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The Creative Hoosier

Indianapolis native Jeff Taylor combines soul and country in his debut album, Southern Influence, a guitar-addled mix reminiscent of early Nashville greats. Taylor's mid-range voice is nicely twangy (think Randy Travis), and most of the songs are catchy, upbeat tunes devoted to country living and romantic escapades, though a few - notably the reflective Who I Am and the title cut - go beyond country cliche.

Journal Review:

On friends, music and pursuing his dream

It's only been three months since Jeff Taylor moved to Nashville, Tenn., to pursue country music stardom, and already big things are happening.

The former Crawfordsville resident has been selected as one of three for competition to be the top male vocalist for November on the New Country Star Web site. Fans can vote once every hour through midnight Nov. 30 by logging onto www.newcountrystar.com. and clicking the vote link.

"I feel honored to be selected," Taylor said during a recent phone interview from his new home. "We're excited about it. We're kind of neck-in-neck right now, but it's still early. We feel the music is strong enough to support the numbers we need to win."

If Taylor does win he'll be eligible for the Web site's New Country Star of the Year. Its affiliation with several online entities would mean lots of new publicity.

"That would also be a very prestigious title to have," Taylor said.

Taylor produced his own CD, "Southern Influence." His band includes Noblesville resident Ron Fife on drums, New Ross resident D.J. Shaver on guitar and Crawfordsville's Chris Craig on bass and Rob Hawkins on electric guitar. Taylor still makes the trek back to Indiana once or twice a month to rehearse.

But his move to the country music capital is paying dividends so far. Besides his selection on New Country Star, Taylor also has been offered a writing position in Mark Trail's publishing company in Nashville. Taylor met Trail, Tennessee Songwriter Association International's 2003 Songwriter of the Year, through an acquaintance before moving there. Trail was responsible for getting the title track to Taylor's "Southern Influence" to 600 independent radio stations.

Taylor contacted him soon after moving to Nashville. Trail invited him over for a song-writing session. Subsequent collaborations have gone so well that Trail offered him the job. Already Taylor has pitched songs he wrote to Alan Jackson, Joe Nichols and Travis Tritt. He hopes to get a response soon.

"(That's) one of the reasons why I moved to Nashville, to pursue music on a daily basis," Taylor said. "I feel on a lot of levels it's paid off. It's paying off every day."

He's made other friends too. Already he's worked with RCA recording artist Razzy Bailey, who had several No. 1 hits in the '80s, and Robert Reynolds from the Mavericks.

"These guys are important players here," Taylor said. "We're friends first and that's very important to me. If nothing develops from the writing, I'm still proud to call them my friends."

Following a successful performance at August's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, Taylor has plans to perform at other racetracks next year. He's tentatively scheduled in late March and early April for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and the next Brickyard race in July, and may line up some shows in Cleveland and Houston.

Taylor always knew when he started pursuing a music career he'd go to where the action is. He's been busy since he unpacked the last moving box.

"It takes a while to relocate and get comfortable with everything," Taylor said. "But we're starting to find our place here. I've known for a long time it's something I had to do. I said when I left I wasn't sure why. But it's becoming more clear every day."

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On the Net:

www.jefftaylormusic.com

www.newcountrystar.com

Journal Review:

Jeff Taylor spreads his ‘Southern Influence’

Jeff Taylor cites Barbara Mandrell’s 1980s song “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool” as a suggestion that mirrors his own life.

Country music itself wasn’t that popular during Taylor’s formative years. That didn’t stop the 1983 Lebanon High School graduate from obsessively listening to his favorite artists and honing his own talent at an early age. He’d set up mini-concerts for his parents’ friends when they’d visit.

“I grew up listening to Don Williams, Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard — all the old standards that I have great admiration for,” Taylor said. “They taught me how to play guitar and sing. I used to sit a foot from my stereo when I was 12, just emulating those singers. I owe those guys everything.”

He shows it by dedicating his first CD, “Southern Influence,” to the giants of the Grand Ole Opry. But while some songs, such as “Garage For Sale” and “Roses,” channel the red-blooded hinterland of his forebears, Taylor had something else in mind when he began crafting his sound in the ’80s. It became a conglomeration he and his bandmates coined “Heavy Wood.”

