Sundance Head
News

Sabrina Sloan has signed a recording contract with Universal Motown - and here's cool news about her first project:

It will be a CD of duets with fellow season 6 semifinalist Sundance Head, the singer confirmed in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly.

''The feel will be soulful songs with a contemporary twist — kind of Al Green meets OutKast,'' said Sloan, noting that she and Head will hit the studio in August, with the hopes of making a late November release date.

Jolene Cherry, senior VP of A&R at Universal Motown, said the album will be produced by Peter Collins and include a mix of new and classic material. ''I usually am not so much in sync with things that are on American Idol,'' Cherry noted, ''but both [Sloan and Head] really caught my attention. I was really impressed by the quality of their vocals.''

Sloan, the last female semifinalist voted off American Idol before the season 6 finals began, said that an executive from Universal Motown tracked her down via a member of her mother's Arizona church congregation in the days after her ouster.

And despite some initial reservations about the duets concept, Sloan said she hopes the combined power of hers and Head's fan bases will help them get noticed in a music scene increasingly crowded with Idol alumni. '

'We had a fear of having a whole From Justin to Kelly thing. We didn't want to make anything cheeseball,'' Sloan explained. ''But Jolene and the [people at the] label said, 'It cannot be that.' We're putting it out at the same time as Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis. It's got to be killer.''

Still, Sloan added, in the long-term, both she and Head consider themselves solo artists. ''It's not going to be a long-term [partnership], like Peaches & Herb,'' she said with a laugh.

Aside from Mario Vazquez, who chose to drop out of Idol just prior to the season 4 finals, and novelty act William Hung, Sloan and Head appear to be the first Idol contestants to score major label deals without reaching the top 12.

They are no longer part of American Idol.

But both Antonella Barba and Sundance Head has parting words on Ryan Seacrest's radio show this morning.

First, let's hear from the former, talking about the Antonella Barba pictures and all the controversy surrounding them for weeks:

"It was unnecessary, it was hard to deal with it, it was an unnecessary distraction ... trying to stay off the Internet, some nervousness ... I tried to get through it ... my family has been so supportive, they told me to stay focused and we will worry about all that later."

Barba added that she'd remain in L.A. to see what sort of offers would come her way.

Sundance, meawhile, offered insight ... and bad news. He said one of the guys remaining on the show - whose name he wouldn't mention - thinks he already has the competition in the bag. (Chris Sligh, maybe?)

Head also confessed he was shocked he was kicked off - as the pseudo-vocal stylings of Sanjaya Malakar remained in the Top 12 - saying: "I had not prepared myself for that ... I was a little angry ... at this point I'm just bitter this morning."

Head's elimination was only the first bad news he received: Right after the taping, Sundnce learned that his cousin died in a fire that night. The cousin, Burl Head, had given Sundance $1500 for his stay in Los Angeles during the competition.

Not only have fans had a chance to listen to Sundance Head over the last few weeks - but his famous father Roy Head has been back in the news, as well.

Now, the elder Head is being featured in a nationwide newspaper. Here's the article from USA Today:

Having his son appear on American Idol has turned out to be one of the best things that could have happened to Roy Head. The phone at the Head house has hardly stopped ringing since Jan. 23, when Jason "Sundance" Head blew the judges away with "Stormy Monday" during his audition. And Roy, a singer best known for the 1965 pop/R&B crossover hit "Treat Her Right," has done more interviews in the past month than he has in years.

During its introductory segment on Sundance, Idol introduced a new generation to Roy's joint-defying splits and dance steps with a clip from his performance on the '60s music show Shindig. The full footage has become a popular YouTube clip, showing Roy doing moves learned from such R&B greats as Joe Tex and Jackie Wilson, footwork that once prompted James Brown to ask Roy to leave a tour.

"In a way, it was kind of a compliment, because I was burnin', " recalls Roy, now 66. "He had always been my idol, and I was awed just being on three shows with him."

"Treat Her Right," one of Roy's three top 40 hits in 1965, spent two weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard pop chart behind The Beatles' "Yesterday." From 1974 to 1985, he put 24 singles on the country chart.

Roy originally wrote the song about milking a cow.

"We made a mistake one time doing (Nat Kendrick and the Swans') Mashed Potato," he recalls. "Our guitar player played the wrong lick, so I just made up a song called Talkin' About a Cow. Later, my bass player, Gene Kurtz, said, 'Roy, why don't we make that about a woman? Instead of talking about a cow, we might do some good.' "

Later, Barbara Mandrell made the song a country hit. Otis Redding, Jerry Lee Lewis and George Thorogood also covered it.

Roy has been calling his son Sundance since birth. It was a childhood nickname of his own.

Sundance didn't inherit his dad's "dancing gene," Roy says, but he started performing young.

Continue Reading...

Many fans of American Idol this season already have a favorite - and his roots run deep.

Indeed, Sundance Head has almost been preparing for these auditions since birth. That's what happens when you have a father with a numner-one single in the 1960s. His name is Roy Head.

Take a look/listen below and see how Sundance's apple hasn't fallen very far from his papa's talented tree:

After last night, we have an early favorite for this year's American Idol:

Sundance Head.

In case you missed it, here's the audition from Memphis: