We Love Songwriters: GENE TAYLOR

When I first heard Gene Taylor perform, I truly was transfixed and just stopped and stared and listened for a while. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Was it his incredible range, grooving guitar skills, or impressive vocal lines? Probably a combination of all of the above. I had just moved to NYC about a month ago, and had been craving to meet the incredibly ridiculously talented musicians I was told would be in this great music city. Finally, here was one right in front of me, and it gave me a sense of having moved to the right city. A city that would challenge me and inspire me with talents like Gene Taylor. Gene Taylor was actually a guest performer for David Pollack (another incredible NYC singer-songwriter talent) and so after he sang his two tunes, he sat nearby and I made sure to go say hello and introduce myself. I had just finished singing my gig before theirs, and it was the beginning of a truly amazing friendship and musical partnership.

Gene Taylor is the real deal. He could 100% stand alone solely as a singer with his versatility, vocal stamina, and RANGE. But Gene doesn’t stop there. He is also a multi instrumentalist, accompanying himself and playing in bands on guitar, piano, or bass. But then, he still doesn’t stop there. Gene Taylor is also an incredible SONGWRITER. Here at We Love Songwriters, there is nothing we love more than celebrating songwriters who put their experiences and heartfelt emotions into beautiful creations for us to hear, so I am proud to present to you Gene Taylor, as the feature artist for our second We Love Songwriters series at the Shrine in Harlem. Follow this man, watch his videos, hear his music, be part of the beginning of the career of one of the most promising singer-songwriters I know.

Gene Taylor can be found online at http://www.genetaylormusic.com and on Instagram and Facebook @genetaylormusic.

Last Thursday night was another successful edition of We Love Songwriters! I started off the night with a few songs, accompanied by Gene, who then launched off into his killer set for our Harlem audience. Half way through the night, we gave Gene a little break and invited up another singer-songwriter from the NYC scene. Our dear friend Robert Brashear, Americana artist graced us with his emotional original tunes, creating a very eclectic night for us all. Stay tuned for Robert Brashear for his feature on We Love Songwriters!

We Love Songwriters is generally a 2 hour event, but the Shrine often permits us to continue past 2 hours, which last Thursday resulted in a crazy musical afterparty of Gene Taylor with special guests Brian Fender-Shirley and Eddie Wardle lending us all some luscious soulful harmonies.