First Spin

Taylor Lansdale on Appalachia, ignoring internet trolls, and the influence of Jason Isbell

• First Spin

Share episode

On this episode of First Spin, I sit down with Taylor Lansdale, a Kentucky-born singer-songwriter whose heartfelt Americana sound is beginning to turn heads. Taylor talks us through his relatively new path into music, finding his voice in open mics, and slowly carving out a place for himself in Lexington’s growing music scene.

We dive into the making of his debut album Headlong and his brand-new three-song release Dance With You, exploring how these projects reflect different seasons of his life. Taylor opens up about the challenges of recording as an independent artist and how moving to a bigger city reshaped both his songwriting and his ambitions.

Along the way, he reflects on balancing music with family life, the highs and lows of social media, and learning his way around the studio. With his mix of honesty, warmth, and a genuine love of craft, Taylor shows you why he's the latest one to watch out of the Lexington, KY boom.

Songs in this episode:

Dance With You

Morehead, KY

Daffodils & Sleeping Pills

Until The Skies Are Clear

I Am Appalachia

Get On With It

If you enjoyed this episode, it’d mean a lot if you left a quick review—it's one of the best ways to help new listeners find the show.

And if you want to hear more artists worth your time, follow First Spin on social:
📱 TikTok
📸 Instagram

Official Spin Podcast Spotify Playlist

Official Spin Podcast Apple Playlist

Thanks for listening—see you next week.


staring from across the room.

hoping for a chance with you, drinking in some courage and trying to find the words to cut through

started playing our song Do you mind if I cut you? Cause I wanna dance with you

⁓ Hey, hi, hello and welcome to another episode of First Spin, the podcast that introduces you to up and coming artists before they hit it big so you can say I knew them when.

My guest today is Taylor Lansdale, singer-songwriter and serviceable guitarist from Lexington, Kentucky. His sound was described by Bretton Holland of WIRV Radio as the Appalachian love child of Jason Isbell and Ryan Adams. Taylor and I talked about releasing music before ever playing live, dealing with trolls online, and his first band, which was a cover band focused on one artist. And I bet you will not be able to guess who that artist is.

Here's my conversation with the supremely talented and all around good dude, Taylor Lansdale.

first started really kind of pursuing music seriously in 2023.

Taylor (01:54)
kind of always considered myself a songwriter and I've dabbled in it my whole life. then, and part of what had held me back is I had just never been even a serviceable guitarist. Right. And then bought a Telecaster and at like the beginning of 2022 and for whatever reason it stuck. And I don't know if it's cause I just needed it to, whatever. And then before, before I was even learning covers, I was writing songs. so, you know, I, I, interestingly enough, I had a buddy with a rap studio.

And he was, ⁓ he was like, yeah, come in, let's, let's track some of this stuff. And, and we did a couple of different songs and then I put out more head, Kentucky.

Hayden (02:33)
That was the first one I heard. That was the first one I came across. And I was immediately like, yeah, this is cool.

Taylor (02:40)
That kind of, whatever reason was proof positive for me that maybe people wanted to hear the songs. so after that, just, things just kind of started moving and haven't stopped, I guess.

Hayden (02:49)
What did you do to, as you put it, become a serviceable guitar player? what did you teach yourself? Was it justinguitar.com or did you take lessons or?

Taylor (02:59)
I did the online thing. Yeah. I mean, really it was, there's a website called true fire. found kind of this Travis picking and Americana chords, rabbit hole and some of those classes and four, and that just resonated with me. Right. I think, you know, maybe part of the problem has just been that I wasn't learning stuff that interested me. Right. And, I, you know, I definitely can be a little scatterbrained and, and squirrel over here. So, ⁓

So for whatever reason, it just stuck. And I, and I, and to be honest, I, I was kind of, at that time I was moving from Moorhead, Kentucky to Lexington and, ⁓ was having a little bit of an identity crisis as well. And so I'd just gotten out of the guard too. And so I kind of looked around the suburbs and was like, man, you know, not, there's anything wrong with it, but I'm just kind of a suburban dad now, you know? And so I wanted to have something that was my own and a discipline again.

Hayden (03:56)
what instigated

the move from Moorhead to Lexington?

Taylor (04:01)
So, ⁓ my wife and I were both working there and so, and when we first met, were living in Lexington and I folks don't know the area. that's like, Lexington is kind of central Kentucky, Moorhead's about an hour East. And it's kind of the beginning in my mind of like true Appalachia. And we were both working up there. And so we decided to move and do the small town thing. We're both, we both grew up in small towns and so it felt, ⁓ so it felt like the right thing to do and we loved it, but then COVID happened. ⁓

And we felt kind of like we were not on an island. We didn't have any family there. And then right in the middle of it, ⁓ we had our first kid, which was great, but there was just nothing to do besides stare at each other and eat Sonic cheeseburgers in the parking lot. know what I mean? And, ⁓ you know, we, we would try to do the outside stuff. I that's the great thing about that part of the world is there's hiking and, and all sorts of beautiful country to see, but you can only do so much with an infant too, you know, ⁓

Hayden (04:46)
Yeah.

