubs with LiMBO. I think it’s really helped me more than the tour did. I was able to really just have fun out there, you know? Let it all out on the stage—it wasn’t structured like our tour sets were. Those were very precise. You got in and out. You had your three or four songs. The tour helped me in a different way than the clubs did. Going out in the clubs is just kind of a way to cut loose and have a good time. When you go out there with LiMBO—they are just some great musicians—they enable you to have fun and freestyle and just do whatever. They are really—and I don’t think they’ll take offense to this because they like to jam—they are a really good jam band. They can turn a regular song into a 10-minute jam, and that’s just what’s so fun about it.

***

Given the increase in Elliott’s comfort level on stage, it is no surprise that Elliott gave such a stunning set to his fans at the State Fair. His ease and comfort clearly show in his performance.

It’s so much easier now because to sing is one thing but to perform is another, and I definitely feel that I’ve grown and gotten way more comfortable on stage. I feel like I’ve had a great crash course on how to perform and how to sing, and I’ve just taken what I’ve learned on the road this past year and am really trying to implement that on stage. It feels great, you know? It feels great. This is what I do now, so it doesn’t—it’s new to me, but being on that stage, it feels almost natural to me.

Performing should feel natural to Elliott. He truly seems born to do exactly what he is doing right now, and he is making the most of his gifts. He’s always had that voice; he’s now learned about performing. For 66 minutes, Elliott charmed his fans with non-stop vocal prowess, the incredible backing of LiMBO, and he threw in a few of his “funky white boy” dance moves, just for fun. Where does Elliott go from here? You’ll have to come back for the answer.

Shirley has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, with an emphasis on Creative Writing, from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia. She is currently pursuing her Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Phoenix.







This is the 2nd part!!!

[staceyfan]

thanks for posting these! I love me some Elliott =D

[TaylorHicksRocks]

Originally Posted by staceyfan

thanks for posting these! I love me some Elliott =D

Did you see the links where Elliott is on stage after the AI shows and singing with LiMBO.....Taylor is there also
If not here is a link Elliott is singing on most of them but he has lead on the last one.....

http://www.idolme.com/thread2797.html

[TaylorHicksRocks]

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