Mike taylor Music Bio

About Mike's Music

"This ain't karaoke!"

Mike is a one-man-band, with the emphasis on

band

Big sound is what it's all about. Couple live guitar (or

keyboard, or mandolin) with pre-recorded/synthesized instruments like organ, brass, drums, and bass...and

you have some pretty good music. Run it all through a concert quality sound system...and it's phenomenal!

Most folks are in disbelief when they work their way through a crowd to find only one person creating all

this sound. They'd have sworn it was a 4 or 5 piece band. Many are so convinced by Mike's sound that they

can't believe they haven't been listening to an original recording!

Professionalism, reliability, and consistency of performance are all hallmarks of Mike's approach toward the

music business. Primarily performing covers of classic rock favorites spanning the 60's through 90's, he

strives to duplicate the sounds of the original recordings with little interpretation. Unlike many amateur

bands, he stays far away from the "jam session" approach and chooses a more polished format where songs

more fluidly flow. Masterful arranging of the synthesized background ensures that songs start and end with

precision. This allows Mike to be able to organize musical sets for more steady movement from song to song

and less "dead air".

Mike Taylor is an extremely talented guitarist. Having begun playing in 1969, he has many years of

experience with guitar, as well as, bass, keyboards, mandolin, drums, and percussion. In a typical

performance he'll incorporate six-string acoustic and electric guitar styles and sometimes even some

twelve-string acoustic or mandolin. He has a powerful, pleasing vocal style with a broad range. During some

songs his voice is backed up by an electronic vocal harmonizer, or even his own voice via DAW audio tracks,

which adds additional vocal parts to give the impression there are multiple voices. If space permits at the

particular venue he will usually perform some songs on keyboard.

"This ain't karaoke!"

Why?

Because everything you hear at a Mike Taylor performance

was

played by Mike. The background of

each song is assembled by Mike at home, kind of like multi track recording. He uses keyboard to lay down

each part, one by one (with the exception of the drum/percussion parts which are played on an electronic

drum set and recorded). The parts are layered one on top of the other so they sound like many different

people playing at once. To call this karaoke is like referring to a Yes concert as an "open mic night"!

America

Rolling Stones

Beatles

Allman Brothers

The Guess Who

Joe Jackson

Squeeze

Led Zeppelin

Chicago

Yes

Aerosmith

Police

Eric Clapton

The Rascals

Boz Scaggs

Jimmy Buffet

Steely Dan

Alice Cooper

Moody Blues

Pink Floyd

Thin Lizzy

James Taylor

Genesis

Talking Heads

Doors

The Band

Blood Sweat and Tears

Bachman-Turner Overdrive

Kiss

Jimi Hendrix

Traffic

John Mayer

Neil Young

Deep Purple

Greatful Dead

Dire Straights

Hall & Oates

Doobie Brothers

Temptations

Supertramp

Cars

Styx

Steve Winwood

Earth Wind & Fire

R.E.M.

.....and many others, including a ton of "one-hit wonders".