Rick Taylor made his first professional appearance at the famed Mariposa Folk Festival in 1971, going on to perform at many of the major Canadian folk festivals. Blues, jazz, country, rock, roots and contemporary music influenced Rick’s early years on the folk and coffee house circuits. As a singer-songwriter and guitarist, Rick has been featured on CBC television and radio programmes Touch The Earth with host Sylvia Tyson, The Entertainers with host Bill Garrett , Peter Gzowski’s 90 Minutes Live, City TV’s Music City and Intimate Evenings with Songwriters on Rogers Cable TV. Other highlights of Rick’s career include opening act for Bruce Cockburn and appearing in New York City as a multi-instrumentalist in Leonard Cohen’s musical production The Sisters of Mercy, as well as guitarist in the Vancouver production of Hank Williams, The Show He Never Gave. Rick’s dynamism on guitar has led to session and sideman work with Willie P. Bennett, Stan Rogers, Doug McArthur and a highly acclaimed tour with Colleen Peterson, which culminated in nine evening engagement as opening act for Gordon Lightfoot at Massey Hall in Toronto.
Rick also fronted his own band The Torpedoes with brother Steve Taylor in Southern Ontario; a sound described by Doug McArthur as "folkaboogietoadrock" as well as the Rick Taylor Band which featured some of the finest blues and jazz musicians in Vancouver, and currently HARD 8; a roots-acoustic trio featuring guitar great Paul Pigat and harmonica legend Monte. Rick is well know for his high energy live performances, rich, expressive baritone voice, quirky and novel song-writing styles; such as his cult classics "Black Leather Diaper" and "Drunkards Lullaby", his delicately, haunting, well crafted ballads, and unforgettable "guitarnastics". Rick’s early chart hit classics "Letters from Jane" and "Soldier in the Rain", released internationally in 1989 on Volunteer Records, continued in "gold rotation" on radio stations around the world for many years. His new CD release entitled "Clown River" contains 13 original solo guitar compositions. This work is a beautifully woven instrumental story. Rick has reached deeply into his influences of the great fingerstyle guitar traditions of the world.Currently, Rick Taylor is a featured artist on Borealis Records guitar compilation CD "Six Strings North of the Border Volume 3 ", released internationally in Feb. 2006.
About The Legendary Brothers...
The Legendary Brothers, Rick and Steve Taylor are at it again. Hillbilly burlesque, Don Ho’s "Tiny Bubbles", dust bowl and delta blues, and Drunkards Lullaby. There is no defining these two brothers. After years of painful separation, the brothers are back. Just guitar, drums, and vocal. The way it all started. Their threads are bare. The strings are dead and plucked to death. The pig gut drums are slashed and damp, and the broken ’49 wooden gibson guitar looks like it smoked 3 packs of cigarettes last night. The Legendary Brothers have re-emerged from their heavy canvas blankets and will give you a show to remember.
CLOWN RIVER