Taylor (04:58)
And my wife works in healthcare. So there was no, like the world shut down for everyone else, but her, seemed like, like I got, I was lucky enough to keep my job and move it home. And so it kind of led to this for better, you know, I don't know of a better way to say it than just kind of a crisis situation. ⁓ you know, we were at each other's throats. We felt like we have any help. And, ⁓ so we decided to move. We both changed jobs.

And I'm, and I'm really, really grateful for it. It worked out great. mean, I still miss where I'm, you know, being in a small town and I think she does too, but that, you know, the, the, the change of headspace, the change of scenery, all that has been huge for us.

Hayden (05:40)
What do you think moving into a more populous center like Lexington has done in terms of encouraging you to pursue the music?

Taylor (05:48)
That's a great question. mean, there's more places to play, right? I there's a brewery that I love very dearly. It's called Softstone. And that was kind of one of our bastions there, a place that we'd get a couple of beers and hang out. But being here, I mean, I think the cool thing about Lexington is that I don't know, you know, I don't know. Well, I guess I kind of do know how it happened. mean, it's kind of Americana Central right now in a lot of ways. I I can remember being at the Burl shows.

Right before Tyler Childers left on his first tour with Sturgill and Purgatory was screaming up the charts and it just felt like a big launch moment. of course, like Sturgill himself from right down the road, there's an artist that I really liked named Drayton Farley and he, he did his album or EP release here. He's from deep Alabama, you know, so there's something, there's something in the water that, that, you know, people around here really appreciate the music and it's led to a scene that's very supportive of it.

And interestingly enough, it's, it's an, it's at least from my perspective and the way I understand it, like it's a big open mic town, which I think is fascinating. Like at any given, you know, Lexington is one of our bigger cities in Kentucky, but not by no means like a large city. And on any given night, there's like two open mics. ⁓ so that was, that was really kind of my, my launch point. Cause it's just, there were, there were so many opportunities to just go and play and meet people. And, know, when I, when I put more head out,

I had never played live. I never played that song live. did it in the studio and I was proud of it, but it was in some ways, you know, when it started getting streams and of course, like I'm not pretending that I'm getting hundreds of thousands of streams, but when,

Hayden (07:30)
It has

stream, I mean more than just, you know, a couple people are listening to it.

Taylor (07:35)
Yeah, more than just mom and dad, which was kind of my, expectation. ⁓ but man, you know, I probably should have felt proud of what I felt kind of panicked and like a fraud, right? Cause I had, you know, committed the time to doing the studio thing, but never actually kind of taking it out and proving it. so like within a, within days, I was like, I gotta get out and start playing. then haven't really stopped, I guess since then. So.

Hayden (08:01)
What was that experience like getting up there and playing for the first time after having already released a song that's getting popular on Spotify?

Taylor (08:11)
It, it, it mainly felt just like a lot of pressure. because you know, you got open mic scenes are so neat. think they're great, but you get folks who like are truly just learning to play guitar and you get folks who are trying to convince the bar owner that they're worth their worth and worth their a hundred dollars or whatever to play a set. ⁓ and so it's such a diverse set of folks.

And I didn't feel like I really ever had the opportunity to suck. If that makes any sense. I was like, man, if I'm going to have music on the internet, then I need to not suck. so, ⁓ not saying I don't, but it kept the pressure high from the very beginning.

Hayden (08:51)
definitely say that you don't. get being humble yourself, but I have no problem saying that you don't suck. I mean, you've got a great voice and ⁓ I think just like the song structures and the songs themselves are so well written.

in a row

nobody knows

It's those ancient mountains, honey, that drives around the lake.

With your ⁓

Big news on the way

So after you released Morehead Kentucky, you ended up releasing a full album called Headlong in 2024. At what point did you decide you wanted to say, okay, like I'm going to keep going and flush out a whole album around.

