about

Born and raised in Atlanta, GA, Will Taylor is a singer, songwriter and musician. Surprisingly, despite his family’s reputation for being avid concert goers, Will’s failed attempts to clap on beat or sing in tune as a child were a routine source of comedy. However, he always display extraordinary creativity and an interest in music that inspired him to take guitar lessons at 10 years old. After flunking the lessons, he pawned his guitar. It wasn’t until he was fourteen that he accidentally discovered something had changed. Unusual circumstances had pushed him onto the stage during a worship service. Expected to lead a crowd in song, he gave his best efforts. Astonished, he was invited back to lead every week. A few weeks in, after feeling unsure of where to put his hands on stage, he gave guitar another try. Two weeks later he was singing and playing it on stage. A few more weeks and original songs started pouring from his heart. “Calling it a gift would be an understatement, because it felt like God had literally just let it fall in my lap. I’d play and sing and simultaneously look down and think, ‘how am I even doing this?’ What’s even funnier is, I don’t even think I was very good. But the potential and passion were there, and that’s all I needed to take it the rest of the way,” says Will.

In 2006 Will Taylor released his first album, Pages of Poets, at age 16 on iTunes. Produced by Scotty Wilbanks (Third Day), it featured 5 soft snappy songs with delightfully vulnerable lyrics and a raw acoustic rock vibe. Will honed in on his unique raspy tenor sound while studying voice under Roger Beal, one of the top sought after commercial vocal coaches in Atlanta. Meanwhile, he was gaining experience being invited to play at various churches and events in the southeast, providing a source of income that covered his living expenses while attending The University of Georgia. After graduating early in 2010, he went on to study leadership at and lead crowds of thousands in worship at the year’s fastest growing and 40th largest church in America as deemed by Outreach Magazine. In 2013, Will Taylor’s second album, a three track EP appropriately titled “Three Songs,” was released on iTunes and Spotify. It continued to showcase his ability to write catchy melodies with thoughtfully honest lyrics, sung with a dynamic voice tapped into a deep well of honest emotions. Backed with the sound of a full band this time, the songs received favorable reception and replay on 104.7 FM, aka “Atlanta’s favorite Alternative Rock station.” He was later invited to privately audition for American television show, “The Voice.”

Around that time, somewhat unwillingly, he stopped singing, playing, and songwriting altogether. Unbeknownst to him, he had been quietly suffering from growing obsessive compulsive thoughts and behaviors for as long as he could remember, followed by increasingly immobilizing bouts of depression. Will recounts, “once I finally ran out of circumstances to logically pin it all on, I was left with the idea that something just wasn’t right… this wasn’t just some unwanted, pesky personality quirk or trait. So I literally became obsessed with fixing it. But then, the harder I tried the worse I got.” Untreated and utterly confused by his own behavior, he lost the ability to perform basic required functions in life. “I couldn’t hide my symptoms very well if I wanted to at that point. I was essentially useless and it showed. That actually turned out to be a really good thing… because when someone forced me to get the type of help that, eventually did lead to effective treatment, I was ironically too apathetic to argue with them about it, ha.”

Years later, with an even larger emotional color palette to draw from and a vocal range expanding to new highs, Will Taylor is enjoying being able to make new music again. He and his loving bride tied the knot in 2016 and share their home with their two dogs,  “Capo” and “Madam Curie.” He is available for booking for churches, weddings, and private gatherings.