Want to know why Taylor Hicks isn't having Chris Daughtry-level success on the radio or sales charts? Because he isn't an "American Idol."

Sure, the gruffly handsome Hicks scored the "Idol" trophy last season, but the title always fit him like a sweater in July. He isn't a pop star. He's the guy holding court in smoky bars. He also doesn't craft brainless Top 40 fodder or soaring anthems. He plays raw music, influenced by the soul and blues he studied as a young musician.

At last night's Innsbrook show, about 2,000 Soul Patrol-lers simmered in the thick, humid air as Hicks bopped around the stage with a grin. Looking trim in jeans and a Stax T-shirt, Hicks and his impressive five-piece band drew from material from his 2005 independent release, "Under the Radar," and last year's a-little-too-slick-for-Hicks self-titled major label debut.

Often grabbing a guitar, harmonica or tambourine, Hicks wrapped his pleasantly raspy voice around "Gonna Move," "Heart and Soul" and the New Orleans shuffle "My Friend." It was easy to see how Hicks has lost weight, as he rarely stopped moving throughout the 75-minute show, trotting between the drum riser and microphone stand and doing one of his patented moves, the head/shoulder dip and sway. Though he stuck to music of his preferred genre most of the set, Hicks knew he had to placate fans with the semi-radio hit, "Just to Feel That Way."

"Mr. Clive Davis loved this song," he said with a subtle grimace before edging into the ballad that sounds like a David Foster composition from an'80s movie soundtrack. Hicks, 30, quickly cleared his palette with a rousing version of Traffic's "Medicated Goo" -- with some "Fire on the Bayou" from The Meters tossed in -- demonstrating how he really is an artist best experienced live.

Though the song-mashup strategy also worked well for the bright and fun "The Runaround," injected with Ray Charles' "Baby Please Don't Go," the marriage wasn't so sweet during "Hell of a Day" combined with a few flat verses of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall."

Hicks' performance style is entertaining, but his stage patter is oddly elementary for someone with so much experience performing live.

Aside from a quip about seeing his image on a refrigerator magnet and noting his happiness at being back in the South, Hicks mostly relied on an annoying habit of introducing each song by title -- and often telling the crowd if it was "blues," "Calypso" or "Cajun" -- and then saying the song's name again at the end ("The Deal." We got it, Taylor).

Equally grating was his keyboard player yelling "Taaaaylor Hiiiiicks!" every time he entered and exited the stage. Dude, he isn't James Brown.

But by the time Hicks tackled the Doobie Brothers' "Takin' it to the Streets" for an encore -- a fine cover choice given the similarities between his voice and Michael McDonald's -- there was no questioning his talent as a musician. Hicks' songs aren't tremendously distinctive or an obvious magnet for radio, but given a live platform, he doesn't need to be an American idol -- he can purely be a skilled musician.
Contact Melissa Ruggieri at (804) 649-6120 or mruggieri@timesdispatch.com.