Otis Taylor performs his song “Nasty Letter” in this music video recorded in the SecondStoryGarage.com studio inside the newsroom at the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colorado.
Otis Taylor plays loose as a way to pinpoint that place where the soul lives. When he plays guitar and sings, it’s as if he allows everything to fall away except for the essential thing to be expressed. You could almost call it a trance.
The blues musician is one of the cultural treasures of Boulder, but locals are not alone in appreciating his value. His music has been featured on TV shows and movies, including “Public Enemies.” He has received praise from national media outlets, such as Rolling Stone and The New Yorker, and his awards shelf is getting full. That’s why “Boulder blues legend” often precedes his name.
Taylor surprised us in the studio with a song he wrote years ago about our videographer, Paul Aiken. The two met at a party and Taylor decided to write a song about Aiken’s heart problems. It’s called “Be My Frankenstein,” and it was used at the end of the Mark Wahlberg flick “Shooter.” Taylor’s song “Nasty Letter,” which he also played for us, appears on the “Shooter” soundtrack.
He also broke out the banjo for “Yellow Car, Yellow Dog,” and, during his interview with Quentin, talked about the instrument’s history.
You can check out Taylor live, along with a crew of talented musicians friends, during his third annual Trance Blues Jam Festival, Nov. 1-2. For more info, go to trancebluesfestival.com.
What he brought us: An invite to jam at the Trance Blues Fest. We can’t put in on a shelf, unless you count the shelves in our hearts.
Otis Taylor performs his song “Yellow Car, Yellow Dog” in this music video recorded in the SecondStoryGarage.com studio inside the newsroom at the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colorado: secondstorygara...
Otis Taylor performs his song “Nasty Letter” in this music video recorded in the SecondStoryGarage.com studio inside the newsroom at the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colorado: secondstorygara...
Otis Taylor performs his song “Be My Frakenstein” in this music video recorded in the SecondStoryGarage.com studio inside the newsroom at the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colorado: secondstorygara...
Otis Taylor chats with SecondStoryGarage.com host Quentin Young in this video interview recorded in our studio inside the newsroom at the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colorado: secondstorygara...
Sign up. Don’t miss out! Sign up for the Second Story Garage newsletter to keep up with music news - show announcements, ticket sales information, previews, interviews and more. Sign up here: eepurl.com/mzbMX