Kate Taylor (cont.) – An Xperience Interview

Kate Taylor (cont.) – An Xperience Interview – by Liam Sweeny.

Last month, I spoke with Kate Taylor, “Sister Kate,” singer-songwriter and sister to James Taylor. We established that she is a power in her own right, and we are delighted to present to you the continuation of our conversation. She played Caffe Lena in Saratoga on November 1^st.

RRX: One thing I noticed, a lot of times when you have a singer-songwriter, you love the singer. You love their music, you love their voice, and the band kind of just hangs and supports. You don’t always think of the band when you think of a singer-songwriter. But what I noticed when I listened to “Sister Kate” and also with “Why Wait!” – your voice, you are the strength of the band; that’s on you. But it’s almost like they’re identical and equal, you’re so good, and the band is so good as well. Your voice fits right in that pocket, where I don’t see that a lot with other singer-songwriters because there’s so much focus on them. How did you get that kind of a band? Like, you and that band sounded amazing. Did you approach it like a singer songwriter, or did you approach it like a band?

KT: That’s a good question, and I don’t really know whether I was thinking about anything like that. I was just so glad to be working with these amazing musicians. But I think perhaps this says more about Peter as a producer. He’s used these fellows a lot in his career as a record producer. He knows them very well and knows what to anticipate from them. And I think maybe that’s something that he’s able to do, bring the songs and the singers and the band to the same place. He knew what to tell them. He had an idea of what to ask of them for me. He’s a wonderful producer. He’s really good at listening. And he makes you feel comfortable. I think the players know him so well now (these particular players), but I think any players would know that he’s excellent at what he does. They have good faith in how he would put things all together. But thank you, that’s a nice thing to hear.

RRX: A lot of people don’t really understand what a producer does, but the way you just described it, yeah, that’s exactly what a producer does is bring all the elements together. And in the case of “Sister Kate” and “Why Wait!,” the elements just came together perfectly.

KT: Right, oh that’s so cool, yeah. Thank you.

RRX: OK, so I have another question. One of the things I noticed when I listened to “Sister Kate” … I’ve heard James before, obviously … the way you sing and the way he sings, there’s like this confident sound, like it’s very clear. There’s a directness and a confidence in both of your voices that sounds similar. So I have a feeling that it came from just you guys as a family. What would you say as far as the way you guys influence each other’s singing? Is that something that’s a musical influence, or is it more like moral support?

KT: Well, I think it’s definitely the moral support, and there’s a genetic component, you know, that perhaps is there. But we were also raised with the same types of music when growing up in Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was a university town in the South, and there were all these different types of music that came through. It was Appalachian and bluegrass and country and R&B, the blues, gospel, rock and roll, and we really got a good dose of all this stuff together. And I’m pretty sure we were all influenced by that. I know James has probably got other influences as well, and Livingston, too. And my other two brothers. Alex, who passed on, he was an amazing singer. I miss him. I just wish we could sing together again. He was a wonderful singer … And Huey is an amazing singer; he’s actually put out a recording. And now I’ve got my nephews. Sally, and my nephews, Ben and Isaac Taylor. They’re amazing. It’s wonderful, but people do say that there’s this thread of similarity between our vocal style.

RRX: I definitely noticed that, but like I said, I call it confidence; maybe somebody else would have called it something else. That’s just the first word that popped into my head.

KT: I love that. That’s a nice thing to consider, having confidence. I think we’re just in love with the music and the fun of it. It just feels good. I like to think of it as perhaps different facets of the same stone. We have all this upbringing together, and our mom was very interested in us having exposure to all different kinds of music. So she had some classical music she’d play, and she took us all to musicals on Broadway. We had music lessons if we wanted them. She would make it possible for us to have instruments if we wanted, if we were drawn to a certain instrument. But I tell you, James and Liv, they’re so masterful on the guitar. They really have a beat. I’m not sure what the word is, understanding or connection with the music, the theory and the different possibilities, so that you can know what a chord can do, what different chords can do for your music and to the lyrics you want to sing or the thing you want to present. I just feel very fortunate to have been raised up with these fellows who were so good at their music.

RRX: Home base for the Taylors is, these days, Martha’s Vineyard. And it has a thriving music scene. Is there anybody that’s playing out there right now worth listening to? Like are you going out there to check people out these days? Who looks good?

KT: Yes, I love it. There are so many great players here. I would go listen to Johnny Hoy and the Blue Fish anytime. Johnny Hoy is an amazing singer, and he’s got a wonderful band, and he plays. You can’t sit still when they’re playing. It’s just so much fun. And Jemima James is one of my favorite singer-songwriters, and her son, Willy Mason, amazing songwriter. There’s a lot of people, and everybody sort of shares that. They play in each other’s bands, and it’s really a family. It really feels like a family.

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