Willy Tea Taylor Video “Win This One” (The Tomboy Sessions, Santa Cruz, CA)

TJ West (Turnstyled Junkpiled Magazine) first premiered a video from The Tomboy Sessions in May of last year with The Brothers Comatose City Painted Gold. Now we’re happy to be premiering another Tomboy Sessions video, Willy Tea Taylor’s Win This One.

The Tomboy Sessions is a live music video series made in Santa Cruz, California. The series features handcrafted Americana and roots music performed by touring and local bands. Videos are shot in Tomboy, a unique and intimate vintage Western store, during normal business hours. Bands record two songs per session.

Mischa Gasch, owner of entertainment agency TourMore, started the Tomboy Sessions in the spring of 2016 to bring national attention to the Santa Cruz music scene and give renowned bands one more good reason to make sure Santa Cruz is on their tour schedule. Gasch told us they chose Willy Tea Taylor to participate because, “He’s such a great artist and has lots of friends and fans here in Santa Cruz. He plays a handful of shows every year down here and people love his honest and handcrafted music. He fits perfect for our Tomboy Session Music Video series!”

Willy Tea Taylor began pursuing music at the age of 18 when a set by Greg Brown at the Strawberry Music Festival inspired him. Taylor comes from a long line of cattlemen and he grew up and still resides in the “Cowboy Capital of the World” Oakdale, California. A founding member (and frontman) of The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit, Taylor has two solo albums under his belt, 4 Strings (2011) and Knuckleball Prime (2015). 

I first caught Willy Tea Taylor at a Grand Ole Echo show in Los Angeles in 2015. I had never heard of the artist and when I caught his set I was mesmerized. A poet and storyteller, Taylor’s heartfelt lyrics are backed by solid musicianship and warm, melodic vocals.   

His last album, Knuckleball Prime was produced in Nashville by Michael Witcher (Dwight Yoakam, Dolly Parton) and included stellar musicians; Benmont Tench of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Gabe Witcher and Noam Pikelny of The Punch Brothers, Sara Watkins, Andrew Combs, and pedal steel guitarist Greg Liesz among others. 

Taylor has been keeping busy by spending time on the road since the album released sharing a tour with pop musician, Brett Dennen and playing shows alongside Jaime Wyatt, Moonsville Collective, and Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen. In July he announced that he is partnering with Out on the Rise booking agency and will be touring the Scandinavian countries later this year and the rest of Europe in 2018.  http://willyteataylor.com/