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Singer-writer changes with wind |
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Singer-writer changes with wind
Homestead grad worked many jobs before tuning up
By Gregg Bender, The Journal Gazette
Cathie Rowand/The Journal Gazette
Sun, Jul. 16, 2006
Maybe a career in journalism just wasn’t in the cards for local musician Matt Taylor.
The 1988 Homestead High School graduate, track star, Spartana editor and outstanding journalism award winner went off to college surely thinking this might be his future. But after graduating from Butler University with a radio and television emphasis and taking a job with a local production studio putting together commercials and training videos, Taylor had second thoughts.
So it was back off to college, Ball State University this time, to get a teaching degree.
“I thought I would teach journalism,” Taylor said.
Matt Taylor performs at Deer Park Lodge on Monday. Taylor is a 1988 Homestead High School graduate who has degrees from Butler University and Ball State University. He also served in the Peace Corps, spending time in Ukraine. He ended up back in Fort Wayne, playing and writing music.
Cathie Rowand/The Journal Gazette
So he got a job teaching junior high at a school inLubbock, Texas, then entered the Peace Corps – spending time in Ukraine – and came back to the States, where he taught high school on an American Indian reservation in southern Arizona.
So, where does the music part of the story come in?
Taylor explains that immediately after college, while working at the production studio, he picked up the guitar for the first time.
“I was bored, living at home, working and had a friend who could play. I thought, ‘I can do that,’ ” he said.
“So I started playing, learning songs, just for a hobby,” he said.
At first,Taylor just played for friends, around campfires and at parties, but he was getting steady affirmation that he had a good sound. He was also writing and recording his music throughout this period and decided to move back to Fort Wayne to give the music a chance, he said.
“I quit my teaching job in Arizona and came back in 2002 to try this,” he said. “I didn’t intend to do it full time but soon realized I could make a living at it.”
Taylor got steady gigs, one at Ernie’s Classic Steakhouse and Hideaway, which burned down in 2004, and at Bill’s Bistro (now Mid City Grill) and other places in town, which has kept him busy since.
Taylor says he plays about four times a week at local nightspots, parties, events and other forums. (Check Friday’s Weekender in The Journal Gazette for listings.) His music is an eclectic mix of ’60s, ’70s and ’80s tunes that “kind of fades out around the early ’90s,” he said.
And although he says his biggest influences are Simon and Garfunkel, John Denver, Yes and others from that genre, expect to hear most anything from Grand Funk Railroad to James Taylor in his diverse set list.
You’ll also hear originals thrown in from his latest CD, “Subject to the Wind,” probably an apropos title for a compilation given Taylor’s background.
“I recorded it with the help of local musicians John Forbing and Brian Lemert, who are two talented guys I’ve been privileged to be associated with,” he said.
Taylor said these days his goals are different than when he first started on this road four years ago.
“I’m trying to get my music into other markets. One of my songs, ‘Talk to the Animals,’ will be on a compilation CD, and I will be getting royalties on that,” he said. He also said he is applying again for another stint in the Peace Corps.
“As for the long-term, music will always be a big part of my life, but I don’t know if I will be able to continue it as a career,” he said.
“I’m proud of what I’ve achieved. … Not many get to play for a living. But there is no reason to make it something it wasn’t supposed to be.”
Gregg Bender is a graphic designer at The Journal Gazette and a guitar player who occasionally plays in local establishments. His profiles of local musicians appear Sundays. E-mail him at
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© 2006 Journal Gazette and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.fortwayne.com
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