Elliott Yamin 'Wait For You' hits iTunes Debut Album out March 20

Elliott Yamin's new single, "Wait For You" hits iTunes and radio today and his debut album on Amazon hits stores this Tuesday, March 20! Go Elliott! We're so excited! Wait For You is such a refreshing soulful oasis of beautiful, tender, groovin funk and feeling. Elliott Yamin shines in this single. I'm feelin it. Love it. Like Movin' On, Wait For You really scores. Elliott's music and his incomparable vocals are such a breath of fresh air and a welcome addition to any music library. Elliott delivers. Outstanding; the real deal. Wonderful and highly recommended. We can't wait for the album and concert tour! Elliott's album in stores March 20 and Elliott's smoldering video for his new single, 'Wait For You' is H O T!. Another new song from the album, 'Train Wreck,' produced by Derek Bramble, is just incredible! So soulful, bluesy, with that wonderful live groovin Memphis sound..it's amazing and Elliott's vocals are incomparable on it. I'm feelin it. Train Wreck is my favorite track. Elliott is really in his zone at his very best here..it perfectly captures his unique sound: raw. soulful. bluesy. The album includes Movin' On, Wait For You, Find A Way, One Word, You Are The One, I'm The Man, Train Wreck, Free, Alright, Take My Breath Away, A Song For You
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Richmond Times Dispatch and Starry Constellation magazine have great interviews:
Q. How would you describe the sound and feel for "Elliot Yamin," your debut album?
A. I would describe it as being real soulful. It's got a very mature, sophisticated sound to it, it's kind of an artist's album, if you will. One of the great things about the deal that I got was that we did an independent partnership with Sony/ATV; my publishing company. The deal we did, and the way we did it, was unique and innovative in a way. That being said, I had a lot of creative freedom which is something you always hear an artist talk about. Coming out the gate I thought it was really important to be me and make the kind of music that I like. Write and co-write that songs I liked and wanted to do, I think it's important to stay true to yourself and not have to compromise your style or who you are as an artist and I don't think we did that with this album. It's all me, who I am, it's very genuine and not too overproduced and it's a great vibe.

Q. Where did you draw your inspirations from for the album?
A. Personal experiences and just being socially aware of what's going on. I think it's important to write from your heart, think of past experiences, to think of what you have been through personally. So, a lot of songs on the album are built around love and love songs, love this and love that. It's been great and I'm a very loving person and I've received a lot of love over the past year and so forth. I've got a lot of loving relationships with a lot of people; I think those are my main inspirations.
Q. How did "Wait For You" get chosen as the first single released?
A. There were various reasons, number one, I really liked the lyrics of the song and how I performed it. I didn't write the song, it was written by Taj Jackson, who is a writer for Stargate, they produced the track. I don't know if you know too much about Pop music and them; but they're all over the radio waves. They've got a bunch of hits under their belt; it's a combination of things. Obviously, your first single you want to be played on the radio but there aren't too many hotter producers on the radio than Stargate, so that was a perfect fit. Like I said, I really liked the way I performed the song and how heartfelt the performance was vocally and the lyrics were great too. It was also something different, just to give the audience something that is a different taste. We released this teaser, which is a song called "Movin' On," it's the first song on the album. It's got a Hip Hop, up-tempo beat to it. That was the teaser and I kind of wanted to give everyone a different taste to my sensitive side.

Q. When will listeners and fans get to see a live performance from you showcasing your new CD?
A. Yeah we do, we're going to do "Regis and Kelly" in New York the day of the release on March 20th and then we'll be doing "Jimmy Kimmel" on April 4th I think. I think more talk show dates are on the table right now. I think once the record comes out and once the single gets added to more radio stations we'll be getting more offers and those things on the table will become complete. I am doing a thing for Clear Channel like KISS in LA and Z100 in New York, they're doing this big promo thing in Bahamas the week of my release. They'll be a few artists down there, like JoJo and Akon, performing for contest winners. We'll be doing the acoustic thing down there the week of the release and doing a whole bunch of radio and satellite tours; we'll be all over the map.

Q. You mentioned that you didn't pen the song "Wait For You," but, how much hand in the production and writing on the CD did you have?
A. I was involved with it one hundred percent pretty much. I co-wrote all but four songs on the album and there are eleven songs total. As far as the songs I help put together the melodies and I definitely arranged the vocals. So, I was a big part of it and that's how it should be; that's how it should always be.

Q. What do you think it is about the music and songs on the album that will really resonate with listeners?
A. I think that the melodies and the lyrics are really intriguing, I know that sounds kind of broad, but I think people will really be drawn to the music. I think people will be drawn to the music and the vocals. There are some songs on there, the samples people are hearing, they are really touching people, they are really feeling the meanings of the songs. We're getting great responses from all the samples that we're putting out there