Taylor (10:33)
You know, it was one of those things where there was a little bit of why not, you know, I had plenty of songs that I felt like I wanted people to hear and, ⁓ I had kind of been searching around for another studio and I found one called that with studios here in Lexington. And what's cool about that place is that the head engineer is a bassist and the, the, you know, that the guy who actually lives in the studio is a drummer. so for a guy with a couple songs,

And who can, you know, at least service with play guitar, I could show up and we could track and be done, you know, and that I bring in session folks here and there. so I went the first time and, we did stranger, ⁓ which was kind of like laugh, a laughably bad situation. ⁓ I had all these big ideas on what like a studio session should be as someone who'd only spent like, you know, an hour in a rap studio, but you know, we just,

I love doing it. And I, am, I still kind of consider myself a little bit of a studio rat. Um, and so just weekend to weekend, we kind of built that album and, it's funny, you know, it's a great, what's where I'm looking for? Like almost like a relic. It's, great to look back at it and I can, it's not like this on the album, but I can tell you exactly which song was made in which order because they get better as they go. Um, because that's a, that's a skillset in and of itself. Right. Um,

And so, yeah, we, we, we put three or two or three more songs out and I was like, man, I guess this is going to be an album, huh? And then, then the dynamic changed and, ⁓ we started approaching it a little bit different and trying to be a little more cohesive in certain ways. But, but yeah, it all kind of led to, to Headlong, which was a dream come true. mean, I was one of those music nerd kids who, who just lived and died by the albums that I had, you know, in my CD collection, to be clear. ⁓ I'm

pre-iPod. So ⁓ yeah, put that out and then ⁓ yeah, I'm real proud of it but then couldn't settle on just being done with that for a while so then we just put new music out.

Hayden (12:41)
Speaking of, you just released music like what, month ago maybe? Not long ago?

Taylor (12:45)
I think it was like,

I think was not this Thursday, but the last.

Hayden (12:48)
Yeah, like two weeks ago. Yeah. So a three song EP called Dance With You.

Taylor (12:54)
Yeah, it, ⁓

it, you know, we got done with headlong and I still had some songs that I wanted to do. And I felt like we were on a roll in the studio. And interestingly enough, the songs are kind of cohesive in that. So you've got three songs, dance with you, ⁓ daffodils and sleeping pills and get on with it. And they all kind of center around a bar in some way, whether that's, you know, dance with you or somebody's approaching a lady in a bar or daffodils and sleeping pills for someone's

falling in love with someone at a bar and then, ⁓ get on with it where somebody's reeling over, you know, the song suggested it's a spouse who's cheating in a bar. And so I was like, man, this would be kind of cool to put all these together. Or, you know, kind of the same way we did headlong over the course of a couple of weekends we did, ⁓ it was actually supposed to be four songs. And then I, I kind of got the jitters about the last one. It just wasn't exactly where I wanted it to be. And, and, ⁓ and so I sat on it. I I'll probably release it.

at some point. So I say that only to say I'm in a big, hurry to put music out if you can't tell. So ⁓ it's been it's but it's, you know, I love it so much and I'm already deep into another studio session. So for another EP.

Hayden (14:08)
Oh, that's great. That's great. That's that's that's welcome news. It's certainly news to my ears. I told you this online, too. I think Daffodils and Sleeping Pills is just such such a fantastic song. Although I did see a post where you said something about it being divisive in the house.

Taylor (14:24)
That's yeah. mean, so to put it as plainly as possible, it's a song about a guy falling in love with a stripper. And, um, I didn't necessarily, you know, I don't plan for it to go that way. It's just kind of the way that the song went. Um, and so my wife had been more involved previously and I'd kind of always bounce demos off of her, but I think I was wearing her out. So she didn't really hear anything until we were already like the mixed phase. She was like, Oh, this is awful.

She's like, don't like these lyrics. And I was like, well, babe, it's not real. You know, it's not, this is not a reflection. I'm telling the story. It's not a reflection of, you know, to my knowledge, you have never engaged in that profession. like, um, I don't understand, but so I took that a little hard when she was like, Oh, I don't like that one at all. Um, but that, that's probably, that's probably my favorite too, because that one's sent like, I vacillate real wildly and kind of my.

I guess my influences and then you can hear that I think throughout the record and the, the, don't know. It's less than 10 minutes. So technically it's a single to me, it's an EP, whatever. daffodils and sleeping pills is where, you know, if I could make a record that sounded like any of the songs I've done, it would be that one. That sort of a little grungy on the edges, at least, ⁓ real heavy drums, bass driven. ⁓ I'm a, I'm a big, big fan of that one. And so it's been interesting.

hearing people's responses because I get country folks who just like, I love dance with you. sounds like, ⁓ it sounds like a Alan Jackson or whatever. ⁓ and then the other songwriter types really like get on with it. But you know, the people that are listening to the same thing that I'm listening to, like the deer tick and drive by truckers and still listening to uncle Tupelo folks really like that one. So I'm a fan of it too. And we just, we beat that song to death. Like I, we weren't, we weren't going to release it at one point.

Hayden (16:15)
We be.

Taylor (16:20)
Um, and it was part of it was we just had too much going on. Like during the chorus at one point there were like eight instruments on it. And so we toned it down, just kind of let the bass and drums drive it and turn the guitar way down. And then it turned into kind of what I think it was supposed to be all along. Um, but it, we certainly had to do some, some gnashing of teeth on the way to getting it to where it is.

