Dudley S. Taft (born July 4, 1966,
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
) is an American musician. Taft is a blues/rock musician who fronts the Dudley Taft Band and was a songwriting member of Seattle band
Sweet Water and member and chief
songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...
of
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Washington-based rock band
Second Coming
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messian ...
. He is the great-great-grandnephew of United States President
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
.
Career
Sweet Water
Sweet Water, founded in 1990, released its first Record ''Sweet Water'' in 1993. The album was produced by Don Gilmore and mixed by
Tim Palmer
Timothy J. Palmer (born 4 October 1962, in North Shields) is an English record producer, audio engineer, guitarist and songwriter of rock and alternative music. He mixed Pearl Jam's debut album '' Ten'' (1991) and tracks on U2's album ''All T ...
. The band toured behind the album opening up for
Winger,
Candlebox
Candlebox is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. Since its formation in 1990, the group has released seven studio albums, several charting singles, a compilation, and a CD+DVD.
Candlebox found immediate success with the release of ...
and
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
. The accompanying music video for the ''Head Down'' single was played on
MTV’s
120 Minutes and was added to regular rotation on
M2. The band’s music has been used on television in episodes of MTV’s “Daria”, “Amongst Friends” and “Road Rules”, among others. A second record was recorded in 1995, produced and mixed by
Dave Jerden
Dave Jerden is an American record producer, engineer, and mixer who has worked with artists in various genres including alternative rock, punk rock and metal. However, Jerden has stated that he dislikes the term "producer", preferring to refer t ...
. Taft left the band during the 1995 sessions.
Sweet Water was dropped later that year by record label
East West/Elektra.
Second Coming
In 1995 Taft joined
Travis Bracht
Travis Bracht is a Seattle-based singer and guitarist best known for his work with the post-grunge band Second Coming.Stav, StevThe Second Coming of Second Coming "Intermittent Signals" September 1, 2001. Retrieved on June 8, 2011.
Biography Peac ...
,
Johnny Bacolas
Johnny Bacolas (Greek: Γιάννης Μπάkολας; classical transcription ''Yiannis Bacolas'') (born March 3, 1969) is an American musician, composer and producer. He is best known for his work with the post-grunge band Second Coming, where ...
and
James Bergstrom
James Bergstrom is an American musician best known as the drummer for the band Second Coming.Stav, StevThe Second Coming of Second Coming "Intermittent Signals" September 1, 2001. Retrieved on June 8, 2011. Before that, he played drums for the ba ...
to form
Second Coming
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messian ...
. Starting out as a cover band called “FTA”, they wrote songs throughout 1996 and played them live at their gigs. By 1997, they started playing the Seattle area under the name Second Coming. Later that year, the band signed a six record deal with
Gary Gersch, then the president of
Capitol Records. Their self-titled release resulted in two Rock Radio hits that both went to #16 and #11 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Charts in 1997 and 1998. In 1998 and 1999 the band toured with
VAST
Vast or VAST may refer to:
* ''Vast'' (novel), a 1998 science fiction novel by Linda Nagata
* ''Vast'' (2011 film), a Dutch film, winner of the 2011 Golden Calf for Best Television Drama
* Vast Broadband, an American cable and internet compan ...
,
Fuel,
Candlebox
Candlebox is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. Since its formation in 1990, the group has released seven studio albums, several charting singles, a compilation, and a CD+DVD.
Candlebox found immediate success with the release of ...
and
Monster Magnet
Monster Magnet is an American rock band. Hailing from Red Bank, New Jersey, the group was founded in 1989 by Dave Wyndorf (vocals and guitar), John McBain (guitar) and Tim Cronin (vocals and drums); they have since gone through several lineup ...
.
Omnivoid
After leaving Second Coming in the early 2000s, Taft formed the band Omnivoid with singer Patrick Napper, bassist Robot, and drummer Andy Gregg. They released two studio EPs titled ''Combustion'' and ''Ignition'' respectively in 2005 and 2006 before moving on to other projects.
Dudley Taft Band
Taft started a blues/rock band in 2007 under his own name, with Scott Vogel on drums and Evan Sheeley on Bass. Their first CD, entitled "Left For Dead" was released in March 2010, with a mixture of originals and traditional blues covers. The album was given five stars by John Vermilyea of Blues Underground Network. In 2011, Taft signed a two-record deal with the German-based label M.i.G. "Left For Dead" was released worldwide on August 26, 2011, with the addition of a bonus track "When The Levee Breaks".
Dudley Taft toured the Netherlands in January 2012. Reviews from bluesmagazine.nl, Keysandchords and more all rated ***** 5 stars for the "Left for Dead" CD. Taft then hired John Kessler to play bass and Chris Leighton to play drums for the next CD and live shows in Seattle and Europe.
A DVD was released on March 5, 2012 called "Dudley Taft live at Highway 99," performed August 6, 2011 in Seattle, Washington.
