Kyle Taylor Parker's 'Broadway Soul Vol. 2' Eligible for 2022 GRAMMYS

With voting underway, Kyle Taylor Parker's album "Broadway Soul, Vol 2" is now eligible for a 2022 Grammy Award nomination in the category of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.

The album, released by Broadway Records and available everywhere music is sold, is a follow-up to his highly successful debut album "Broadway Soul, Vol. 1" (hailed by Talkin' Broadway as "a formidable and fascinating dissection and resurrection"). In Vol. 2, Parker returns with a new, eclectic, collection of Broadway classics reimagined, from musicals as diverse as Hedwig and the Angry Inch, South Pacific, A Chorus Line, The Wiz, Follies, The Music Man and more, all filtered through the sound of a queer artist of color.

"I am overwhelmed with pride and gratitude that an album crowdfunded on Kickstarter, during a global pandemic, planned via Zoom and recorded in home studios across North America has made it this far," said Kyle Taylor Parker. "So much love went into this project - an album that celebrates the timeless soul of Broadway and the thing that connects us all. If you're a Grammy voter in the category of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album please consider 'Broadway Soul, Vol. 2' for a Grammy nomination.

Created as a full musical, "Broadway Soul, Vol. 2" features guest artists including Jackie Cox ("RuPaul's Drag Race"), Shoshana Bean (Waitress), Blaine Alden Krauss (Hamilton) and Natalie Joy Johnson (Kinky Boots) and is produced, arranged and orchestrated by Sonny Paladino, and co-produced by Rich Mercurio. Album cover credit: Marc J Franklin.

Originally cast as an Angel in the Broadway production of Kinky Boots, Kyle Taylor Parker went on to headline the First National Tour of Kinky Boots as Lola and later became the first actor to replace Tony Award-winning Billy Porter in the role on Broadway. Over the last decade, Kyle has been seen on Broadway, television, and on some of the most celebrated stages in the country including the Apollo and Radio City Music Hall.

Kyle moved on from Kinky Boots to be featured in the original Broadway cast of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Smokey Joe's Café revival Off-Broadway, and NBC's "Jesus Christ Superstar Live!" All of this while carving out a unique place for himself in the music scene by marrying his love of musical theatre and Soul/R&B. In 2017, Kyle started a series of YouTube videos called "The Soul Sessions" with collaborator Joshua Stephen Kartes. The pair would take popular songs from the Broadway canon and outfit them as bona fide soul standards. This video series quickly became a live concert series and showcases Kyle's unique powerhouse vocals; described by All About Jazz as "a clarion crisp voice... that lives on freedom rather than any fuel."

Listen to the album here:

Photo credit: Marc J Franklin