Hayden (16:46)
you

and sleeping pills give that girl some space

inside. It's tattooed on her face. Silver screened beauty queen. She has lost her way. Mom strung out and daddy shout. She found a place to stay.

Tell me honey how'd get so lonely Tell me honey how'd you get so damn You send me spinning sideways Lord I love that crashing sound ⁓

Do you enjoy that process of having to kind of play with different things in the studios and like, let's throw this instrument on and see what happens. Cause some people, that's like some people's least favorite part of being a musician. But you said earlier, you you mentioned being a studio rat, like, is there a part of you that enjoys that even though it's frustrating in the moment?

Taylor (18:08)
Yeah, yeah, I do. mean, you have to balance it right. Cause none of this stuff's free. And so I've slowly been building up a my home studio capability to kind of mitigate some of that. mean, I, I don't think I'll ever have a room where I'd want to track drums, but if, if I could do vocals and, and guitars here, that would be a big win. But you know, to answer the question directly. Yeah. I like that. That's part of the puzzle. ⁓ you know, songwriting is my favorite piece, like working things out, whether that's, you know, free therapy for me or whether it's.

just the puzzle piece of it. Like, where's this song going to go? But the arrangement part is cool. And it's challenging for me because I'm certainly not like a lead guitar player and it's taken me a long time on guitars and everything else too, to be able to communicate what's in my head. And that's led to some frustration.

Hayden (18:58)
Going back to Headlong for a second, there's a song on there that I actually sent it to my dad today and I got a response from him that he was like, he was like, this is cool. Which my dad is very picky about his music. So that's a huge compliment. Until the skies are clear. That's got like a real, and this is why I said into him, cause I knew it had like, it has a Tom Petty kind of Jason Isbell kind of vibe to it. Did you go into that one thinking I want to write like a, you know, early Isbell drive by Topkirk's tune or is that just kind of the way it came together?

Taylor (19:27)
Anytime, anytime, anytime somebody mentions my name and the same breath adjacent is more like day made. Cause that, that's my guy. had like, I can be a little, I can be a little inch deep into mile wide, but that to me is kind of always what Wright sounds like. So yeah, he, he and, and petty too, are both kind of always reference tracks, regardless of where we're at. And so yeah, that like heavy drums, like simple repetitive drum part, ⁓ bass heavy.

That one is a little interesting in that it started and I play it live. It's like a moody acoustic. ⁓ so getting it to where we loved it, you know, to the extent you ever love something that's done, right? You, you nitpick it. I, I, I'm still new at this, but I assume until you die. But so it was, it was, there was a little bit of jostling to kind of get it where we wanted it. So yeah, I, I, I appreciate you noting that one because that is all the way that we've, and we've kind of.

synths transition it to kind of half that half moody acoustic and that's always the closer for the set because it's right kind of in a sweet spot for the range and for my vocal range and ⁓ yeah I love that song that one kind of that one always tends to leave a good impression so I'm grateful for that.

Hayden (21:04)
Taking hold

We better ride it out at the house where it's safe for more

You ⁓

I swear that the couch is mine

There are a couple songs that I've come across that you've teased on social media that aren't released yet. Two in particular, one called Fast Enough that I think that's got some really cool lyrics in it and then Get Lost. So is there a plan to release those soon? I was looking for them on Spotify and I couldn't find them. I was bummed.

Taylor (23:40)
I know, I don't know that I have a cohesive social media strategy. I'm just kind of throwing stuff out there, but, so fast enough was actually the one that didn't make this EP. And I love the lyrics on that one. And it, and it comes from like a very, it comes from a very honest place. mean, most of my songs do, I guess one's about strippers, but you know, besides those, that one.

touches on kind of something that I'm still dealing with in a way. And so I wasn't going to let that one get out half-assed basically. And so when I cut that one off the record, I'd actually already started with a new producer and I've never had a producer. I've always self-produced. I always do a lot of pre-production going in. Uh, and then the head engineer kind of helps me get where I want to go. Um, but at this time I'm working with a true producer who's, you know, steering the ship in a lot of ways. So I'd already started those sessions. So, so that song's kind of in limbo right now.

I've flirted with redoing it here or going back to Valwood and, ⁓ trying to finish that one up. It will come fast enough. We'll come out. I don't have a definitive plan. Now get lost is, ⁓ this is to be on a four song EP that comes out. We think around December, it's kind of hard to know. ⁓ but, I'm really excited about that one. This is, I'll just nerd out for a second. One of my favorite bands is your tick. I don't think most people have heard of that band.

Hayden (25:03)
I saw them open for Jason one time actually.

