Jesusfreakhideout.com Music News, February 2008: BEC RECORDINGS SIGNS PROGRESSIVE POP SONGWRITER CHRIS TAYLOR

BEC RECORDINGS SIGNS PROGRESSIVE POP SONGWRITER CHRIS TAYLOR
Take Me Anywhere April 15th Debut Molds Modern Worship and Independent Rock

NEWS SOURCE: Overture Media
February 28, 2008

SEATTLE, WA…February 28, 2008…BEC Recordings is thrilled to introduce newcomer Chris Taylor and his April 15th debut release Take Me Anywhere. This 27-year-old Floridian is thrilled to have found a label home at BEC and to release his deep worship-meets-progressive pop debut. Taylor’s music is about human wandering, God’s pursuit, and the conversations that develop.

Raised in the beachfront town of Destin, Chris Taylor remembers an idyllic childhood made possible by hard-working parents who managed vacation rental properties. At the young age of 13, his mom bought him a guitar to cheer him up after a hard day at school. This was the beginning of a lifelong musical journey. After accepting Christ two years later, Chris began leading worship for his youth group followed by a trek to England after high school and college where he interned in worship ministry at Soul Survivor church. There he met worship leader and songwriter Matt Redman (“The Heart of Worship”) and was dramatically humbled by the authenticity of his faith.

“I actually stopped leading worship for awhile after that experience,” he says. “It was great, but truth be told, I went there to get a pat on the back, to find value in what I was doing. Then I was so convicted by what I learned from Matt’s testimony. He had gone through such dark times, and I had just envied his success. So if it meant being quiet for the rest of my life, to even begin to approach that level of sincerity, I was ready to do it.”

It was this time of silence that Chris began to dig into his songwriting and theology. He soon met producer Allen Salmon (Mute Math, Sanctus Real) and after a two-hour session he had recorded “Take Me Anywhere,” the title track and shivery pop cut layered with echoing harmonies.

“That’s the song that took me anywhere,” laughs Taylor. “I have sung it at church many times, and now it’s the first radio single. The lyrics remind me of the men who met Jesus on the road to Emmaus. They weren’t looking for him at that moment, but after the encounter, their hearts were burning, and it changed the course of their lives.” It was after recording the title track that he found the partnership with BEC Recordings in Seattle.

Stylistically, Chris is right when he says, “all these songs are worship songs.” Each one is made distinct by Taylor’s poetic imagery and a pure singing voice that one journalist praised for its “innate sensitivity.”

Chris Taylor will be heading out on the Kutless Acoustic Tour beginning March 6th in Minneapolis, MN. For more info on Chris Taylor and his debut, go to: http://www.myspace.com/christaylorband.

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