WOODSTOCK
TAYLOR BIOGRAPHY
British songwriter
Woodstock Taylor
sharpened her
skills at workshops
with Kinks leader
Ray Davies.
Her intelligent
and melodic
songs are now
attracting attention
worldwide.
A former child
singer and bar-room
pianist, Woodstock
had an early
success in 1990
with her unaccompanied
protest song,
Sweet FA, which
was picked up
by BBC Radio
One and used
in a documentary
about Politics
and Pop, presented
by Billy Bragg.
She took up
the guitar in
1994 and was
soon gigging
regularly around
the acoustic
songwriter circuit
and festivals
in Scotland
and Southern
England, as
well as opening
for a variety
of well-known
artists. Woodstock
Taylor's songs
have also been
heard on four
out of the BBC's
five terrestrial
radio stations,
plus the World
Service and
BBC Radio Scotland.
Her debut album,
Road Movie,
was produced
by 60s blues
hero Zoot Money
and featured
an all-star
lineup of UK
bluesmen including
Cream lyricist
Pete Brown.
A follow-up
is in pre-production
with the same
team.
Recently Woodstock's
songs have been
gaining new
fans online
with high chart
placings around
the web including
a seven-month
stint at No.
1 in a user-voted
Blues chart
at one music
site. In addition,
many of her
tracks have
been included
on independently
released compilation
CDs in the UK,
Europe and the
USA, and her
music has been
featured on
a growing number
of podcasts.
Summer 2005
saw a new string
added to Woody's
bow as she donned
sequins and
glitter for
three cabaret
shows a night
as part of Assembly
Theatre's Edinburgh
Fringe programme,
and the start
of 2006 has
seen her joining
forces with
classic British
R&B outfit
GoodMoney (formerly
Thunderclap)
as a backing
vocalist and
featured artist.
The past few
months have
included well-received
solo appearances
at a number
of London venues
as well as a
co-starring
as a 1920s nightclub
singer in a
critically acclaimed
musical play
at the Edinburgh
Fringe and then
in London.
Woodstock has
appeared as
a guest vocalist
on Viennese
musician Richard
Kapp's albums,
Watering Cans
(2004) and A
Tie For Free
(2006), and
collaborated
with various
international
artists including
producer and
songwriter Peter
Kearns in New
Zealand as well
as the electronic
composer and
producer Patric
Bakkenist in
the Netherlands.
Closer to home
she has been
working both
live and in
the studio with
the bandleader
and former Placebo
keyboard player
Xavior Roide
on several of
his London-based
projects.
A new 7-track
mini-album,
Sweet F A, reprises
the song which
began it all,
both in a capella
form and also
remixed as a
dance track.
All money raised
goes through
the Sound Aid
project to Heifer
International's
work tackling
world hunger.
In between
performing and
recording commitments
Woody has a
busy voice
coaching
practice.
"Fine
quality songs"
– The
Scotsman
"a
fine balance
between rock/pop
tradition and
inventive lunacy!"
- Garageband
review
“Settle
down to the
moody blues
songs of Woodstock
Taylor, whose
dark husky voice
is reminiscent
of Carly Simon
and Hazel O'Connor.”
- edinburghguide.com