Taylor (25:05)
Did you? Okay. That is, that is my wife's favorite band. ⁓ and I like, knew of them before we got married, but now I would consider them, ⁓ certainly in my top favorite bands. And so I'm going somewhere with this, I swear. And so this is great. So there's a local artist named Abby Hamilton. she's not local. She just played Red Rock. She's from Lexington. Okay. Okay. Okay. And so,

Hayden (25:22)
You

I feel

like I've heard that name.

Taylor (25:34)
She's a, she's a big deal. And the way, the way that I kind of, I was aware of her and had listened to some of her stuff, but then my wife and I actually went up to Boston to see deer tick play at the house of blues there and just serendipity kind of stepped in because we, she was on like CBS that morning or CBS this morning, that morning. And then she was opening for deer tick. Her basis was like the coolest basis I'd ever seen live. Like he just ripped. And so I kind of flirted.

You know, producer flirted with him for awhile. I was like, man, I, know, if you ever, if you ever need somebody, if you ever, you ever have an opening. And so I somehow got him to agree. So he's producing this EP. name is Carson. He's a great guy. has a, he has a podcast called based, which is great. And he's just, he's a really talented dude. So when we started putting the plan together for the EP, he was like, what if I got one of the guys from deer to play on it? And I was like, uh,

Hayden (26:17)
Cool.

Taylor (26:33)
Yeah. Okay. You know what I mean? Like, sure. Okay. But you know, like, and he's a detailed guy. He's great. And he sent me like a full budget, like Excel spreadsheet. Um, and as someone who can be a little less, uh, organized, was like, man, this is going to be great. This is, know, and sure enough, he, he, I guess, because they were on tour together, you know, knows, you know, enough. And so he texted him and was like, Hey, can you play on this guy's track? And they just finished up their piece of it. Cool.

Hayden (27:02)
god, how cool.

Taylor (27:03)
And I'm just like, I'm over the moon about it. And, ⁓ it was, it was funny because so we, I think we were using Riverside maybe to, to, or something like this. virtually recorded cause they were back home and, I think they're from Providence, Rhode Island. So they were back home on a tour break and, we did it virtually. And I, but I can hear what they're saying live and we're kind of on speakerphone or texting back and forth.

And they're like, what do you think? I didn't know what to say. He was like, ⁓ sounds great, man. Whatever you think, brother. It was, it was, it definitely was. I've been lucky enough to have some cool moments for someone who's not been doing this all that long, but that, that is way up there to have Ian play. ⁓ I think Ian's a great songwriter. He's actually got, know, Neil's his name and he's got his own solo album out. It's great. So anyways.

Hayden (27:34)
Yeah, what are you?

Taylor (27:57)
That was a long way of saying get on with it. Yes. That's the now known in my home. It's just the deer tick song, big telecaster sounds. And I'm really excited about how that one turned out. Will turn out.

Hayden (28:09)
You mentioned having some trolls. I saw one post that you responded to where some guy said, you always sound so sad, life's hard or something. I thought the way that you handled that guy was brilliant. You were so earnest with them and you're like, this is coming from a place of genuine concern. really appreciate it.

Taylor (28:30)
It was hard for me to tell whether he was being deadpan or whether he was messing with me. But you know, that's not the first time I've heard that. I will say as a songwriter, like I don't ever sit down and I'm like, I'm gonna write a sad song or I'm gonna write like, you the dance hit of the summer, which will never happen actually. you know, for me, so much of this is kind of exercising what needs to be exercised. And so a lot of times it comes out sad. I am not.

a sad person in any way, maybe a little overly serious. Sometimes I try really, I think there's enough hatefulness in the world. Like I try really hard to not engage with, with people in a way that they might feel like maybe I'm just being a jerk, but I had a guy, you know, kind of pulling back the curtain. I had a guy, uh, I actually ran some Facebook ads for on promotion day. was the first time I've kind of done stuff like that. you know, the, the one comment I got was.

You should, you should get a real job. Uh, it's, uh, which doesn't, you know, it just made me laugh because it was like, I didn't take it hard. was like, man, no, listen, I have one. if I, you know, like, you know, ideally I won't soon and maybe this will be better. You know, uh, I would love for this to be the job. Um, so it was, it was, I was, you know, my God, you're just totally missing the point. I like, I need you to.

I need you to hit follow and stream a couple of times so I can get rid of my real job. and, ⁓ so, I mean, the, to be clear, like the vast majority of opinions that I do here are kind and, ⁓ giving people the benefit of the doubt. mean, one thing that I've talked to folks about, and I think it's true. Like I, I don't, I don't think I necessarily fit squarely in any particular genre. ⁓ and I come by that honest. I mean,

I think about like, grew up in Mount sterling, which is 30 miles east of Lexington. Right. And then we call ourselves the gateway to the mountains. And so even within the County that I grew up in, there's like true, what I would consider like true Appalachia, culturally and, and, and some of the problems that Appalachia comes with. Right. There's some of the, should say the struggles that they faced. Right. But then, you know, in the same town, I had like suburban rich kid money, you know what I mean? And, and, and so it was, it was an interesting blend of, of kind of regional.

subcultures and that still plays out in my music.

because I'm as likely to listen to Isbell as I am Incubus on the way to work some days, you know? And so at first I was very self-conscious about that, particularly in the scene where Appalachia is just so hot right now in a lot of ways, which deservedly so, right? There's a lot of great art coming out of the mountains and Eastern Kentucky and Central Kentucky.

