All artists go through a period of running away from their roots, but most seem to go back in that direction eventually. Ben Taylor, for example, has spent long stretches of his career seemingly keeping his artistic distance from his famous parents - James Taylor and Carly Simon.
Recent years, however, have found him pursuing a musical course very much in keeping with his folk-singing lineage. And now he's on the road with his dad for the first time, a tour coming to Raleigh on Saturday.
We caught up with the younger Taylor by phone from a tour stop in Indianapolis.
Q: Were you hesitant about doing this?
I wouldn't say hesitant, but certainly reticent and also respectful of how sophisticated musically his show is. So I wanted to be sure I could keep up before I jumped out the back of the truck and hit the ground running. I'm not sure I've actually attained that level of readiness, but I'm as close as I'm ever gonna be. It just seems like it's organically happening at the right time. I taught myself to play guitar with the old man's songs because his music was (a) what I was most familiar with and (b) what I was most fond of. It also helped that it's in my range and I could sing it properly.
Q: Do you open the show, and how much do you play together?
I didn't know what to expect, and he's been generous enough to organize it as a completely integrated set. There are a couple more of his songs than mine, and I keep gunning for us doing one or two more of his. The crowds are mostly his people, obviously, and he's got so many well-recognized and loved songs. I feel like there are songs of his we just can't not play. But he's been just amazingly gracious. He plays and sings on mine, too, and I play and sing on his. We've got a couple of real nice two-part harmony things, some two-guitar duets, and a bunch with the full band.
Q: Are there plans to record together?
We'll see what happens. This is really the first time he and I have seriously worked together. The first few shows have been good, but yeah, it is a little like jumping off that bus and having to hit the ground running. We're beginning to coast along, the set sounds good and the response has been phenomenal.
Q: Given the shambles the record industry is in, with sales down so much, is it difficult to find motivation to record album projects?
I'm not disappointed in the state of the industry. As a matter of fact, all the upheaval and imbalance is dumping the whole thing in a direction I'm more comfortable with anyway. One of the nicest things about coming from where I do is, when I started making noise about getting into the business, my parents were extremely realistic about it. They told me, "This is a blue-collar job; don't be fooled into thinking it's anything else. You have to work extremely hard, and be grateful to those who patronize the music you make. Don't do this unless you love it." Part of loving the music is getting it out there, testing it on people who may be your listeners.
Q: Whose idea was it for you to cover Macy Gray's "I Try"?
That was from my buddy David Saw. He and I do acoustic covers of songs that are a lot more produced. Sade's "By Your Side" is one, and this really pretty acoustic version of Snoop Dogg's "Sensual Seduction." And he said, "Macy Gray's 'I Try' is right on your zone." So we recorded it right then, on a one-mic setup in my mom's living room. The first time we made it all the way through it is the one we posted. We tried to record it again about 70 times before we finally went back to the first one. That always happens. No matter what you're trying to do, make it tighter or cleaner, replacing the magic of freshness almost never works.
Q: The back porch video you made for "Nothing I Can Do" seems like that, too.
That was the same exact thing, but more about location. My friends Liz and Ken came over with their camera and shot that, then we did a bunch more at various places outside. And after trying it again and again, we went back to that, which is one of the first three takes. It's like that in the studio, too. Young cats, no matter how good we are, we always second-guess ourselves and think we can do better. But the old-school pros know. They'll get in the studio, play it once and say, "It's not gonna get much better than that."
Q: By contrast, the video you did for "Wicked Way" is pretty high-tech - a series of models' faces morphing into each other, singing the song.
That one was a digital masterpiece by Patrick Anderson. People are always trying to get me to make proper videos, but I find it difficult to act like myself in front of a camera. And it would have been especially hard on that song, which is very tongue-in-cheek and sarcastic. I don't know how I could've done it without being uncomfortable. Then Patrick said, "What if we got a lot of beautiful models to sing it for you?" Great! So one agency's branch of their models all came in and it was amazing. If all videos were like that, I'd be jumping out of the gate to make more of them.
