Jesse Taylor didn’t learn how to play the guitar until he was a senior in high school.
If you’re familiar with the sophomore Fairview, Tenn., native, you might find this a bit surprising.
Taylor, a regular performer at Rooster’s Barbeque (located in Downtown Nashville), can’t exactly claim to have bitten by the country music bug at the same time his guitar skills came to fruition, but it’s easy to see where this aspiring country singer-songwriter gets his inspiration.
A car ride to the hospital to see his newly born sister marked the first time any of his family got the idea that the two-year-old Taylor had country in his veins.
“My aunt told me that when she took me to the hospital to see my sister, she put me in the car and I started crying about five minutes down the road, and she couldn’t figure out why,” Taylor said. “And I kept saying ‘Hoochee, Hoochee, Hoochee’.”
The cause of young Taylor’s cries? A desire to listen to Alan Jackson’s 1993 hit “Chattahoochee.”
“She put that Alan Jackson tape in there,” Taylor said. “And we listened to ‘Chattahoochee’ all the way [to the hospital], and all the way back home.”
Taylor cites Jackson as one of his early inspirations as a singer/songwriter, along with George Jones, Johnny Cash and Sonny James.
Taylor became personally familiar with James, a former country chart-topper, around his sixth grade year of school, as the two went to church together. From that point on, a big hug after the service wasn’t foreign for James, Taylor and Taylor’s little brother.
“[James] is a fantastic singer, and one of the nicest people I know on the face of this planet,” Taylor said. “He’s a really, really, really good Christian guy.”
Following the “Chattahoochee” themed car ride, Taylor began to perform in elementary and middle school talent shows. After his grandmother and grandfather’s fiftieth wedding anniversary, Taylor broke out his singing skills to play a version of Jamey Johnson’s “In Color” that his mother re-wrote with his uncle’s band.
When his freshmen year of high school rolled around, Taylor transferred to David Lipscomb High School. Taylor said that as he got used to his new surroundings, talent show performances took the backseat in favor of new friends and new surroundings.
It wasn’t until his grandfather passed away that Taylor dusted off his singing abilities to record a few cover songs for the funeral. Taylor recorded the re-written version of “In Color” to be played during the service, but he also included a re-written version of Justin Moore’s “Grandpa.”
His grandfather on the other side of the family who attended the funeral asked Taylor to record a few songs to be played for his own funeral. Nearly a year to the day, Taylor’s other grandfather passed, and to honor the request, he played them at the funeral.
During Taylor’s senior year of high school, his girlfriend asked him to play the ‘In Color’ cover at a fundraiser her church was holding to raise money for a mission trip.
Through the early childhood talent shows, performances to honor the deceased grandfathers and the set for the fundraiser, Taylor always had a knack for live and recorded performances. Although, he never really gave much thought into becoming a musician.
“So, growing up, I’ve always been interested in music. I never really thought much of it,” Taylor said.
After high school, Taylor went on a two-week mission trip to South Africa. While there, he began to pick up a knack for the guitar after playing with one of the local missionaries.
“[The missionary] played a little Baby Taylor guitar, and he was very, very good at playing,” Taylor said.
The missionary and Taylor would gather in the guest house and play songs together, with Taylor learning a few extra chords in the process.
“We would play worship songs, [and] we would play old country songs,” Taylor said. “He would play them, and I would sing them, and he would sing along. We had a blast.”
Through this and time spent with his guitar-playing girlfriend (who also taught Taylor a few chords), he began to want to play the guitar.
“That’s when I really got interested in the guitar,” Taylor said.
As college rolled around, many of Taylor’s close friends (including his girlfriend) went to different schools. Adding in the usual college adjustments, Taylor found himself with plenty of free time on his hands – time given to writing and playing songs.
“I would sit in my dorm room playing a guitar my mom bought me for fifteen dollars at a yard sale and got halfway decent at it – wrote a couple of songs about my woman,” Taylor said.
After his girlfriend broke up with him, Taylor channeled his newly found frustration into humorous songs to be played for good friends.
“Honestly, that was therapy for me because that was a big moment in my life,” Taylor said.
After performing the songs for family and friends, the listeners quickly noted the quality of the songs Taylor was performing.
From that point on, Taylor began to write frequently. His current song library holds about 60 completed lyric sets and 20-25 unfinished ones.
Taylor humbly joked that he may only have a few quality titles in the bunch.
“Within that, I have a handful that are good,” Taylor said. “A lot of songwriters have told me ‘you might get one good song out of every hundred songs you write’.”
But for Taylor, at least for now, songwriting and performing isn’t about becoming the next big name on stage. It’s about finding a way to deal with whatever life throws at him.
“I’m not really doing it to get good songs – i’m doing it for me. It’s a hobby,” Taylor said. “It’s a way for me to deal with things in my life that I’m struggling with. It’s a way for me to put it into words. And then through putting into words, it’s like therapy.”
Currently, Taylor is taking lessons with campus’ Mark Godwin, who is currently challenging the budding musician to practice more. Taylor has learned that through sharper guitar skills, he can compose more detailed songs.
“It’s is more than just coming up with a simple melody and putting words to it,” Taylor said. “Because, at that point, the better you are at the guitar, the more ways you can make the melody and the tune match your feelings almost to a perfect tee.
“When all you can do is play chords and stuff, it’s hard to do that.”
In the more modern arena, Taylor finds songwriting insight in the music of Eric Church.
“I really love all of his songs. Lyrically, they’re fantastic.”
Taylor says he’d love to meet Church to get a feel for his personality.
“From what I can tell, we’d probably get along pretty well,” Taylor said
Taylor has found success in his time playing at Rooster’s. He even held his own writer’s round this past Friday for other aspiring musicians.
Through all of his experiences – music-related and beyond – Taylor has found that songwriting and performing have made themselves important aspects of his life. And while he still considers the art a hobby, Taylor says that he’s finding great joy in what he does.
“I’m making the best of it, and honestly, having a good time.”