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| Patrick Hill is a long-time fan of Simon and Taylor-family musicians. He's worked as a news writer, disc jockey, broadcast journalist, and training manager. |
Sally Taylor |
Each choice in life, however large or small, contributes to the path taken and shapes our lives. I'm sure it is the same collective group of choices that have led Sally Taylor to performing her first professional gig at the "Fly Me To The Moon Saloon." At that time in 1996, Sally was under the impression that music was a love that she shared with family and friends, more or less a hobby. However, that particular stage performance in Telluride, Colorado, though it may not have been with the best equipment, capacity crowd nor a supporting cast of great musicians, that night was a new beginning that has to date led her across North America and back, and now back again.
| The Albums |
Taylor during her teenage years had sang as part of over a dozen bands as well as a solo act in her college year simply because she loved music. When her love for music developed into a passion and her talent recognized she began believing that she too may have a place in the music world.
"I was involved with music in high school but I wasn't taking it seriously at the time. I didn't consider going on the road or doing anything professionally until 1998, that's when everything sort of happened and now it's a pleasure to be where I am, it feels right."
In 1997, after the release of her first album Tomboy Bride, she felt her music would be represented more completely by a full band. Today, the members of the Sally Taylor Band are a well-oiled machine of musical prowess and truly love being on the road. After a brief vacation in August, the band is again touring, though she's realistic enough to credit special moments in her life as crucial to a band's continued success. Taylor's ability to master the process of being your own boss and essentially running your own show is a continuous work in progress, but worth every effort. Taylor has spent her life's experience watching and learning from her wonderfully gifted cast of musical family and friends. Now she has crafted her own style, which she describes as folk rock with jazz and pop influences.
With a Van Morrison-type work ethic, she feels most comfortable looking at her new career in music as genuine hard work. Instead of seeking stardom, Taylor would much rather make music on the band's own terms, having people show up at the shows and just entertain the socks off an audience. The amazing thing is her ability to have been disciplined enough to take from volumes of observation and thought from her folk rock mentors, and consolidate and develop her own unique voice, which varies from soothing to sassy, with hints of tone handed down through generations of musical Taylors.
With independence serving as a key motivator through her life since well before earning a Bachelor's Degree in Human Sciences/Medical Anthropology from Brown University, Sally continues to strengthen her grasp on her career decision in music. Now with well over 250 shows to her credit, Taylor recognizes how far she has come, and perhaps more importantly finding comfort with where she is at musically, and looks forward to the future.
"I know I have improved (musically). When I first started performing I couldn't play guitar well. I used to tell the sound guy (Chris Delucchi, Soundboard Engineer) to mute me every night, just mute me out of the audience. And, now I rip!!! OK, I don't 'rip,' but I can play now and am used to the songs now and like changing the songs up. I feel to a certain extent when I sing, I'm not always singing the same melody line, I'm doing different things vocally with the songs. That's cool and exciting. Sometimes I'll think, wow, where did that come from?"
Sally with Dad |
Sally has embraced her past and present, while carefully planning her future. While referring to her past and her famous parents (James Taylor and Carly Simon), she is very modest and grateful. In looks and in voice, Taylor resembles her parents just enough to make the connection, but has clearly succeeded in establishing her own style. Trough she doesn't dwell on comparing herself to her parents and attempts not to pressure herself to try to be as good as they are, she certainly understands how high the bar has been raised with expectation.
"It's a pleasure to hear someone say 'I'm such a fan of your parents,' or 'I've learned so much from your parents' art,' that's always an honor for me to hear. To hear that, it's almost as if they were saying that about my own art and complimenting me. I feel very honored to hear that.
I love sounding like them. I cry for joy when I listen to myself on a recording and can hear them in me because I know then, that they will live in me forever and ever for as long as I live."One of her special possessions is a shoebox of audiocassettes that contain songs and stories shared between her and her parents from when she was very young. Short clips of this archived treasure of memories appears throughout her first two albums in between songs, including a special hidden track at the end of Apt. #6S. Sally confirmed there is much of this material that exists and that she will continue to add clips to her future albums.
"I was a fire cracker as a kid. I have tens of thousands of tapes of my songs from when I was a kid and they're pretty funny."
She and the band realize that by deciding to create their own success, rejecting the life under the umbrella of a traditional corporate-industry album deal, they publicize and support themselves during every performance, one at a time.
"In my perception what has happened with the (music) industry is less people who enjoy music are actually "heading" the major labels and more business people who are coming in and strategizing how to make the most money out of the artist. It seems to me that what the labels are actually are service providers. They distribute, manufacture and provide services for the artist -- but the artist creates. What's happening now with the Internet and the new independent labels, there's become new avenues-- there's an independent distributor, marketer and publicist. An artist no longer has to rely on getting everything from one major record label, and instead are going outside of that and realizing they can develop themselves. It's a great time to be in music because there's a revolution going on, and a revolution creates music."
Each audience means a great deal to the Sally Taylor Band, which includes guitarist Chris Soucy, bassist Kenny Castro and its newest member drummer Kyle Comerford -- which Sally refers lovingly to as "my minions." Castro, a fellow "minion," originally from Texas, is a firm believer in the future success of the band, and attributes friendship, support and responsibility as keys.
"I see a lot more organization and a lot more drive, a lot of bands I worked with were good players but they were happy to be at the level they were at and didn't want anything else, but... I want more, and so does the entire band."
Soucy, originally from New Jersey, believes in Sally's dream to foster and continue to build the band independently, and is proud of the common ground felt between the members.
"I'm totally supportive of it, I was brought into Sally's world when she already had formed these opinions and it was sort of an eye-opener for me that someone would choose to do it that way. After being on the road for a couple of years it feels good and we get a lot of support from people who come out and hear the band and they think it's a great idea. I think it is possible to do it, it takes a lot of work and Sally works harder than any of us really-- and it (the success) is ours, which is great.
The new album for the band, titled Apt. #6S is their second album and is being distributed regionally by War Records. The official available street date for "Apt. #6S" was September 12.
The debut album, Tomboy Bride, is available only at band performances and on-line. Both albums are available via her own record label called Blue Elbow from the web site, at www.sallytaylor.com
The official web site is an incredible resource for upcoming tour dates, news from the band while on the road (Sally's "Road Diary" which she adores writing for her fans and providing them her perspective on life/music/travels) or in the recording studio, as well as person and professional insights from the group. Each album shows a different side of the band, and displays the member talents diversely.
The Sally Taylor Band |
"Tomboy Bride was a collection of material that I worked on over a period of time until the day that I recorded it -- really over two years worth of material that I picked and chose from and my music was evolving to a stage where I now find myself with a band and these guys. They all have major influences on me and the way my music sounds. Chris and I may start writing something and then Kyle comes in and adds a drum beat that maybe neither of us had in mind beforehand. That's what's exciting about Apt. #6S for me, is that it really isn't just me, it's a unit, and an organism and it's also the product of being on the road for two years. It's no longer my life, but an experience prodded along by the road and these guys and also by the places we play"