'American Idol' Alum Taylor Hicks Explains His Years-Long Break from Music: 'Quality Over Quantity'

There was a time after winning season 5 of American Idol where the world didn't quite know where the music of Taylor Hicks ultimately belonged. He wasn't entirely sure either.

"I was very fortunate to be on that show at that time," Hicks, 46, tells PEOPLE. "But it was a different time."

In recent years, the Birmingham, Alabama native began to see somewhat of a hole opening in country music, giving him a brand-new chance to give his bluesy and soulful sound a suitable home between the similar sounds of artists such as Tyler Childers and Chris Stapleton.

"It's those guys that have paved the way for me to release music that's popular and real in this moment," Hicks remarks. "Over the last 10 years, I've been collecting, writing, performing and testing music. I mean, I had a bunch of stuff finished. Heck, I had an album finished. But I still found myself waiting for just the right time."

In fact, it's been years since the American Idol alum has released an official new single. "I'm not the artist that's releasing singles every six weeks," Hicks admits with a laugh. "I mean, it's not like you are just baking cookies, you know? I'm a little bit old school when it comes to my music. It's quality over quantity for me."

It was the quality of his new song "Porch Swing," cowritten with Jason Deere and Runaway June's Jennifer Wayne, that eventually led Hicks to release the "southern country soul" single.

"The universe kind of nudged me to put [this music] together and get it out there," Hicks says of the roots-y song, recorded at Zac Brown's Southern Ground studio in Nashville, a location that conjured up a bunch of memories for him.

"My grandparents always had a porch swing," remembers Hicks of the song, which he recently debuted during an appearance on The Bobby Bones Show. "It was the centerpiece of the household. The porch swing is kind of iconic. It's a centerpiece of people's lives all across the country. It's a timeless, American thing."

While "Porch Swing" serves as a revitalization of Hicks' music career, he has long stayed busy. Indeed, he's done everything from performing in the 2021 movie Stars Fell on Alabama to hosting the competition series State Plate. He also co-owns Saw's Juke Joint, which has long received accolades as one of the best BBQ restaurants in the country.

"I've really never said 'No' in the last 15 years of show business," says Hicks, who made history as the first male American Idol champion featured on a Grammy-winning album — Jimmy Fallon's Blow Your Pants Off. "I haven't released a lot of music, but I've been able to do a ton of different things. I'm very fortunate that people are excited when I put new stuff out. I mean, that's all you can ask for."

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Through it all, his fans — to whom he affectionately refers as the "Soul Patrol" — have stuck with him.

"It just makes me really happy," says Hicks, who will head out on an Armed Forces Entertainment tour next month. "You go through these years and the peaks and valleys of the business and entertainment, but it's those people who stuck with you that helps you get to a situation where 10 years later, if you wanted to release a single, you could still call them, and they still answer."

He continues, "I am very appreciative of it, and some people aren't. To have that interest, to still be there, is a blessing."