Catching Up With Nate Taylor (EBASS/RLR Writer of the Month)

We caught up with our EBASS/Red Line Roots songwriter of the month Nate Taylor for an interview. Check it out!!!

RLR: For the fine folks who may not be as familiar with your work, how would you sum up your sound in a short phrase?

Nate Taylor: I like to say Nick Drake meets Damien Rice with a bit of Josh Groban, given my classical vocal background. I’ve also been told, both on multiple occasions, that my sound is reminiscent of an 11th century troubadour or a Disney prince. I take solace in the fact that it seems to be unique, for better or for worse.

RLR: What projects are you currently working on or have you recently released?

Nate Taylor: I think to answer that question, I want to start by sharing a bit of my background because my music journey has been something of a wild ride over the past 2.5 years. The short version is that I studied math and chemistry in college before moving to New York City to try out the legal field. In January 2013, I admitted to myself that if I could do anything in the world, I’d be a singer/songwriter. I saved up and hit the road in February 2014 to drive around the country, clear my head, and write music. When it finally came time to stop moving, I surprised myself by choosing Boston. As much as I loved Austin and Portland, I ultimately decided to stay in the northeast, but wanted a change from New York.

Now back to what I’m working on. Simultaneously with the move—3 months ago—I self released a short album entitled The Finer Things. On this record I play the guitar, the cello, and I sing. Upon arriving, I felt that my live performances didn’t do justice to the songs that I’d written and so my focus switched from writing to my musicianship. I really needed to enhance my control of the guitar and my voice. I finally found myself in an environment where I could go out and play for an audience every night if I wanted to. As a result of this increased emphasis on technique, I think I can now pour a lot more heart into my music.

RLR: A big part of what Red Line Roots stands for is collaboration, community and bringing folks together and fostering an environment where artists help each other. How do you feel about that preservation of unity and family sentiment in the folk music community around town ? How does it play into your own music and where you come from? How has EBASS played a part in that for you personally?

Nate Taylor:  I have found the Boston music community to be incredible. During my last year in New York, I was furiously learning the guitar, and not quite ready to go out and be a part of the community. So this is really the first music scene that I’ve invested in and I couldn’t imagine feeling more quickly at home. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve met someone new at an open mic and said to myself, ‘damn, so and so is SO nice.’ Community is one of the main reasons that I love music. As the world becomes more and more individualized, I love that music is something that will always bring people together. As a transplant, this really helped me to feel at home personally, and on the stage.

I connected with EBASS nearly immediately after I arrived, so for me, EBASS is largely synonymous with the music scene I’ve experienced. I think EBASS is doing a wonderful job of amplifying the communal nature of music. It’s now even easier to connect with other musicians, to share thoughts, questions, shows. I love it when technology is harnessed to connect rather than separate and EBASS does just that. One of the reasons I decided on Boston was a sense that I’d find more community here than in a place like New York. I moved with the hope that this community existed, and how awesome for us all that it does.

RLR: If you could collaborate with anyone (dead or alive) musically, who would it be?

Nate Taylor: Wow, what a question! I think I have to say Justin Vernon. If he were to produce an album for me? That would be so awesome. I’m a huge fan of his most well known project, Bon Iver, and I love Volcano Choir and what he did with The Staves’ most recent album. I find his musical aesthetic to be truly inspiring. My songwriting style tends to create lots of wide open musical spaces. I think the one man version is compelling in its simplicity, but I can only dream of how Justin would flesh out my sound.

RLR: 1 record that shaped you when you first started playing and 1 ‘lesser known’/independent record or artist that you are listening to now that you think folks really need to hear about?

Nate Taylor: Record that shaped me…really hard to pick one, but I’ll go with The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. Learning ‘Girl from the North Country’ and ‘Don’t Think Twice’ made me fall in love with fingerstyle playing. I also have to give a shout out to Ben Howard. Learning some of his tunes in early 2013 began my descent into the world of alternate tunings, which I now use almost exclusively.

As far as a lesser known artist…I think Anais Mitchell still qualifies. I know she has a decent following, especially in the northeast, but not enough people listen to her music. She’s probably my favorite singer/songwriter. I don’t always mention her because I don’t really aspire to do what she does. I’m content to do my own thing. That said, I do aspire to command the stage with just my guitar as she does. It’s hard for me to pick one record, but I’ll go with XOA, the album she released last year. It is sort of a stripped down greatest hits with a few new tunes. I listen to it all the time. It’s wonderful.

RLR: Aside from music, do you have any other pastimes? What would you want people to know about you aside from your musical endeavors?

Nate Taylor: I feel like a bit of a cliche, but as I drove around the country last year my car was overflowing with guitars and books. I finally fell in love with novels, especially John Steinbeck and John Irving. I’m so fascinated by storytelling and I aspire to do more of it in my songwriting. I’d love to live up to the title of troubadour by writing some really epic ballads. So yeah, I love reading, spending time with friends and family, and being outside, but between my day job and music, I don’t manage to do much of those things these days. I’m trying to figure out a better balance, so check in with me in a couple months! As far as what else you should know, I hope that my music conveys who I am and what I stand for. I take songwriting very seriously and try to write about love, purpose, and how I think the world could be.

RLR: Anything else you want to plug?

Nate Taylor: Come on out and please say hello! I’m a regular at several open mics in town (it’s hard to miss me as I’m often the tallest person with the longest hair) and will be performing in the EBASS August showcase this Friday (730p doors at Gallery 263) and at the Middle East Corner on 8/31 (I’m on at 930p sharp).