Taylor Hicks in the kitchen of Dirty Martini, giving a quiet interview. You can't see the fans outside the door looking for him.

Six years after winning "American Idol," Taylor Hicks is still a very popular guy. This was evidenced Wednesday night at new Downtown at the Gardens spot Dirty Martini,  in the (largely female) crowd, some of whom waited for hours outside the club to get a prime spot at the bar for his performance. It was also proved by the salt-and-pepper-haired singer's inability to go two feet without some (probably female) fan pulling him in for a photo or a hug.

"Yes, fanaticism can be a good thing," Hicks said jokingly, safely tucked away in the bar's kitchen - literally the only place to do a quiet interview without some fan trying to get his attention. He was joking, but as a longtime "American Idol" critic I can safely say that no finalist on the show, besides maybe Clay Aiken, has a more loyal or protective fan base - If they even suspect you're trying to diss their boy, even when you're totally not, you get six emails sticking up for him.

"I am very appreciative of (them). They've embraced and built upon the things I've done as an artist, and given me momentum to build on," said the singer, who at 34 is now growing into his prematurely gray hair. He's also disarmingly handsome, even more so in person than on TV.

Hicks was there to do a short set of soul and blues covers, including "Two Trains Running" by the Doobie Brothers and a blistering harmonica solo on Stevie Wonder's "Superstitions." (One of my only complaints is that his backing band played as many songs before he got onstage as he did with them. I didn't come to see them. Then again, I wasn't sure if it took him so long to get up there because of all the fan photos he was taking.)

He's been busy - he's working on a new album and is exploring scripted TV work that he can't talk a lot about but is psyched about. This means he's left the touring production of "Grease" in which he played the flamboyantly-dressed Teen Angel - "I would be lying if I said I didn't miss Teen Angel's costume," he said, cheekily, "but my forte is more songwriting and performing. That's where my comfort zone is. But this has allowed me to hang my hat on Broadway and allowed me to get into film."

Hicks is also looking forward to that album, which he is currently writing, a follow-up to 2009's "The Distance." That one was released on his own label, after his self-named platinum debut in 2006. He says that he enjoys the "creative freedom of not being on a post-Idol win," without the notorious control of the show's 19 Entertainment.

"Six years later, I've still stayed current, whether there's 200 people in the audience or 1700 or more," he says.

He seemed to have those freedoms on his mind when asked about advice he would give to Lauren Alaina and winner Scotty McCreery, the young finalists from Season 10 - "I'd tell them to buy a Tempurpedic pillow, because they're gonna be doing a lot of traveling," he said, smiling, before adding that they both have a great opportunity ahead of them, no matter how their albums sell, and that they can use it as a platform.

"It can open a lot of doors," he said.

Like kitchen doors that you have to open because of all your fans.