It wasn’t just country that Taylor liked. The Crawfordsville resident also enjoyed rock music from that decade. And the more he played, the more his music met somewhere in the middle of those two genres.

“If I was singing a Metallica song,” Taylor used as an example, “it would come off as country. I am country vocally beyond a shadow of a doubt. I’ve tried rock. It doesn’t work. I’m fine with it. What we’ve done is taken a lot of that power and intensity and put country vocals to it. That’s where that phrase originated. We still use that phrase a lot now.”

That sound wasn’t exactly in play during those days. So despite gigging for years around Indianapolis, Taylor eventually hung up his boots for a more domesticated lifestyle. He went to IUPUI’s Herron School of Art and Design, double majoring in photography and visual communications, and worked as a graphic designer for 14 years.

“When I stopped (playing music), I felt like there was a part of my being and spirit that was not being utilized,” Taylor said of that time period. “I felt like I had a leg amputated; there was something wrong with me. I knew I was missing something in my life. It was music.”

Then one day Taylor turned on the radio and discovered Nashville was playing his kind of music — the kind he was playing years before.

“We were pioneering that stuff back when nobody was doing it,” he said. “That’s why I got back into music — because they’re now doing what I want to do.”

Taylor called his old drummer, Ron Fife, and guitarist, D.J. Shaver, from New Ross, and the three immediately reunited. Jim Farley, a friend of Fife’s, was recruited to play bass. Taylor found his missing ingredient during the process of forming a band, in the form of Crawfordsville’s Rob Hawkins on electric guitar.

“He gave me the ability to utilize some of the ’80s rock sound I’ve been wanting to accomplish for years,” Taylor said of Hawkins. “I’ve been in search of a guitar player that would have the talent, first of all, to play rock ‘n’ roll music, but in a country fashion. I’ve never met a guitar player that I’ve gelled with. Me and him, we know when each other’s going to take a breath.”

Hawkins’ signature is all over “Southern Influence.” Couple that with Taylor’s spirited acoustic strumming and husky drawl, and you’ve got aurally pleasing country with a kick. The CD is available locally at Wabash Music Revisited and at Taylor’s Web site and online at cdbaby.com and bestbuy.com.

Now armed with songs, Taylor is stepping up his musical venture by moving to Nashville, the country music capital. He’s got his own studio, Baretrax, where he produced “Southern Influence,” and company, Bearfootinit Productions, that he’s taking with him. Besides writing and recording his own music, Taylor wants to produce other acts through his business.

While he hates to leave Crawfordsville, Taylor knows where his heart is.

“I need to be in Nashville, where music is everywhere,” he said. “You can go to the bank and there’s a picture of George Strait hanging. It’s where I need to be spiritually and physically. There’s something calling me to be there. I intend to find out what it is.”

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On the Net:

www.jefftaylormusic.com

Blues Matters, Feb/Mar'07:

Jeff Taylor ‘Southern Influence’

Boy from Indianapolis takes some rock roots to Nashville where it's mixed into something approaching the old southern rock sounds. Jeff does site Marshall Tucker as a "Southern Influence" along with Waylon, Merle Haggard and "if it ain't Bocephus, it ain't country" - one for the aficionados on that one. I guess this album is in the same bag as Big & Rich, which really sums up the big, rich sounds coming from Nashville these days. It seems Jeff just had to write about his trip as in "Wait For Me", which sees the band moving on from Boulder, Colorado to Albuquerque and so Nashville will just have to wait, please. There's your typical country melancholy, which turns up in "Garage For Sale" as his woman decides to sell their memories for a few dollars including the lamp that belonged to his Grandpa. The light has faded on this relationship. However "Thank You, Goodnight" sees Jeff celebrating the many positives and he seems to have built himself a serious fan club that has young Jeff on his Nashville mission even though he's now reflecting on the day he found that "touch of grey, starin' in the mirror lookin' back". Time now to look forward!

On the Net:

www.bluesmatters.com