Q. Do you have a favorite track?
A. There are so many of them and the songs are so different. All of them have a different dynamic to them; it's hard to say which one I like the most. A lot of them are my favorites for different reasons. I really like "Take My Breath Away," I really love the lyrics in "One Word" and I love the song "Train Wreck." There is another song called "Find A Way," I love the lyrics in that. That song talks about things that are going on in the world today and what's going on socially. It's got really important lyrics and I think that people are really feeling that one and that one sounds really good live. We've included that particular song
Q. What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?
A. I just wanted to say I don't think there is a way to thank those people out there enough. I really get a true sense of family from my fans, everybody is in it together, that's how I approach this whole thing as a team project, we're all in it together. Let's just go out and do this and do this together. That's what I'm all about, when I talk about my album or the music, I always like to say we and what we're doing because it's a total team effort. We had so many great key players and everybody did what they do best individually and collectively. I like to take that approach with fans too, I owe them a serious debt of gratitude for their support and hanging in there with me. Everybody has been really patient because it's taken quite a while to build this album and come out with my own stuff. I think it's been well worth the wait and I appreciate all of their love and support. Let's do this together!'
MTV has a great article about Elliott's album:
'"It's an eclectic mix of just different sounds for every listener out there — for the ['Idol'] viewers, for the young cats, for everyone in between," Yamin said. "We worked with so many different ideas and sounds ... and it's not your typical-sounding album." .."Movin' On," which Yamin recorded before he hit the road on the American Idols Live Tour last summer..is about "trying to get this girl's attention and she's not giving you any rhythm, so you're just ready to move on," Yamin said. "It's got an uptempo, dance vibe to it."

Other tracks on the album include second single "Wait for You," the bluesy ballad "Take My Breath Away" written by John Mayer guitarist David Ryan Harris, and the socially conscious "Find a Way."

Yamin also covers Leon Russell's "A Song for You," which Yamin's idol, Donny Hathaway, recorded in 1971 and which brought Paula Abdul to tears when Yamin sang it on "Idol."

"I have a throwback voice," Yamin said. "People listen to my voice and tell that I'm really influenced by that era, by that genre of music. We did a good job of modernizing that to a certain extent on some songs, but I'm always going to stay true to my style and choice of music. I don't think we compromise that at all."
Richmond Times Dispatch has a wonderful article on Elliott and the new album:
'For about three months this winter, Yamin hopscotched from L.A. to New York to Atlanta to work on the 11 songs (and others) that will be released March 20 under the straightforward title, "Elliott Yamin." It's an intriguing mixture of old school soul ("Movin' On"), radio-friendly smooth R&B (first single "Wait for You"), sensitive crooning ("One Word") and rousing gospel-flavored pop ("Free"). "The way this album is made is very organic. There's no glossiness to it, and that's something I'm really proud of," Yamin says. He worked with renowned producers such as Tony Reyes (Christina Aguilera, Ciara, Lionel Richie), the Norwegian team known as Stargate (Beyoncé, Ne-Yo, Rihanna) and Mike Mangini (Bruce Hornsby, Joss Stone, David Byrne) hefty names for a newcomer.. "These days, records don't sell like they used to, and I try to defer my mind away from, OK, how many records am I going to sell? That really isn't important to me. If people can just appreciate the stuff that I did, it'll come. And if it doesn't, it doesn't." As for that record deal, it's a unique situation that could prove financially tremendous for Yamin if the album succeeds.

He has a publishing deal with Sony/ATV, which means songwriting and licensing royalties because he wrote one song on his album and co-wrote four others. The album is being released on Hickory Records, an imprint that is owned by Sony, but, according to Yamin's manager, Jeff Rabhan, is a virtual label. Sony provided a marketing budget, and Rabhan's entertainment company, Three Ring Projects, was responsible for hiring publicists and scoring a distribution deal to get the music to the public.

"Hickory Records doesn't exist anywhere except in Elliott Yamin's world," said Rabhan, who, coincidentally, grew up in Richmond and worked with Clay Aiken and Kelly Clarkson during his time at major entertainment management company The Firm. "He is the launching artist for this imprint . . . but I have the utmost amount of faith. There are no guarantees in the record business, but we feel great because we're not relying on someone else to do something." Yamin is also a 50-50 partner in his record -- a solid deal in an industry where the artist usually sees about 12 percent to 15 percent of royalties. "Sony invested in me as a partner," Yamin says. "We both stand or fall." ..when he was recording the single, "Wait for You," in New York with Stargate, the producers called him out of the booth to listen to another song. "It turned out to be 'One Word,' and they wanted to know if I liked the song and wanted to cut it, too. I was blown away...I don't think Stargate knew who I was, which was great. I think I went in there and really showed them. They were probably thinking, here's another 'American Idol' reject trying to make it," he says with a laugh. Yamin hasn't returned to Richmond since his December appearance at a charity tennis expo, but will be home twice this month. On March 21, he'll fly in from New York for an in-store appearance at the Circuit City in Short Pump ("I've got to show the hometown some love," he says), then fly out to the Bahamas to perform for radio station contest winners from New York and Los Angeles. On March 31, he's back home for a charity event for Comfort Zone, an organization that supports grieving children.

In between are scheduled appearances on "Regis & Kelly," an appearance at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square and a possible visit to Ellen DeGeneres. He's also just taped an audio performance for www.napster.com and a video rehearsal jam for www.rehearsals.com, which should be up in a couple of weeks. Yamin will likely embark on a small tour this spring, and, depending on the album's reception, a larger trek in the summer. Right now, though, he's actually enjoying watching "American Idol" on TV when he has time. "It's pretty cool to see it on the air and be on the other side. When I watch it, I get so tickled. I watch it with an ear-to-ear grin," Yamin says, citing LaKisha Jones, Melinda Doolittle..as favorites. "It's a wonderful sense of pride sitting in front of the TV and feeling like I'm from this elite class, this alumni of talented singers that made it on this crazy journey."