Hayden (31:24)
I

just happen to be wearing my Jizz Eye and the Bonneville shirt. Yeah.

Taylor (31:27)
There

you go. I am such a huge fan. his, I'll come back to that. I want to come back to just add the Bonneville's. ⁓ but so like, I say, I want to say I feel pulled different ways and I've come to adopt it as it just makes me a little different, you know, in a world of everybody trying to sound like Tyler Childers. And there are a lot of folks, you know, and I don't blame them because he's incredible. I can't pull.

I can't pull that off as effectively or as authentically and I'm just not going to do that. I kind of like my in-between-ness, ⁓ kind of the, you know, the city kid rock culture and the mountain country and bluegrass traditions.

Hayden (32:13)
It made me think, so one of the videos, I think it was the get lost video that I ⁓ saw on your TikTok. You know how at the bottom of TikToks, it'll like give you like something that seems somewhat tangentially related to what you're watching. And like, sometimes it's like this, what are you talking about? But sometimes you, you know, you click on it. The thing that was written for me to click search underneath the get lost video, it said Southern Gothic country music.

Taylor (32:25)
Right.

I've gotten, I see that on my own stuff. I don't know what that is in terms of a genre. would like for someone to tell me. And I've, you know, I've meant to Google it. I don't necessarily understand the connotation. I don't know if it's just like sad boy country. I don't know. It's funny because you

Hayden (33:00)
just

thought it was a really funny phrasing, like Southern Gothic country.

Taylor (33:05)
Well, it's, will take that over YouTube, which has, which, ⁓ so when you upload a YouTube video, will suggest like a niche for you to tag. And for me, it's country folk dramatic. so, no, no more daggers. ⁓ but so, mean, ⁓ the lesson here is, probably a niche that I need to be advertising to the algorithm is what the algorithm is. Like I'm, grateful for it.

Hayden (33:18)
Take it easy.

Taylor (33:34)
because nobody would hear me if I didn't have ⁓ it. The places that I track listens from or people reach out to me from are incredible. So I'm grateful for it, ⁓ but it's weird.

Hayden (33:48)
I'm

sitting here in West Hollywood, you know, talking, talking to you. And I think it's probably because of TikTok that I came across. I honestly don't remember whether it was or not, but there's a good chance that it was.

Taylor (33:54)
Thanks

Thank you algorithm gods. know, I, and it, but I think that's, there's, there's some beauty in that. Like I can say that I've never been to West Hollywood, ⁓ farthest West I've been is Phoenix, I think. ⁓ so maybe that if I ever go on tour, you know, that I come hit you up. Please do. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. ⁓ but, but circling back Josiah and the Bonnevilles that, that song, ⁓ I think it's just Appalachia.

Hayden (34:17)
Well, you got a place to crash.

Taylor (34:29)
I don't know his whole story, but I guess at some point he was on a major label and he was doing kind of more of the, I don't know, like soft alt rock country stuff. ⁓ but I heard that song and it blew me away, but there was just not a whole lot else out there from him. And then when he had, when, know, when he kind of found this, what seems like a very authentic folk place.

And his social, everything that guy does is brilliant. Like the way he handles social media and it's like, you can look at it as tactics. I think he's just a really nice guy. So he writes his fans letters and stuff. ⁓ he he's obviously an incredible songwriter. ⁓ he's got such a unique voice. I love, I love his stuff so, much. So I'm glad to know another Stan.

Hayden (35:17)
Yeah, I got to see him ⁓ at the troubadour in West Hollywood sometime last year, I think it was it was so cool. I was just yeah, it was just by himself. He didn't have the full band with him that he tours with now. So it was still like the early days of him just playing ⁓ solo acoustic. But yeah, it was it was very cool.

Taylor (35:33)
saw him at Railbird, ⁓ which is a festival here in Lexington. ⁓ I saw him, I guess, two years ago, and I assumed that he'd picked up a band at that point, but no, was just him and his music guitar and his stories, and it was incredible. The amount of jealousy and awe was high in me that day, because at that point, I was very much just starting out. And so he's a role model for me, for sure.

Hayden (36:00)
Yeah, I was going say, you know, it's, it's something to something to aspire to.

