New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Country music singer/songwriter Brit Taylor is returning to the sounds of her heart and home with the release of her newest single "Saint Anthony" and her upcoming bluegrass album, Kentucky Bluegrassed, slated for release on February 2.
On the heels of a breakout 2023 with the release of her Sturgill Simpson-produced album Kentucky Blue and her Grand Ole Opry debut, Taylor's new project will be available on the one year anniversary of the critically accalimed project.
Kentucky Bluegrassed is available for pre-save on all streaming platforms and vinyls / cds avaiable excluslively through Taylor's website here. Taylor is celebrating the release with live release shows on February 8 at the iconic Station Inn in Nashville and February 10 at The Burl in Lexington, KY.
The eight-song album - featuring three original tunes and five songs reimagined from Kentucky Blue - pays homage to the sounds Taylor grew up hearing and creates a unique blend of traditionally based country music with a modern bluegrass twist.
"I always knew that, at some point in my career, I'd make a bluegrass album," Taylor said. "I grew up in the East Kentucky hills surrounded by incredible pickers and listening to bluegrass with my Papaw Hillard. He had an old 8-track player. Honestly, I was probably listening to bluegrass before I ever heard any other country song. Papaw introduced me to
Patty Loveless and Ricky Skaggs, and that's probably when I found country music."
"Saint Anthony," one of the original songs from the new album, is classic bluegrass. Penned with Adam Wright, it is the story of a man who sailed away on whiskey wings and a strong-minded woman determined to find him with a heartfelt plea to Saint Anthony, the patron saint of the lost and found. Set to traditional, yet modern-style, acoustic string band music blending with Taylor's poignant voice and desperation fueled by anger, it is everyday living in a song that captures regret yet carries an uplifting energy as only classic bluegrass can do.
"I love this song," Taylor said. "I learned about Saint Anthony one day when I was hunting for a lost belt, and a good friend told me to ask to Saint Anthony to help me find it. So I did. I found the belt almost immediately. A couple days later, I started singing 'St. Anthony, won't you help me find my keys'. Not only did I find the keys, I started thinking about what a cool song it could be, especially about a man who has run off and his wife asking St. Anthony for help. It reminded me of my grandparents' courtship and love story - my Pawpaw Hillard was a bit wild in his drinking days and my Mamaw was always hunting him down."
To produce her inaugural bluegrass album, Taylor turned to her talented musician husband, Adam Chaffins. "He knows bluegrass better than anybody, and he knows my voice better than anyone else," says Taylor on Chaffins producing. "He hears me singing in bars, clubs, theaters, studios, the car, the kitchen and the shower."
Not only did Chaffins play bass and sing backup on the album, he recruited a stellar group of bluegrass pickers including Rob Ikes (renowned dobro artist who played with
Patty Loveless on "Mountain Soul", two-time Grammy winner and founding member of Blue Highway), Stewart Duncan (Grammy-winning member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band and five-time winner of Fiddle Player of the Year and member of Patty Loveless' Mountain Soul band), Dominick
Leslie (mandolin player with
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway and a member of Hawktail), Seth Taylor (multi-instrumentalist member of Mountain Hear and the acoustic group Wood Box Heroes, recorded with Zach Bryan, Willie
Nelson and frequently performs in the Grand Ole Opry's house band), and Matt Menefee (co-founder of
Cadillac Sky and ChessBoxer and has recorded and performed with luminaries including Bruce Hornsby, Dan Auerbach of The
Black Keys, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry
Douglas and Mumford and Sons). The result is a rare and brilliant album of bluegrass mountain music.
Kentucky Bluegrassed is a dream come true for Taylor after successfully releasing two traditionally based country music albums. She admits, however, that when writing songs, she often hears the sounds of Appalachian acoustic music in her head first.
"Taking songs from Kentucky Blue and grassing them up was so much fun." Taylor said. "The band was on fire, and the first five songs went so quickly we even had time to cut three brand new songs. I absolutely love what [Producers]
Sturgill Simpson and
David Ferguson did with Kentucky Blue so it was really fun getting to revisit those songs and to reimagine them in a completely different way."
"Music is the universal language. My ultimate goal is always for my music to 'speak' to people in a meaningful way that brings them happiness, comfort, laughter or whatever they might need," adds Taylor. "I hope that recreating a few songs with a bluegrass sound will extend my reach in a positive way to new listeners who maybe haven't heard of my music yet."
Kentucky Bluegrassed does just that, following on the heels of two successful albums, Real Me (2020) and Kentucky Blue (2023). Real Me, heralded by critics from
Music Row, Billboard, American Songwriter, Rolling Stone and others, was Taylor's bold step into making her kind of music. Its production followed ten years in Nashville where Taylor listened to others and tried to make the music they wanted.
