Taylor Wagner

Taylor Wagner, a 2010 Mattoon High School Graduate....with such inspirations as Miranda Lambert and Gavin Degraw... has taken up singing and songwriting and has much to show for it. This summer she has taken home several top finishes in talent show and music contests.
One of the first was taking top honors at the MHS talent show. In addition she won the Moweaqua Pow Wow Days Talent Show, the Peoria Star Singing Contest at the Heart of Illinois Fair, Macoupin County Fair and more.
Another win was a top finish at the Colgate Country Showdown in Quincy.
When she first started performing in public it was difficult, Wagner admitted. ..."With anything, the more you do it the easier it is," she said. "It's not hard now, .. I love being on stage"
She has written several songs and has a demo CD available on her website. Her favorite two songs she's written are "Cheater on the Loose" and "Black and Blue". Once all the background instruments are finalized for "Black and Blue", she said, that will most likely be her favorite original piece.
The rewarding aspect for the young songwriter is when other people know her songs. "It's really cool that I created it, and other people are singing it," she said. Ultimately, she likes seeing people coming to her shows and enjoying the entertainment.
For the last two years, Wagner has had the opportunity to play at the legendary Tootsie's in downtown Nashville. This year she played at Rippys and Legends in Nashville, as well.
How does playing in Nashville compare to playing back home? Wagner said it was a lot of fun to play in Nashville, but different. She was amazed at the bands that played behind her.
"The bands would just play songs that you wrote without ever hearing it," she said. "I didn't know how they could do that. They were great musicians."
She said she would tell them what key and a few chords, and they would take it from there. Everything was much louder and the speakers were much different that having your own, she said, adding that it was harder, but fun.
Also, Wagner has played at area attractions including the Findlay Walleye Festival, Jibby's, Common Grounds, Jackson Avenue Coffee, and Jeleniz.
She is headed to Nashville this month to study music business at Belmont University....
- Journal Gazette

New country's voice Taylor Leigh Wagner, native from Mattoon, IL was born on November 20, 1991. She's already building a name in the business and she has already released a demo with 8 original songs. Her voice resembles the great Miranda Lambert, but with an incredible sincerity and pureness. You can find her YouTube channel HERE. I had this interview stored for a while and I don't know why, she is so interesting! She tried for Idol once, and she should definitely try again, plus she is very sweet!

*How would you define yourself as an artist?
I would define myself as an artist who loves writing songs that other people can relate to. I write my songs about what's really happening either in my life or in people's lives around me that I see. It's amazing to put these real life experiences into songs and I love when people can say "that is exactly what I'm going through right now!"


*I can see you are a very country girl. Have you ever imagined yourself in a different style?
Actually, yes I have. I also really like pop music so I used to envision myself as more of that kind of artist. Over the past year and a half though, I’ve really started loving everything about country music. So now I see myself as a mixture of both- country/pop J

*How long have you been playing guitar/singing?/Do you play any other instrument?
I've been playing guitar since January of 2009. I've been singing publicly since January of 2009 too but I've sung around my house for my whole life. I was just too shy to sing in front of people until last year. I used to get really nervous and get hives and everything! But now I absolutely love being on stage performing! I play piano too and I've been playing that for 10 years. It's taught me a lot about music.

*Who would you name as your biggest influence?
Although my music doesn't sound like theirs, there are two people who continue to inspire me and move me with every song I hear. First, is Prince. His music is what made me fall in love with music in the first place. So I've been looking up to him since I was a little girl. And also, I would have to say Gavin DeGraw is a huge influence for me right now. With every single one of his songs, I just feel totally at home and I can feel the music, ya know? Like I said, my music doesn't sound like theirs, but they are definitely my two favorite artists.

*Have you ever been in a studio? Have you recorded an album/EP?
Yes, I've been in a studio a couple times. It's such a cool experience! I have a demo right now with 8 songs on it and I hope to record a little more over the summer.

*While in Nashville, did you met anyone connected to the music busnisses/any celebrity?
Yes, I met quite a few people in Nashville. I met some very popular songwriters. Some of those songwriters I met include: *Brett James- He has written “The Truth” sung by Jason Aldean, “Life After You” sung by Chris Daughtry, “The Man I Want To Be” sung by Chris Young, and many other very popular hits *Dennis Matkosky- He wrote the hit song “Red Light” sung by David Nail *Odie Blackmon- He wrote the song “I May Hate Myself In The Morning” sung by Lee Ann Womack *Tia Sillers- She wrote “I Hope You Dance” also sung by Lee Ann Womack *I also met Jonathan Cain- He is part of Journey and wrote the extremely popular song “Don’t Stop Believing” * I met so many amazing songwriters who taught me a lot about music and writing songs. It was great to have that experience

*What is your favourite song of yours? What does it mean to you?
I can think of 3 songs that I have written that stick out in my mind. It’s hard to pick one because they all have different meanings. “No More” is one of them because it is so true. I will be moving to Nashville in just a couple short months and I won’t have what I used to have while I was a little girl. So this song just expresses what I’m going through as far as moving is concerned. “High School Superstar” is one because that one I think a lot of people can relate to. I described a girl that really does go to my school and I’m sure a lot of people have someone just like that at their school. So it’s an easily relatable song. The third one I would pick is “Don’t Talk To Me” I chose this one because I wrote it while thinking about how mad I can get at some people and the song came straight from that feeling. So I know it’s very true. And of course, other people get mad at people, so this song is one that a lot of people would be able to sing if they wanted to get their anger out. It definitely helped with mine.

*What is the best advice someone ever given to you?
The best advice someone has given to me was when I was talking about my music and how I wanted to go all out and do everything I can for people to hear my music and get my songs on the radio, etc. They told me that that's great and everything but to remember to do this for the love of music, not for the goal of becoming famous. I think that's great advice. Because once you have the wrong goal in mind, nothing will fall into place. But if I just let my love and passion for music drive me, I'll be unstoppable.

- Music is the Door