Taylor (36:04)
Sorry, just wanted to... Thanks for letting me go down that rabbit hole with you. I Yeah, no, of course. ⁓

Hayden (36:10)
I'm talking about you there.

Far too many times I've held it. Appalachia rage in the northbound wind. My mind's growing strong but my body's wearing thin. And I can't turn this thing around.

Taylor (36:23)
you

Hayden (36:42)
I'd see it every now and...

send out ⁓ a questionnaire ahead of time. And one of the questions is an interesting fact besides the fact that you play music and you sent me three and all of them are incredible. So I usually only go with one, but like they're all so cool. I feel like I have to talk about all three of them. So you were in the national guard for eight years. What was that experience?

Taylor (37:07)
I was, yeah, yeah, yeah. was, What was it like?

So, I got in, I'd always wanted to get in and I was in school and it was like, man, life's coming. And I'm probably too far down this path in terms of career to go do full time. And so National Guard feels like a you know, a good inroad and a good opportunity to serve. you know, growing up in like the 9-11 generation, I was kind of, I felt like...

You know, man, I don't want to turn people off, but like, I'm a white dude with an accent, right? So like, particularly around here, things come pretty easy. You know what I mean? Like I don't, I have not faced a lot and therefore I've kind of had always carried this feeling that I just had never really earned much. ⁓ and so I really wanted to serve my grandfather served and I, and there was some level of like youthful, I need to go prove my manliness too. So I joined up and I ended up pretty quickly in officer school and then.

became a military intelligence officer and did that not, and did that until I got out, ended up as a captain. But I never, I never deployed. ⁓ so, and the unit that I kind of came up with deployed right after I got out. ⁓ and so I, I've taken that hard, but it kind of tracks like it, what it allowed me to do was be around a bunch of like giants in my mind. You know what I mean? Like people who'd done incredible things and who'd suffered incredible consequences and, and, ⁓ and

You know, I got, it sounds insincere, like truly some of those guys are my heroes. so, ⁓ particularly the guys who'd been in for a while and, and, had seen multiple tours and the things, the stories they had to tell were incredible. And so what I, what I'm grateful for is that I kind of walk, I got to walk away with some of those stories and I, and I've got a couple of songs that I've been working on for as long as I've been working on songs really about it, but I won't let those go until I'm

100 % 100 % sure that it merits that, you know, those songs are worthy of the stories that they're trying to tell. Um, but yeah, so I appreciate you asking about that.

Hayden (39:15)
Yeah, well, thank you for your service and to any other veterans listening. Thank you to them as well. Your other two fun facts, you did an Iron Man, which that is, I don't know, when, where, tell me about it.

Taylor (39:30)
actually kind of got into it because I was stationed out in Sierra Vista, which Fort Huachuco, which is Southeast of Tucson, kind of right there on the border ⁓ of Mexico to be clear. And so I had lost a bunch of weight and which is easy to do when you're on active duty. ⁓ Cause you're, you you're kind of always running place to place and, and, know, I never experienced like beautiful landscape like that. I bet people from out there don't feel that way, but

I, it was so like rugged and enchanting to me. And so I just wanted to be out. just wanted to be running or riding a bike. And so it just kind of, was like, man, I guess I do a triathlon, you know? And then, so I did like a local one up in Tucson and, it just kind of took on a life of its own from there. And then in the process I had, ⁓ and I, part of my, my personality is just orneryness, right? ⁓ I had an ex tell me you'll never finish a triathlon.

or an iron man. I was like, okay, so make that away. Like, thank you for making that happen. They're bulletin board material. believe they call that in sports. so, um, did a couple half iron mans and like New Orleans and Indiana, and then did, did Ironman Louisville in 2018 on like a miserable cold rainy day. That was such a miserable day. was like, you know, it started off and it's just about freezing.

Hayden (40:36)
greatest motivation in the world right there.

Taylor (40:59)
The swim got modified because the current was too strong. You're in the Ohio river, which, you I probably create some mutant animals. don't know. And so, you know, it was just gnarly and the amount of people who like at the first couple aid stations called it was pretty incredible. I mean, that's a big investment, you know, in terms of so I suffered through it and like, I want to say like 13 hours or something like that. Like I finished, it certainly wasn't competitive in any way.

But it beat me up so bad. Truly. I, my bike rusted and I have to this day not ridden a bike since I was just like, I, this is for me. I've proved that I've proven that I can do it, but yeah, I sold that bike and I still run and I'm getting back into running, with, with my kid. I've got a nine month old, his name's Fisher. And so kind of getting back to that place where we have a little time and, ⁓ and time that I don't

Hayden (41:34)
You checked it off the list?

