In addition to being a singer/songwriter, Taylor is an accomplished studio musician and producer, recently played piano for James Taylor and Keb' Mo' for a live radio show...
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New CD on the way! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/taylormesple/elusive-taylor-mesples-cd-launch-brand-makeover
In-Depth Songwriter Bio
As a songwriter Taylor Mesple is currently working with fellow artists that are covering his material including Kerrville Folk Festival winner John McVey, one of Taylor's favorite artists and producers... and of course working on more original material of his own. Taylor has released 4 CD's of his own, and helped create hundreds for other artists. Taylor has long been recognized as a singer of progressive pop/contemporary jazz/fusion music- and is currently pursuing writing songs in a more "storyteller" vein.
Taylor's songs are inspired by artists like Bruce Hornsby, Russell Ferrante, Jonatha Brooke, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Peter Mayer, Richard Page, Patrick Leonard, Eric Johnson, Kevin Gilbert, Billy Collins and Pat Metheny.
This is Taylor's songwriting page. To give an idea of the big picture: (visit www.TaylorMesple.com for other facets of his career)
Taylor Mesple has played on over 110 CD's since he became a full time musician at age 13. He now keeps busy as a studio keyboardist/vocalist/producer and lives in New England. He has done special promotional projects or commercials for Kurzweil and Korg keyboards (he's an artist endorsee for both), and was recently asked to be an American Idol regional judge. "Ha!", Taylor says. Taylor has had great mentors on the piano such as Russell Ferrante from Yellowjackets and Bruce Hornsby, who took him under their wing when he was a young musician. Now Taylor is recording with some of the world's finest studio musicians, such as Tim Pierce, Abe Laboriel Jr., Mel Brown, Howard Levy, Peter Mayer and others. He has played live shows with James Taylor, Keb' Mo, Phil Keaggy, Indigo Girls, and plays regularly with Jersey shore legend Bill Chinnock who now hails from New England. Taylor is humbled to stand in big shoes, and is grateful for how many of his musical heroes he's gotten to collaborate with over the years.
Taylor co-produced the title track to Nelson Rangell's "Always" CD, on which he played piano and sang as well. This song reached the Billboard top 20 on the contemporary jazz charts, along with other tracks Taylor played on with Wind Machine. His latest instrumental CD, "Songs for Autumn" is a nice return to his contemporary jazz roots, and features inspired collaborations with people like harmonica virtuoso Howard Levy, guitarist Peter Mayer and saxophonist Darren Rahn.
As a vocalist, Taylor studied with world renowned vocal coach Dr. L. Scott Martin from Academy of the Arts, and has sung on many pop, folk and jazz records over many years, including singing with legends like Winston Ford and Rachael Lampa. His own CD's of his vocal music have done especially well in Sweden, Denmark and Germany, and is frequently compared to Marc Jordan, Richard Page, Jonatha Brooke and Kevin Gilbert over there. His vocal music is reminiscent of Sting, Peter Gabriel, Bruce Hornsby and Richard Page.
Taylor enjoys being a husband and father of 2 young kids, riding motorcycles, and of course, making a lot of good music.
A brief little BIO
Multi instrumentalist, producer and artist Taylor Mesple was slated to be the debut artist for "Invision Records", an idealistic label that never got off the ground. The label's A+R department included Taylor's piano mentor Russell Ferrante from Yellowjackets. Apparently the investors pulled their funding at the last minute, right before the contract was signed... because they got cold feet about the artist centered vision of the label, which endeavored (in concept) to allow artists creative freedom and livable percentages.
Since then, Taylor has recorded with some of the world's finest musicians (Abe Laboriel Jr., Howard Levy, Peter Mayer, Tim Pierce, Mel Brown and Nelson Rangell, to name a few). Taylor is called "one of my favorite artists" by Russell Ferrante (Yellowjackets) and has been given a nod of approval from the likes of Bruce Hornsby and Eric Johnson.
A series of near misses to "fame"? Perhaps. But Taylor has played on or produced over 110 CD's since his full time music career began at at 13. Taylor owns www.AffordableDemos.com and is currently producing over 80 songs for various indie artists around the country, for both demos and commercial CD's. Taylor's own artistry is varied and rich. "Victory Land" (2002) is in the genre of Sting/Hornsby/Peter Gabriel and "Songs for Autumn" is in the genre of Metheny/Yellowjackets/Pat Leonard. Both CD's have done well overseas- particularly Sweden, Denmark and Germany.