WILLY TEA TAYLOR - KNUCKLEBALL PRIME
2015 - Blackwing Music
In this 21st century there are no finer song writers than Willy Tea Taylor; perhaps a very small number who are equal, but definitely none better! When you take into account his slightly raw, edgy but melodic vocal style, one that gives a perfect evocation of every one of his songs, it really doesn't get much better than this. He is also one of the two main singer songwriters, along with Chris Doud, in one of the very best bands this century has yet produced, 'The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit.'
Willy's influences are many and varied but when reading through a list of some of them I was struck by what should have been an unsurprising fact that every one of them is stylistically highly individual, something that also be applies to Willy's music. This is his third solo album, with its two predecessors both being excellent, although this new recording, to my ears, is an improvement on both and the three GLTSO albums are equally essential listening, although their most recent recording, 'Old Excuses' is one of my 'all time' favourite albums.
Taste in anything is completely personal and the fact that we are all drawn to an endless combination of 'flavours' is one of the benefits of being human, but whilst on the subject of 'favourites,' I can say with complete honesty that Willy's vocal style and the amount of emotion that pours from him in his songs makes him one of my 'all time' favourite vocalists as well! The already mentioned rawness and melodicism is possessed by many other singer songwriters but it is the ability to write lyrics that often tug at the heartstrings allied to his almost unmatched ability to project the depth of emotion contained in the songs, drawing the listener into each of these small but powerful and believable vignettes on the human condition that sets him apart from those who were once his peers.
The album was produced in Nashville by Michael Witcher who co-wrote the tremendous The Very best with Willy and was helped out musically by a stellar cast that included Gabe Witcher on fiddle and Noam Pikelny on banjo, both from the Punch Brothers with Nickel Creek's Sara Watkins on vocals and Benmont Tench from Tom Petty's Heartbreakers on piano with Greg Liesz playing some gorgeous pedal steel guitar.
Willy was solely responsible for penning seven of the songs on the album, with the other four being interesting co-writes. I say interesting because two songs in particular were written with other hugely talented artists who I had not linked to Willie despite generic similarities. The title track Knuckleball prime was in conjunction with Nathan Moore, a man who has a large and rewarding back catalogue, solo, as well as with 'Surprise me Mr. Davis' and 'ThaMuseMeant' and all of his recordings, at least the ones I have heard, are well worthy of investigation. California was co-written with Grant Christensen and Andrew Combs; Combs being another young singer songwriter who is extraordinarily gifted, having made two tremendous albums so far in his rising career.
As happens very occasionally it is almost impossible to pick highlights from this eleven song recording on which each of those tales is a highlight so i've picked a few at random. You Found Me is a heartrending tale of lost love that starts with a nice mellow acoustic guitar, soon joined by Willy's raw, appealing and hugely evocative vocal as the song slowly wends its way. The violins and steel guitar somehow help to give this moody, incredibly sad story a strangely uplifting atmosphere. The Very Best gets under way with organ and piano on a truly great song about a man who, despite the lifestyle he has sunken into, is always drawn back to his true love. It is a song I first heard him sing on the Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit album, 'Old Excuses' and whilst this treatment is different, I just about prefer the original version, although had I not heard that I would still be writing about the greatness of the song! It is both atmospheric and heartfelt almost beyond description and I'm still amazed that the song was not snapped up by someone in the commercial country world, although quite possibly no one else could have got this level of emotion out of the song! There is a chiming melodic guitar sound on California, a song that has a darkly sinister, brooding atmosphere, with Willy's vocal and the harmonies containing an unusual wistfulness and flow that creates an epic cinematic quality. A great song that flows through several different atmospheres all tied together by Willy's grounded vocal and a theme of poor people back in the great depression era packing up their lives to move to the 'promised land' more in hope than with any great optimism. Brand New Game is a tale of unfulfilled ambition on a homely composition that as usual has a hugely evocative atmosphere, with melodic guitar, organ and steel guitar. Lyrically, this is another story that has a powerful cinematic quality in it's epic cover of several generations in a family, using baseball in a narrative tale of success, failure and shattered dreams. An excellent tuneful guitar starts Lullaby, soon joined by Willy's atmospheric vocal on a terrific story song of someone who longs for the wide open spaces of his old rural life rather than his current life, making pots of money in the big city. A lovely violin meanders its way around the song, with a hugely melodic dobro solo, whilst final mention goes to the album closer Rue The Day. It is a dark evocative tale of hopelessness set against a beautifully haunting musical background arrangement with Willy's vocal in it's best storytelling mode.
Although i've tried, written words can't really sum up the quality of this tremendous recording. It is made by a man who is not only a peerless lyricist but also a producer of sublime melodies, as well as a vocalist who is unmatched and possibly unmatchable in his ability to create an atmosphere that constantly drags the emotions in different directions and yet despite the occasional lyrical darkness it is a recording that I find incredibly uplifting. If you are a regular visitor to this site or listen to any of my radio programmes I would say you really must get a copy of this album and can pretty much guarantee that you will love it. Did I say tremendous recording? What I actually meant was, a truly Great album!
http://willyteataylor.com/
In this 21st century there are no finer song writers than Willy Tea Taylor; perhaps a very small number who are equal, but definitely none better! When you take into account his slightly raw, edgy but melodic vocal style, one that gives a perfect evocation of every one of his songs, it really doesn't get much better than this. He is also one of the two main singer songwriters, along with Chris Doud, in one of the very best bands this century has yet produced, 'The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit.'
