Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Rae.
Hi Taylor, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Music is my life and always has been, so the story starts around 25 years ago. For as long as I can remember, I have been drawn to the stage. I memorized my first song at age two (Carole King’s “Too Late Baby”) and sang it for anyone that would listen. I started private vocal and piano lessons young and was involved with musical theatre year round from age 7-18. There was never a moment in my life where I had to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up – I already WAS a singer, and that was that.
I started writing songs when I was ten and taught myself guitar at 12. Singing and songwriting have always been a more accessible medium for me to express my thoughts and feelings. I went straight to music school after high school and studied Vocal Performance and Independent Artistry. From there, I started forming bands and playing out in Los Angeles. When the LA grind wore me thin, I moved back to my hometown of Santa Cruz, CA and started playing music full time. I performed an average of 200 solo shows per year between 2015-2019. I was making a great living and I was playing a LOT of music but I wasn’t exactly passionate about singing at weddings, corporate events, and hotels. That is why I made the move to Austin, TX. I’ve been here almost three years and I am currently working on next years tour and album rollout.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has been challenging. Some of the earlier struggles in LA had to do with band member drama and addiction, as well as being so broke I actually sold my blood to a blood bank to pay for food one time.
Then there is the very obvious struggle that was/is COVID-19. In March of 2020 when the initial lockdown took place, I lost about $20k of work in four days. No deposits and no sense of how an independent contractor could get on unemployment. On top of that, my relationship of six years fell apart around that time as well – in a very painful, messy way. We were musical partners and had plans to get married that year. I was a shell of a human trying to find my own place to live in the middle of a pandemic and start my career from scratch.
I would say most of all, the hardest challenges to overcome during my journey have been the internal ones. I have suffered from an anxiety disorder (although I just learned that’s what it is) from age 16 to now, where I go unconscious (faint) at any given time with little warning. The events in the last two years really ramped that up. The anxiety and depression got so bad in the summer of 2021 that I drove myself to urgent care as a last resort. I am now on medication that has changed my life and I am a huge advocate for mental health awareness.
Cultivating the self-awareness around my patterns and my trauma has been the steepest mountain I’ve had to climb and also the most rewarding. I feel like I can do anything now that I am back to a balanced state of mind.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a full-time musician. I am a songwriter, a singer and a guitarist and now I am running what feels like a small business. On October 1st, 2021 I released an album called “Mad Twenties.” It is an album I conceptualized at age 21 when I was sleeping on my friend’s studio apartment floor in Hollywood. I wanted to make a record that told the story of my journey through my “mad” – as in “chaotic” – twenties. I didn’t know how, when or where it was going to happen but I knew if I was patient, the perfect opportunity would present itself.
It is a 12 song concept album – not many people do this anymore. All of the songs on it are true stories – my stories – written in the rawest, most vulnerable form. Recording the album was very cathartic; it reflects my own personal journey of self-actualization, awareness and growth. As I enter my late twenties, I am able to look back on the chaos of previous years with gratitude. It’s been a journey of transformation. As challenging as it was, I wouldn’t change it for anything. It’s what has brought me here today.
I am incredibly proud of this project and the music videos we have released with it. “Fixer Upper” recently won the Austin Spotlight Film Festival ‘Best Music Video’ award, and “Home on the Road” has been on the CMT rotation for two months now!
I now have a “Taylor Rae” team working tirelessly to get the album off the ground. I am planning a radio and solo tour for February of next year (2022) and hopefully a schedule full of festival dates for the summer.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The best way to support any musician is to buy their record directly from them – especially at a show 🙂
I have mine available to order on my website. I love collaborating with other artists or all different kinds – makeup artists, photographers, musicians, DJs, designers, artists. I think if we all give each other the creative freedom to do what we do best, we get amazing results.
Pricing:
- Performance Fee: $350/hr
- Album: $12
- Vinyl: $35
Contact Info:
- Email: taylorraemusic@gmail.com
- Website: www.taylorraemusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylorraemusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taylorraemusic1
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/taylorraeband
- Other: https://linktr.ee/taylorraemusic
Image Credits:
Mad Harmony Photography Jeremy Ryan Mike Luckett Michelle Robertson
