MyGen Profile GeneratorWhen a song called Fall on Me, was recently played on Johnnie Walkers Drive Time show on BBC Radio 2, he was inundated with e-mails wanting to know who this new singer songwriter was, where they could find out about her, and most importantly would he please play more.
For more songs go to www.janetaylor.co.uk
He had so many requests that he plugged her website the next day, and informed the listeners that it was taken from Montpelier a debut album by a singer songwriter called Jane Taylor who was from Bristol and who had released her album under her own label, Bicycle Recrods.
One live Radio 2 session later, and a distribution deal with Pinnacle followed alongside a national release of the album, and support slots with Jools Holland, Seth Lakeman and Paolo Nutini. Jane Taylor's journey had truly begun...
But the journey really started some three years ealier in 2002 when she decided to give up life and work in the real world and focus her attention on the fact that shed been writing songs since she was little, and maybe there was something in that.
Walking into a Bristol studio to record her first single she fantastically bumped in to Angelo Bruschini, the guitarist from Massive Attack who was so intrigued by her sound that he offered to play guitar for her. The single was called BlowingThis Candle out, and it became the first recorded track of her EP, Barefoot, which she went on to release at Ronnie Scotts. She booked her first UK tour and together with local BBC radio interviews and live sessions she began to build up her fanbase across the UK.
In 2003 she won the International competition Reach and, supported by her band, toured Ireland with three other bands from the USA and Canada. She then went on to win both the UK and the International Song writing Competition, again with her single 'Blowing This Candle Out', in the singer/songwriter category where no less than 11,000 people entered.
Last year, she appeared on the arts program Earshot for HTV and more recently her song 'Getting To Me' has been included on the soundtrack for the new Sony Televisions DVD of the hit TV series 'Dawsons Creek'.
The fact that she's also managed to perform at Glastonbury Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe two years running, headlined the Wurzburg music festival in Germany, played to sold out venues frequently and consistently in Bristol, not to mention being played on national BBC radio, may not come as a complete surprise when you see her perform live. The fact that she does this independently is, however, something to consider.
After almost two years of performing and touring with her band, (Neil Gay - guitar, Beth Porter - cello, Robin Davies - double bass, Ben Hostler - drums and Eleanor Murphy - piano), Jane finally secured backing, through Exec Producer Johnny Stirling, to complete her debut album, Montpelier (after an area in Bristol where she wrote most of the songs). The album was recorded in a barn at the beginning of winter out in the countryside near Sarsden, Oxford, and was launched across the UK on June 12th 2006.
Astonishingly , creating and manufacturing Montpelier involved some 250 people along the way. The immediate recording and production team (including award winning Producer and composer Bill Lovelady who composed string parts for the album and also mixed it alongside co-producer and engineer Hugo Richardson and Angelo Bruschini, who guest mixed three of the tracks) and the hundreds of people that pre-bought the album 3 months in advance to produce funds to manufacture it. Testiment to the faith people have in what Jane creates.
Last year the title track 'Fall on Me' was featured on 'The Word' Magazine and Jane secured a UK tour with Paul Buchanan of the Blue Nile, which included dates in the Drury Lane Theatre and The Usher Hall in Edinburgh. This year Jane will be touring with Sharon Shannon, as well as touring around the UK with her band promoting the album. ...(check out the dates for gigs in your area on her gig section)
Montpelier is distributed through Pinnacle and is available in the shops and on line at Amazon...(check out the dates for gigs in your area on her gig section)Buy Jane's Album At Amazon
This album proves without a doubt that this determinedly independent artist should eclipse her more manufactured competitors. The album was funded by fans who pre-bought it: it was a wise investment. Beautiful. - Music Week
Jane Taylor is no ordinary singer songwriter. She has this intangible magic in her voice. The kind that draws you in and holds you right there until the moment you notice that you've forgotten to breathe and then you hear her words (which bizarrely seem to have been written for you), and stand there transfixed like its a bit of fate that brought you here and I will defy anyone not to leave without a cd or at least humming one of her songs' - Get Rhythm.
