Taylor Martin

 Taylor Martin brings you music with a beating heart; his raspy, emotion  filled voice is instantly recognizable and his lyrics have an  unflinching sincerity. Martin independently releases his third album,  Song Dogs, on June 15, 2018 on Little King Records.  On it, he spins tales of the highway, homes, lost love, love regained,  redemption, and the overuse of cell phones. The Honeycutters’ Amanda  Anne Platt took the lead as Music Producer (along with adding harmony  vocals on a handful of songs) with the help of Co-Producer and Engineer, Robert George, and Martin’s visions for the  album. The album was recorded at Sound Temple Studios in Asheville,  North Carolina and featuring members of Amanda Anne Platt & The  Honeycutters, Mountain Heart, Jon Stickley Trio and more!   A resident of Asheville, North Carolina since 2004, Martin has been  creating music since 1994. He blends musical styles: the approach to  music he grew up with in Richmond, Virginia; the western spirit he  experienced living five years in Paradise, Utah; and the sounds of  southern rock, country, and rhythm n’ blues.  From the bluesy opener “Little Pictures” to the catchy “Here Comes The  Flood” to the mellow and rolling “Eden Colorado”to the dreamlike “Second  Sight” to the more pop-oriented “Hollywood,” the album will have you  hooked.  There are three covers on the album including Bob Dylan’s nostalgic  “Sign on the Window” [New Morning], an upbeat and slightly cajun version  of Neil Young’s poignant “Music Arcade” [Broken Arrow], and Merle  Haggard’s song of tragic loss, “Kern River.”  “Taylor Martin is a singer-songwriter who will remind you of everything  good from Tom Waits to the Everly Brothers or the Avett Brothers with  some surf rock thrown in. Well-sung, well-played, well-written and relevant...” says Asheville Citizen-Times.   “Taylor Martin is a killer songwriter. He’s got a great sense of melody  and an ability to write classic, accessible songs about things we all  take for granted. It’s also to his credit that he hits all sides of the  spectrum-- there are toe tappers and tear jerkers on this album and  everything in between. I’m a big fan of the saying, ’Great songs produce  themselves, I certainly found that to be true in working with Taylor.” - Amanda Anne Platt (The Honeycutters)   “One thing I’ve learned after engineering and producing for 30+ years is  that you need both common ground and differences when musically  collaborating to be worthy of a listener’s attention. On Song Dogs this  is exactly what happened. Between the three of us, there’s a really cool  push and pull of influences, and points of view that is both  interesting and organically musical. This is why many music fans will  love this record. Amanda, being a great singer/songwriter, (and very  organized) produced from that perspective. I engineered and naturally  produced from a technical perspective. Taylor wrote, sang and played  brilliantly, was the ‘solo police’ for the players and arbitrated  between Amanda and I on occasion.  I call this the ‘perfect storm’ of  creativity. I loved every minute while working on this project and I  think music fans will love it too.” --Robert George  “Working on Taylor's albums has always been an awesome process. Song  Dogs is certainly no exception. His distinct melodies, chord  progressions, and organic recording approach create a unique and  extremely vibey song and sound. His ability to pull the perfect band  together makes the recording sessions feel amazing, and I love that he's  seeking emotional, human performances more than perfect performances.  There's some grit and soul on this record that feels like it came from  another time and place… perhaps an Allman Brothers or Leon Russell time  and place. The title track was hands down my favorite to record. It was  tracked totally live without a click track or recording software  trickery. I've never recorded just piano, steel guitar, and a vocal  before this song, but I absolutely love how it turned out. Taylor,  Amanda, Robert, and the amazing musicians involved were an incredible  team to be part of. --Josh Shilling  " Taylor Martin somehow manages to sound weathered and fresh at the same  time, and I never feel like he’s pushing the same old tired Americana  tropes around." —David Gans  "Taylor Martin will make his mark in the Americana world" -Rev. Jeff  Mosier