Bejae Fleming opens

Eric Taylor is considered a sage musician, a lyrical genius and a master of the guitar. Those not familiar with the Texas singer/ songwriter jigsaw puzzle probably already know a lot about Taylor. Those not familiar with him by name, have probably heard his songs performed by the likes of Nanci Griffith and Lyle Lovett. Taylor’s fans and devotees are often legends themselves, artists who have long considered Taylor to be a teacher and lantern bearer.

Taylor grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and started playing soul music in his early years, steeping himself in the rich cultural heritage of the black South. In 1970, he left Atlanta for California but only got as far as Houston.

Taylor learned intricate blues guitar stylings from music legends Lightnin’ Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb and Mississippi Fred McDowell while working at the Family Hand club. Later, he developed his own unique guitar picking style, which would be imitated by many of his contemporaries from the early Houston days, such as Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle and Nanci Griffith.

Taylor’s songs have since become classics of the Texas singer-songwriter tradition. Ex-wife Nanci Griffith covered his “Dollar Matinee” on her debut and Lyle Lovett covered his “Memphis Midnight, Memphis Morning” on Step Inside this House. Both Lovett and Griffith appear on Taylor’s latest offering, Live at Red Shack, to sing these songs (and others) with Taylor.

“To say that Eric Taylor is one of the finest writers of our time, would be an understatement,” Griffith says. “If you miss an opportunity to hear Eric Taylor, you have missed a chance to hear a voice I consider the William Faulkner of songwriting in our current time.” Lovett, with whom Taylor co-wrote the immensely popular “Fat Babies,” compares Taylor’s narrative voice to that of Bruce Springsteen.

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