chris taylor

Quiet Power
Chris Taylor is one of those people whose story seems to follow a path that actually makes sense. You know, his mom gave him a guitar, he spent hours in his room before playing for kids at school and being well-received, moved on to leading worship at youth group, the main church service, and finally he heads to the UK to participate in one of Soul Survivor’s six month music/worship courses. The best laid plans of mice and men, and in this case, God. Taylor just kept putting one foot in front of the other and ended up becoming a fresh, talented worshipper with something significant to say.

There’s a strong Paul Simon component to his work, in terms of both vocals and story-telling capacity. Produced by and backed by the equally talented Stu Green on bass, keyboards and guitars, “Lights on the Unseen” captures a sense of clarity and focus that is moving and exciting. Maybe it’s the sense of progression that runs through Taylor’s own story but his CD carries the same feeling of forward movement. His strong vocals shine over the gentle acoustic instrumentation. Guitars and keyboards sparkle like grace notes under the intelligent lyrics, which are delivered with passion restrained by what seems to be an innate sensitivity. Take special note of “Gethsemane,” illustrating exactly this unique combination of tranquility and power. All the more impressive when you consider his relative youth. It leaves me with the feeling that we’ll be hearing much more of Chris Taylor as he continues to put one foot in front of the other on this God-ward path. -- Kevan Breitinger


- Kevan Breitinger/grassrootsmusic

Reviewed by Chris Sharp

Not the famed Chris Taylor who once sang with Love Coma and has had some critically acclaimed solo albums these last few years. This Chris Taylor hails from Florida's gulf coast and this debut is very impressive. Apparently after starting his musical career performing to schoolmates, he found his way across the pond to attend one of Soul Survivor's Soultime courses. Here he met Stu Green of Salient Sound who has masterfully produced this recording. Kicking off with the catchy "Lights On Guitar Strings" the artist sets off immediately to show a full range of emotion and yet at the same time control which permeates the rest of this acoustic pop/rock album. There is much here that reminds me of Paul Simon, in particular the laid back "Girl, Your Love", for me the standout track. This album is full of strong melodies and intelligent lyrics sensitively delivered. The vocals have a clarity and relaxed nature that is so easy to get wrapped up in listening to that it's easy to overlook the understated and yet quality instrumentation that manages to match the mood of each track perfectly. In places, the guitar work in particular brings to mind works of Phil Keaggy, the ability to play just the right thing at exactly the right moment. This is inspiring stuff and I hope that we'll hear much more of Chris in the future. though he might want to consider a new recording name.

- Chris Sharp/ Cross Rhythms