Eric Taylor is one of the few artists I’ve ever seen with a greatness that wreathes about him as he takes the stage, no matter what size the venue. An audience instinctively knows to shut up and pay attention. This is a man who takes the art of songwriting – and the art of performance – seriously. And, at the end of the set, the audience will have been transported some place and back again. Eric Taylor doesn’t just make you feel the sun and taste the dust of Texas, he takes you places and puts you inside people’s minds. From prison inmates trying to fathom the jumble of their lives to little kids watching their family implode, Eric Taylor makes it real. Aspiring – and accomplished – songwriters leave Eric Taylor shows shaking their heads in awe. And well they should.
Lyle Lovett
I’m always the opening act when I’m around Eric. I love his voice, and he has a great narrative quality and sense of detail. He sort of takes you out of your own reality and into the reality of his songs. It’s good writing no matter how you cut it.
Steve Earle
He’s the real deal. Eric Taylor was one my heroes and teachers when I started playing around Houston in the early 1970s.
photo: Chris McFall
Eric Taylor came on stage at the Maze in Nottingham without any ceremony. He started a little blues riff on his blond acoustic guitar (a beautiful-sounding, handmade 'Ross-Kinscherff'). He played for his audience but never to the crowd. He didn't look for cliched climaxes or manufactured endings. It was always an intimate gig, a reflective affair, an evening for devotees...I went with a couple of players, guys who know the mysteries of dadgad, who understand a little about the merits of a B string dropped down to A and the quiet craft of a good song well written. They stood either side of me and looked mean if they thought I was going to be critical in any way. They kept pointing out things, making sure I understood; they wanted the man looked after. Eric Taylor seems to inspire that sort of devotion, that sort of affection, that sort of regard; like he is an endangered species -- maybe he is.
photo: Birgit Ernst
I think Eric Taylor is one of the best writers working today. He has his own voice and his own vision. His arrange-ments on Resurrect are beautifully sparse, only what’s needed is there. His lyrics are equally spare and right to the point. He is Texas, but he doesn’t drag the whole state behind him or wave it like a banner. My girlfriend made the mistake of lending me Resurrect and now she know’s she’ll never get it back.
Nanci Griffith
Eric Taylor’s work always garners praise from me. Resurrect is 11 stars for 11 songs of marvelous integrity in timeless storytelling. If you miss an opportunity to hear Eric Taylor in concert you have missed a chance to hear a voice I consider the William Faulkner of songwriting in our current time, and you will miss the rare opportunity to watch the hands of one of America’s most unusual guitarists, with lyrics that will nail your heart to your ear and mind. For me to say that Eric Taylor is one of the finest writers of our time is an understatement.
Joan Baez
Eric Taylor....a very gifted songwriter. It was a high point for me performing "Strong Enough For Two" with him at the Newport Folk Festival. Hope to work more with him.
Mike Lance, Grey's Pub (Brighton, UK)
One of the best acts I've ever put on at The Greys -- in 20 years of promoting there. The whole place looks forward to his next trip over.
photo: Birgit Ernst
Eric did a great show....His fans will drive from great distance and in nasty weather to see him.
Rob Adams, The Herald (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Eric Taylor got a five-star review in this paper recently, only because the arts editor doesn't let us go
up to 10.
Performing Songwriter Magazine
Eric Taylor has resurfaced as one of Texas’ most revered songsmiths. His songs play in your head like poignant soundtracks with vivid real-life images.
Brum Beat Magazine
Here is a master impressionist. Taylor’s novelistic style of writing allows him to stand shoulder to shoulder with those Texas born literary giants, Larry McMurtry and Cormac McCarthy.
Mike Paget, U.U. Coffeehouse (Columbia, SC)
We get to watch a fair number of talents in this labor-of-love, and occasionally those talents show their genius. Eric was a genius Saturday night.
Acoustic Guitar Magazine
If there’s anything better than Nanci Griffith or Lyle Lovett singing an Eric Taylor tune, It’s Taylor singing it himself...he’s one of those songwriters that has the ability to plop you down in the middle of a story or a situation and make you care that you’re there.
Vin Scelsa, WNEW WXRK New York City
Listening to his record reminds how I felt when I first encountered fellow Texan Guy Clark’s classic, Old No. 1,....that I am in the presence of a uniquely American voice.
No Depression Magazine
His lines and melodies have the concision of the blues, his stories never indulge in ephemeral confessions, they feel necessary, composed somehow from fragments of every man and woman’s story.....distinct as cinema verite.
The Nashville Tennessean
Taylor released the astounding Shameless Love album in 1981 and then left the music business. In 1995, Taylor resurfaced with an excellent self-titled album. Lovett sang harmonies. Three years later he released a masterpiece called Resurrect. One of the finest records of the decade. Taylor has spent the beginning of September 2000 completing a new album called Scuffletown, a batch of songs that stand with anything he’s done, which means anything most anyone has done.
The Oxford American
In the past four years Eric Taylor has released two collections of songs that stand up to and apart from the finest work of (Townes) Van Zandt and (Guy) Clark. Resurrect is the latest such masterpiece...Even taken alone, without the stark but beautiful settings, Taylor’s images, language, and characters are staggering.
The Houston Chronicle
A man cleans himself up and comes back to the light of day in due time, and Taylor’s career is truly in a resurrect mode. With Resurrect he now has an album that captures his longstanding style with a round of poetic new songs...we hear beauty, we see love, redemption, and the light of day.
Arthur Wood, founding editor of Folkwax
Simply said, Eric Taylor is an American treasure.