Some artists can describe a moment when they knew that they were meant to make music for the rest of their life. For Brit Taylor, she said there’s never been a moment when she wasn’t interested in music. “There was never really an ah-ha moment. I just always knew. I never thought about doing anything else,” she said.
Taylor will be releasing her first solo project, which is titled Real Me, on Nov. 20. She said she is really excited for people to hear it. “I feel super lucky to have gotten to work with my producer Dave Brainard and song writers like Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin. It was definitely worth the wait to get to work with these guys,” she said.
Taylor is listed a co-writer on all 10 songs on her debut album. In addition to Brainard, Auerbach and McLaughlin, other well-known songwriters who collaborated with Taylor on this set of songs include Marcus Hummon, Will Hoge, Jerry Salley and Roger Cook.
Taylor said it was extremely difficult to pick a single to release, but she said she had a gut feeling and went with it. She describes “Real Me” as a song about becoming your “real self” and being comfortable with that person and showing that person to the world. “I hope that people will hear it and be encourage to be their authentic selves,” she added.
It is hard for Taylor to pick a favorite song from the album. “All the songs on the record mean a lot to me for different reasons,” she said. “Waking Up Ain’t Easy is definitely one of my favorites. There’s just something about it.”
Although she said she has released a few singles leading up to the release of the album, Taylor said she loves the idea of a record. “I just always have since I was a kid. I think I’ll always release records. There’s something classic about it,” she said.
During the pandemic, Taylor said she tried to connect with fans online and do as much live-streaming as she could. She said she was able to do a few outdoor shows in Kentucky during the month of December with people wearing masks and maintaining social distance. She hopes that they can start touring again soon.
Taylor said she has had a lot of musical influences, but the list includes artists such as Patty Loveless, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, and Dwight Yoakum. Although neither one of them are singers, she credits her parents as also being influential in her career. “But they always encouraged me to be brave and pushed for me to be involved in music and performing,” she said.
It has been 13 years since Taylor’s music journey brought her from her home in Kentucky to the Music City. “When I first got to Nashville, I spent a lot of time trying to fit into a box of what everyone kept telling me would work,” she said. “It was always country but now it’s my own version of country with no limitations.”
More information about Taylor and her music can be found on her website, www.brittaylor.com. Her album can be ordered in CD and vinyl formats from the website.