Biography

There is no question that Willy Tea Taylor’s life as a singer/songwriter was predetermined - his role realized the moment he wrote his first song. In it for the song, the hang, and the sounds he draws from his little, tenor guitar, Willy drew his inspiration from grainy videos he watched of the true visionaries of his genre: Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, Steve Young and Guy Clark, sitting around Clark’s little kitchen table loaded down with ash trays full of butts and half-smoked cigarettes, food, and booze on one Christmas Eve in 1975. Those guys, swapping songs without pretense, was what lit Willy Tea’s fire. Ever since, that’s been his passion - finding that hang and curating relationships through musical friendships that get him to his version of that night. Willy Tea Taylor, the son of a cattleman, was born and raised in the “Cowboy Capital of the World”, Oakdale, California. In the past year or so, after thousands of miles driven and countless songs written and played, he has suddenly and rightfully found himself standing shoulder to shoulder in the ranks of today’s great Alt-Country musicians. From his early days co-fronting The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit, to singing solo in countless cowboy bars, Willy Tea has never lost the vision of what he knew could be. And now with The Fellership or solo, Willy Tea Taylor, he has taken his version of that hero hang on the road.