Willy's influences are many and varied but when reading through a list of some of them I was struck by what should have been an unsurprising fact that every one of them is stylistically highly individual, something that also be applies to Willy's music. This is his third solo album, with its two predecessors both being excellent, although this new recording, to my ears, is an improvement on both and the three GLTSO albums are equally essential listening, although their most recent recording, 'Old Excuses' is one of my 'all time' favourite albums.
Taste in anything is completely personal and the fact that we are all drawn to an endless combination of 'flavours' is one of the benefits of being human, but whilst on the subject of 'favourites,' I can say with complete honesty that Willy's vocal style and the amount of emotion that pours from him in his songs makes him one of my 'all time' favourite vocalists as well! The already mentioned rawness and melodicism is possessed by many other singer songwriters but it is the ability to write lyrics that often tug at the heartstrings allied to his almost unmatched ability to project the depth of emotion contained in the songs, drawing the listener into each of these small but powerful and believable vignettes on the human condition that sets him apart from those who were once his peers.
The album was produced in Nashville by Michael Witcher who co-wrote the tremendous The Very best with Willy and was helped out musically by a stellar cast that included Gabe Witcher on fiddle and Noam Pikelny on banjo, both from the Punch Brothers with Nickel Creek's Sara Watkins on vocals and Benmont Tench from Tom Petty's Heartbreakers on piano with Greg Liesz playing some gorgeous pedal steel guitar.
Willy was solely responsible for penning seven of the songs on the album, with the other four being interesting co-writes. I say interesting because two songs in particular were written with other hugely talented artists who I had not linked to Willie despite generic similarities. The title track Knuckleball prime was in conjunction with Nathan Moore, a man who has a large and rewarding back catalogue, solo, as well as with 'Surprise me Mr. Davis' and 'ThaMuseMeant' and all of his recordings, at least the ones I have heard, are well worthy of investigation. California was co-written with Grant Christensen and Andrew Combs; Combs being another young singer songwriter who is extraordinarily gifted, having made two tremendous albums so far in his rising career.
As happens very occasionally it is almost impossible to pick highlights from this eleven song recording on which each of those tales is a highlight so i've picked a few at random. You Found Me is a heartrending tale of lost love that starts with a nice mellow acoustic guitar, soon joined by Willy's raw, appealing and hugely evocative vocal as the song slowly wends its way. The violins and steel guitar somehow help to give this moody, incredibly sad story a strangely uplifting atmosphere. The Very Best gets under way with organ and piano on a truly great song about a man who, despite the lifestyle he has sunken into, is always drawn back to his true love. It is a song I first heard him sing on the Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit album, 'Old Excuses' and whilst this treatment is different, I just about prefer the original version, although had I not heard that I would still be writing about the greatness of the song! It is both atmospheric and heartfelt almost beyond description and I'm still amazed that the song was not snapped up by someone in the commercial country world, although quite possibly no one else could have got this level of emotion out of the song! There is a chiming melodic guitar sound on California, a song that has a darkly sinister, brooding atmosphere, with Willy's vocal and the harmonies containing an unusual wistfulness and flow that creates an epic cinematic quality. A great song that flows through several different atmospheres all tied together by Willy's grounded vocal and a theme of poor people back in the great depression era packing up their lives to move to the 'promised land' more in hope than with any great optimism. Brand New Game is a tale of unfulfilled ambition on a homely composition that as usual has a hugely evocative atmosphere, with melodic guitar, organ and steel guitar. Lyrically, this is another story that has a powerful cinematic quality in it's epic cover of several generations in a family, using baseball in a narrative tale of success, failure and shattered dreams. An excellent tuneful guitar starts Lullaby, soon joined by Willy's atmospheric vocal on a terrific story song of someone who longs for the wide open spaces of his old rural life rather than his current life, making pots of money in the big city. A lovely violin meanders its way around the song, with a hugely melodic dobro solo, whilst final mention goes to the album closer Rue The Day. It is a dark evocative tale of hopelessness set against a beautifully haunting musical background arrangement with Willy's vocal in it's best storytelling mode.
Although i've tried, written words can't really sum up the quality of this tremendous recording. It is made by a man who is not only a peerless lyricist but also a producer of sublime melodies, as well as a vocalist who is unmatched and possibly unmatchable in his ability to create an atmosphere that constantly drags the emotions in different directions and yet despite the occasional lyrical darkness it is a recording that I find incredibly uplifting. If you are a regular visitor to this site or listen to any of my radio programmes I would say you really must get a copy of this album and can pretty much guarantee that you will love it. Did I say tremendous recording? What I actually meant was, a truly Great album!
http://willyteataylor.com/