Nolan Taylor

One Liner: Soulful, bluesy country from a dude who apparently can only exist in the woods.

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, bluesy country
Home: Blanchester, OH

Saturday

Thoughts:  My guy sort of looks like that Oliver Anthony goofball with the "I hate when poor people can buy cookies" song.  Grew up in a tiny town in Ohio, with an estranged mom battling addiction and mental health.  One profile I read gave this background: "He discovered The Grateful Dead through his dad and developed an appreciation for Pinegrove. Throughout junior high, he studied classic MTV Unplugged concerts by the likes of Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana. Even though he primarily focused on wrestling, working out, football, and baseball, he finally picked up a left-handed guitar in high school. After graduating, he spent years gigging around West Virginia, Virginia, and Kentucky, playing anywhere and everywhere. In 2023, a video of Nolan performing “68” in the woods went viral with 2.6 million YouTube views on the Radio WV YouTube Channel."  I don't know what Pinegrove is. But that is a good story of perseverance and working hard.

That "68" song is still his top tune with 4.1 million streams.

Playin' in the holler!  That sounds freaking lovely until he kicks it in and starts yelling.  I hadn't really thought about left-handed guitars as being a thing, but now it looks weird to see him hold it that way.  And a brutal song - I need my wife to hear it about her sister who is always using her.  So much emotion in that song.  Wow.

Sometimes, his voice does a little bit of that pop voice that the ladies use, and it bugs me.  But overall, he's got a really nice voice.  No real albums, just singles until 2023's Life & Love EP.  None of those songs have done a ton on streaming, so I'll give you a different 2023 single with 871k streams.  "Wicked Ways."

Is he allowed to go inside, or is he somehow required to only be in the woods?  Almost more of a blues song than a country song, but again, his voice is the big draw there.  Much less memorable on the lyrics than the first one up above, just a relatively basic love song.

I like it.  Not the best thing on the poster or anything, but these are good songs and well played.