On May 7, 2013, Taft released "Deep Deep Blue," his second blues rock studio album on his own label, American Blues Artist Group, and in Europe on M.i.G. Deep Deep Blue won the Best USA Blues Rock Album on the Underground Blues Network.
Taft made three HD videos for Deep Deep Blue, "The Waiting" directed by Alex Hoelscher, starring Alyssa Lynn James; "God Forbid" directed by Matthew Kreig, and "Meet Me In The Morning" by Matt Minnotte and David Molinatto.
In the fall of 2013 Taft moved to Cincinnati, Ohio with his wife Michelle and three daughters.
"Screaming In The Wind", produced by Tom Hambridge, was released in March 2014. The band toured the US and the EU May through September, playing the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland with John Kessler on Bass, Carl Martin on drums, and Eric Robert on Keyboards. Taft made three HD videos for Screaming In The Wind, "Screaming in The Wind," "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues," and "Sleeping In The Sunlight" all directed by Alex Hoelscher. The album made the top 10 Blues Rock albums of 2014 on the Blues Underground Network, and the song "Red Line" was the #1 single on the Hit Tracks Top 100.
In February 2015, Taft went to Nashville to record keyboard overdubs on the upcoming album "Skin and Bones" with legendary keyboardist Reese Wynans of Stevie Ray Vaughan fame. The band toured Europe again in April and March 2015, and released the fourth studio album "Skin and Bones" on October 16, 2015 on the American Blues Artist Group label. The song "Skin and Bones" charted #1 on the Hit Tracks Top 100 in Europe, and #2 on the Roots Music Report's Blues Rock Radio chart. Four HD video were shot for the album; "Skin and Bones", "Leland Mississippi Blues", "Lonesome Memphis Blues" and "One of These Days" by Alex Hoelscher. The first two videos were released at the end of 2015, and the second two in the first two months of 2016. Taft's music can be heard on Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming services, as well as Sirus/XM's Bluesville channel 70.
The album, "Live in Europe" was released in May 2016 with 13 tracks that were recorded during the 2014 and 2015 European tours in Vriezenveen, Netherlands and Kielce, Poland. Eight cover songs and five originals populate the cd, with "Broken Down" reaching the #1 spot on the Hit Tracks Top 100 chart in Europe.
Taft's fifth studio album, "Summer Rain" released on September 15, 2017 has the same lineup as "Skin and Bones" with the addition of Kasey Williams on Bass guitar. The album consists of eleven songs penned solely by Taft.
In the fall of 2017 Taft was nominated "Best Guitarist" by the European Blues Awards.
In 2018, Taft and the band played a six-week tour of Europe, which included The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Belgium, and France, playing clubs and festivals.
Taft toured Europe in September 2019 supporting the album "Simple Life." Darby Todd played drums on this tour, and Kasey Williams played bass.
Taft is scheduled to tour the EU in October 2022 to support the album "Cosmic Radio" which was released during the pandemic in September 2020.
Filmography
Television shows
Discography
Artist albums
*1991: ''TER'' –
CZ Records – Songwriter, Guitar, Vocals
*1993: ''Sweet Water'' –
Atlantic Records – Songwriter, Guitar, Vocals
*1995: ''Superfriends'' –
East West/Elektra Records – Songwriter, Guitar, Vocals
*1998: ''
Second Coming
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messian ...
'' –
Capitol Records – Producer, String Arrangement, Songwriter, Guitar, Vocals
*2005: ''Combustion'' - Guitar
*2006: ''Ignition'' - Guitar
*2010: ''
Left For Dead'' – Songwriter, Producer, Guitar, Vocals
*2013: ''
Deep Deep Blue'' – Songwriter, Producer, Guitar, Vocals
*2014: ''
Screaming In The Wind'' – Songwriter, Guitar, Vocals
*2015: ''
Skin and Bones'' – Songwriter, Producer, Guitar, Vocals
*2016: ''
Live in Europe'' – Songwriter, Producer, Guitar, Vocals
*2017: ''
Summer Rain'' – Songwriter, Producer, Guitar, Vocals
*2019: ''
Simple Life
Simple living refers to practices that promote simplicity in one's lifestyle. Common practices of simple living include reducing the number of possessions one owns, depending less on technology and services, and spending less money. Not only is ...
'' – Songwriter, Producer, Guitar, Vocals
*2020: ''
Cosmic Radio'' – Songwriter, Producer, Guitar, Vocals
Sources
*
*
Dudley Taft on Allmusicbr>
IQ BeatsDudley Taft Signs Deal With MIG
References
External links
Dudley TaftSweet Water*
Second Coming at the AMG*
Sweet Water at the AMG
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taft, Dudley
1966 births
Taft School alumni
Taft family
Living people
American rock musicians
American rock guitarists
American male guitarists
Second Coming (band) members
Songwriters from Washington, D.C.
American male songwriters
Guitarists from Washington, D.C.
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male musicians