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TC Taylor
Dancehall Revival
Palo Duro Records 806820-0201-2
By Marianne Ebertowski
 It is always a great
pleasure for me to welcome a straight ahead country release to
my CD-player. It doesn't happen very often. Not only because
they're hard to get over here in Europe, but because they seem
to have become a bit of a rarity anyway. Young Texan TC Taylor
took me by surpise with his debut album Dancehall Revival.
Mr Taylor is 31 years old, grew up in Central Texas, has a truely
divine voice, a golden pen and great looks. He even dons an
impeccably white cowboy hat. So, what could possibly stop this
young man from conquering country radio and the country charts?
Well, I could think of a thing or two, but I hope I'm wrong.
With this album and the single "Mexican Radio" featured
on it, he deserves to chase a few hat acts out of their comfortable
Nashville saddles and take over the reins.
Taylor has written most of the material himself, or shared
co-write credits with his manager Michael Mahler who also contributes
soaring background vocals to the mix. The album features an
exclusively Texan crew of musicians, including celebrities like
Asleep At The Wheel's fiddler Jason Roberts, former AATW's dobro
player and steel guitarist Cindy Cashdollar and Dony Wynn of
Brooks&Dunn fame on drums and percussion. The production
falls to the experienced hands of Eric Paul, a three-time Grammy
Award nominee who worked wonders for Emmylou Harris, Willie
Nelson and Townes Van Zandt. Dancehall Revival was born,
as a proud Mr Taylor likes to announce himself, at the Bismeaux
Studio and the Hit Shack in Austin.
So, what's the particular charm of Dancehall Revival ?
First of all, it's the mixture of Mexican influenced songs,
honky-tonk and the sort of exquisite ballads that can be expected
from experienced songwriters like James Ingram or Steve Wariner
delivered with a voice which lingers somewhere between Elvis,
Roy Orbison and Dwight Yoakam.
Taylor is an excellent ballad singer and proves that with
the opening song "I Will Wait," a David Gantes and
Billy Dean composition, accompanied by Larry Chaney's stunning
guitar playing. It gets better with "Tequila," a great
drinking song written by Taylor/Mahler where the singer finds
himself in some Mexican gutter after swallowing down "that
little worm (which) is causing me such pain." Accordeon
player David Lee Garza from San Antonio seems to have picked
him up gently before worse things could have happened and Asleep
At The Wheel fiddler Jason Roberts does his very best to save
the Gringo from a jealous Mexican husband.
After this Mexican adenture TC Taylor returns to a very Texan
bedroom where "she's crying" whereas "he's in
a bar." This song, from the pens of Jimmy Stewart and Chuck
Cannon, with mournful steel guitar introduction by Cashdollar,
is a country classic or at least should be. It describes the
well-known situation where "she needs a shoulder and he
needs to hold her," but - well, he stays in that bar and
she keeps crying in that bedroom. Even the barkeeper can't help,
because "they don't talk to each other - they're no longer
lovers."
What else rests to do than go honky tonking with "Go
Tell Papa" ("that his little girl ain't coming home
tonight") with, again, sweeping accordeon by David Lee Garza
and some stunning dobro provided by Steve Palousek. And if that
doesn't move people to the dancefloor, I'm quite sure "Mexican
Radio" will. It's a great fiddle-driven dancing song, complete
with Spanish guitar and accordeon, where the singer wants to
take his date somewhere nice, but unfortuately his truck blows
up. Luckily enough the radio still works and thanks to Mexican
radio and Mexican beer everything turns into a party nevertheless.
The title track "Dancehall Revival" is not the wild
honky tonker one might expect, but a nostalgic ballad reminiscing
Taylor's grandparents' dancehall in Temple, TX. Kudos, again,
for Cindy Cashdollar's wonderful musicianship, this time as a
dobro player.
After that, Taylor stays in the ballad mood, which is bit
on the soft side for my rougher taste, but, hell, the boy can
sing! "Spilled Perfume" sounds rather polished and
mainstream, maybe an intentional nod to Nashville radio rather
than Mexican radio, and the same could be said about "I
Can't," a tasteful break-up song delivered in great vocal
style. After this excursion into mainstream country territory,
Taylor rides the Mexican/Texan trail again with his own composition
"Cowboy Hat" which has Jason Roberts fiddling his
devilish tunes to scenes of seduction in sad motel rooms.
Taylor says his goodbyes with another smooth self-written
ballad: "Trail of Tears" where the character of the
song suddenly finds himself a single father decided to follow
the trail of tears his wife left behind. I think I could have
done without this rather sugary ending, but nine out of ten is
still a pretty good score. With Dancehall Revival TC
Taylor has turned in a very impressive debut album. Does this
mean that Taylor will be showered with CMA-awards in the future?
Something tells me that won't happen, but that shouldn't discourage
him. TC Taylor has enough talent and personality to outlast
many of the current hat acts. Keep it country, TC.
www.palodurorecords.com
www.tctaylor.com
Contact Marianne Ebertowski at ebertowski-at-rockzilla.net
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