There is no question that Willy Tea Taylor’s life as a singer/songwriter was predetermined – his role realized the moment he wrote his first song. In it for the song, the hang, and the sounds he draws from his little, tenor guitar, Willy drew his inspiration from grainy videos he watched of the true visionaries of his genre: Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, Steve Young and Guy Clark, sitting around Clark’s little kitchen table loaded down with ashtrays full of butts and half-smoked cigarettes, food, and booze on one Christmas Eve in 1975. Those guys, swapping songs without pretense, was what lit Willy Tea’s fire. Ever since, that’s been his passion – finding that hang and curating relationships through musical friendships that get him to his version of that night.
Willy Tea Taylor is back in style on the new single, “National Treasure”, the lead track from his forthcoming LP release, Great Western Hangover. The song is rich in low-end groove and fueled by locomotive guitar lines and tasty lyrical wit. Tracked live and co-produced by Taylor Kingman and Tyler Thompson of TK & The Holy Know-Nothings, the song is an exciting glimpse into what is to come on his first full-length record since the critically acclaimed 2015 release, Knuckleball Prime. We can positively certify, that Willy Tea Taylor is a bonafide national treasure.
“I was introduced to this woman living on a farm, who was fixing up the carburetor on her Kawasaki, a wood bowl half turned in a lathe, had John Prine playing on the record player, Jim Harrison books all over, feathers all around, …and just thought, damn what a national treasure.”