Taylor (41:56)
My, what free time I do have is committed to music. I've gotten back into that piece of it, but I don't foresee myself ever doing that again. I'm glad that I did it. got the tattoo, you know, cool. you have, for sure, for sure. mean, I don't know. That was part of the motivation. I don't know why, but it's just like, there is in that circle, the people who, and I still to this day, you know, I'll be out to eat and, uh, somebody will see it and be like, Oh, tell me about the race.

Hayden (42:07)
was gonna ask, yeah, you've got the tattoo.

Taylor (42:25)
Now, first they're mostly incredulous because they're like, finishing up? I have to do the like, several, several years, two kids and, and, ⁓ and, several, a couple kilos since then. I'm glad that I did it. It, it, it, ⁓ I can't say that I had a lot of fun doing it, but I'm glad that I

Hayden (42:47)
Yeah, fair enough. And then the final fun fact that you had was that your first band was a Metallica cover band. How old are you?

Taylor (42:53)
Yes, that's true.

18. Uh, no, no, no. I was younger than that. was 16. I, we, I had, you know, I did the choir thing and, um, and I had buddies who played guitar. And so when we get around and, know, do the, do the standards, you know, one bad versions of wonderwall, but, uh, there was this band of like really great guitar players and they're like, Hey man, we need somebody to, to, to join our band. I was like, I'm in, I'm in, you don't even have to tell me what it's about, dude. I'm in.

Come to find out that it's Metallica. I, of course I like tried to play it cool. didn't, I don't think I knew a single Metallica song at that point. Cause that was like, that was emo phase, right? That was all taken back Sunday and, and the used and under oath and, and yellow card and, and, and dashboard professional too, which actually just saw, I still love that band. Just saw them in Nashville a couple of weeks ago and they're, they're still really good. ⁓ so I was like, yeah, yeah, I love Metallica and we ended up doing some.

Hayden (43:37)
Yellow card.

Taylor (43:52)
Some talent shows and, and, and, ⁓ you know, ⁓ the, songs that you would expect a Metallica cover band to do, right? Like inner sand band, master puppets and stuff like that. There's this awful picture in my hometown paper because I'd just seen taking back Sunday play and the way Adam was are I holds his mic is that he like, he would hold it sideways and like wrap the, still does this to some extent. would wrap the cord around his mind, around his arm.

And so they got this still shot of me in this like awful mangled mic position with just a look of pain on my face. And it was, it was like a, almost like a full page. It still hurts. It still hurts to look at. hope that that's, I hope that I have burned what copies I can.

Hayden (44:29)
That's amazing.

That's gonna go in like the deluxe edition 10 year box set, ⁓

Taylor (44:44)
He

Hayden (45:07)
Tell me where you've been now, baby Tell me who you're with Nothing good ever happens when you're out past 1am

Said you caught a set down town Went to see a show

from you and you turned off your phone.

gonna cry for you I won't shed a tear I'll show up for work like you were sleeping here

Hold and hope so big, but hope implies the rip So come and get your things from here and let's get on with it

I don't wanna talk anymore There's nothing left to say I don't need your reason So the last section of the podcast is called Final Spin, it's just rapid fire questions, first thing that comes to your mind. ⁓ If you could open for any artist living or dead, who would it be? What was the first album you owned that was just yours?

Taylor (46:37)
Jason, it's for you.

I think it was Smash Mouth. I think that was, because that was like the first CD I had. The first thing that I bought of my own volition was so much for the Afterglow, Everclear. ⁓ And that, in a lot of ways, that still, that still messes me up. That's still a great record.

Hayden (46:58)
They're making a biopic about your life. Who's playing you? Who's an artist or band that you love that people would be surprised by?

Taylor (47:02)
And I would like to Chris Pratt.

still, I don't

know if people would be surprised by it, but it would still be dashboard confessional. If someone hadn't laid that record in my lap, I don't know that I would do what I do because like have the lyrics held up for me? No, not necessarily because it's all about like that cute college crush, right? I don't think there's necessarily a lot of heavy lifting in it lyrically, but in terms of like a huge sounding acoustic guitar,

And writing a song that at least at that time in my life resonated really deeply, you know, when girls were the only thing that I really had to worry about.

Hayden (47:39)
Great, great. Well, Taylor, dude, thank you so much for doing this. This was fun. I really appreciate you ⁓ jumping on here and excited that there's more music on the way. And ⁓ I love what you've put out so far.

Taylor (47:50)
Thank you so much. I'm so excited for the opportunity and to make a friend on the other side of the country. yeah, I'm really, really grateful. I appreciate you.

Hayden (48:07)
Taylor is playing at Court Days on October 18th in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. He's also playing on October 19th at the Kentucky Artisan Center in Beria, Kentucky. You can check out his music wherever you do that. Follow his socials, and if you're not already, follow the First Spin socials. Email me at firstspinpod at gmail.com. That is all for today. Thanks for listening. And you know what? Send this to your mom. I think she's going to like it.