Eric Taylor (September 25, 1949 – March 9, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter from Texas, known for his storytelling style, combining spoken word with anecdotal songs to create a theater-style performance. In addition to Taylor's nine solo releases, his songs have been recorded by

Nanci Griffith Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She appeared many times on the PBS music program ''Austin City Limits'' starting in 1985 (season 10). In 1994 she won a Grammy Award f ...

, Lyle Lovett, Peter Cooper, and others.

Early life

Taylor was born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. He began playing guitar as a child and performed in a racially-integrated

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...

band in high school. He briefly attended

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

before dropping out and moving to Houston to pursue a career in music.

Career

Taylor toured extensively in the United States and Europe, playing notable venues such as Club Passim, The Bottom Line, Caffe Lena, Bluebird Café, Red Clay Theatre, Bridger Folk, The Ark, CSPS,

The Freight and Salvage The Freight and Salvage (known as "The Freight") is a nonprofit musical performance venue in Berkeley, California that primarily hosts Americana music and world music acts. History The Freight was founded in 1968 and derived its name from the ...

Paradiso (Amsterdam) Paradiso is a Dutch music venue and cultural centre located in Amsterdam. History It is housed in a converted former church building that dates from the nineteenth century and that was used until 1965 as the meeting hall for a liberal Dutch ...

, Theatre Kikker (

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

), Berlin Guitars (

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

), The Real Music Club (

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

), DC Music Club (

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

), Hotel du Nord (

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

) and The Bein Inn (

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

). Festival appearances include

Kerrville Folk Festival The Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival held for 18 consecutive days in the late spring/early summer at Quiet Valley Ranch near Kerrville, Texas. The Kerrville Folk Festival was founded in 1972 by the husband-wife team of Rod Kennedy ...

Newport Folk Festival Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. It was one of the first modern music festivals in America, and remains a foca ...

, Glasgow Americana Festival (Scotland),

Woody Guthrie Folk Festival The Woody Guthrie Folk Festival is held annually in mid-July to commemorate the life and music of Woody Guthrie. The festival is held on the weekend closest to July 14 - the date of Guthrie's birth - in Guthrie's hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma. Da ...

, 1st Americana Fest (Austria), Take Root Festival (The Netherlands), and Roots of Heaven Festival (The Netherlands). He taught at the Kerrville Song School, and conducted songwriting workshops throughout the United States and in Europe. Taylor was married to singer-songwriter

from 1976 to 1982. In 2009, Lovett released ''Natural Forces'', his second album of covered songs, and again included a Taylor song. This time it was "Whooping Crane," from Taylor's 1995 self-titled album.Arthur Wood
Eric Taylor
''Folkwax'' (link requires free subscription) Lovett's 2012 ''Release Me'' album, also has one of Taylor's songs "Understand You." Taylor's last release was ''Studio 10'' in 2013, recorded at the Red Shack Studio in Houston and features nine original songs and a cover of Tim Grimm's "Cover These Bones." In 2016, Taylor was nominated for an Emmy Award for Musical Composition for songs he wrote for the Storyworks television documentary, ''Road Kid to Writer: The Tracks of Jim Tully.'' Taylor died on March 9, 2020, at the age of 70 from liver disease.

Discography

* ''Through The Dark Nightly'' (1976) – air Retail Records, compilation with other Houston songwriters: Bill Cade, Stephen Jarrard, Lynn Langman, Don Sanders* ''Shameless Love'' (1981, Featherbed; reissued 2004, Blue Ruby Music) * ''Eric Taylor'' (1995,

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) * ''Resurrect'' (1998,

E1 Music MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had ...

) * ''Scuffletown'' (2001, Eminent Records) * ''The Kerrville Tapes'' (2003, Silverwolf) * ''The Great Divide'' (2005, Blue Ruby Music) * ''Hollywood Pocketknife'' (2007, Blue Ruby Music) * ''Live at the Red Shack'' (2011, Blue Ruby Music) * ''Studio 10'' (2013, Blue Ruby Music)

References

External links

Blue Ruby Music: Official website for Eric Taylor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Eric 1949 births 2020 deaths American folk singers American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Texas Musicians from Atlanta 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American singers Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Lyle Lovett and His Large Band members