When she realized that it wasn't working - and, more importantly, she was losing herself, she turned her back on it all and wrote and self-financed the reflective Real Me. Its success led to the feistier, funkier, more upbeat Kentucky Blue (debuting on both the Americana and Billboard charts and lauded by American Songwriter,
Music Row, Today's Country and others, as well as landing on multiple lists of 2023's best new albums).
Now recognized as one of country music's top emerging artists, Taylor made her Grand Ole Opry debut in 2023, had a song on the TV hit show "Tulsa King," had a coast-to-coast album tour and supported musicians across the country including Dwight Yoakum, Margo Price, Brent Cobb, Blackberry Smoke, Turnpike Troubadours, Kelsey Waldon, Charles
Wesley Godwin, Dayton Farley and others.
Kentucky Bluegrassed will be released on Taylor's Cut a
Shine record label in partnership with Thirty Tigers.
Key dates:
Jan. 10, 2024: Pre-saves available for Kentucky Bluegrassed on all streaming platforms, CDs and vinyl available exclusively through brittaylormusic.com.
Jan. 31, 2024: Key Western Festival, Key West, FL
Feb. 2, 2024: Release of Kentucky Bluegrassed
Feb. 8, 2024: Album Release Show, Station Inn, Nashville, TN
Feb. 10, 2024: Album Release Show, The Burl, Lexington, KY
Brit Taylor, staying true to herself and her music, continues to breathe new life into a beloved old sound, offering up a modern lyrical perspective on relationships, families and other real-life issues. The convincing lived-in sincerity of Brit Taylor's straight-from-the-heart, strong yet vulnerable vocal style makes her songs ring true, whether conveying soul-wrenching heartbreak or down-home humor. She makes music that matters; music that would make her Appalachian ancestors proud. It's who Brit Taylor is.
About Brit Taylor
In a town known for dealing hard knocks, country singer/songwriter Brit Taylor hasn't flinched. After a decade "of playing by the rules," she broke out on her own and did it her way. Her hard work and determination are paying off. Today, she is quickly becoming known for her loyalty to tradition while embracing a uniquely modern sound, for her unwaveringly honest and relatable lyrics, and for her sultry yet powerful alto.
Her highly acclaimed debut album Real Me (opening after just 10 days as the highest-ranking debut album on the AMA/CDX
Radio Chart at No. 37 and receiving positive reviews from American Songwriter, Rolling Stone, NPR's World Cafe and others) was a self-reflective journey to self-awareness from the depths of despair. Next up was her break-out year sophomore album, Kentucky Blue, a happier, more upbeat record that is feisty, funky and pure country.
Produced by the legendary duo of
Sturgill Simpson and
David Ferguson, the album debuted at No. 4 on the Bluegrass albums Billboard chart and stationed itself on the Americana chart for weeks in the Top 20. Her Kentucky Blue tour took her from
Maine to San
Diego and from Key West to Seattle, including 14 headliner shows on the West Coast, as well as solo performances at major music festivals including Railbird, CMA Fest, Key West, Laurel Cove, Master Musicians, and multiple stages at Americanafest.
Recognized repeatedly as one of country music's emerging artists, the Kentucky native had a song on the TV hit show "Tulsa King" and has supported musicians across the country including Dwight Yoakum, Margo Price, Brent Cobb, Blackberry Smoke, Turnpike Troubadours, Kelsey Waldon, Charles
Wesley Godwin, Dayton Farley and others.
Born where the famed Country
Music Highway 23 slices through the Kentucky mountains, she grew up with family and music - and idols she loved - Chris Stapleton, Loretta Lynn, Tyler Childers, Dwight Yoakum, Patty Loveless, Ricky Skaggs and so many more. Life was good for the singer who spent her childhood years on the Kentucky Opry, followed by a move to Nashville, a college degree, a music deal, marriage, and a mini-farm.
All that was good suddenly went bad. Sick, tired and broken hearted from the "new Nashville" and the type of songs she was expected to write, she boldly walked away from her song writing deal. Brit cleaned houses to pay the bills and successfully turned her side hustle into a bona-fide small business.
At the same time, she served as "general contractor" for her self-financed first album, pulling together a cast of professionals to write with her, play with her and market her, all while recording on her own, newly-created record label, Cut A
Shine Records.
Her acclaimed second album of original music soon followed, and, as she proudly said on the Grand Ole Opry stage, "I am not too proud to clean toilets" if it makes it possible for me to make music that I love and am proud to share. What could have broken her only strengthened her; instead she is thankful for the hardships that shaped her into the person she is and led her to the life she enjoys.
It is why the power of her songwriting and music is that they are refreshingly simple yet surprisingly complex. She gifts listeners with songs that offer a background for life's laughter or a shoulder to lean on for life's tears. Authentically true in her life, in her music and in her songs, Brit Taylor is the real deal.
