The second solo record from Maria Taylor, Lynn Teeter Flower CD, is out now and shipping from the online store, where you can also sample two new tracks from the record.
Maria's US tour began on March 1 and continues through April 7. Full dates are listed below. Check out one of the shows if you can!
Maria Taylor - Lynn Teeter Flower
The first time Maria Taylor’s graceful voice was heard through our speakers, we knew it was love at first listen. On Azure Ray’s 2001 debut, she sang with a knowledge and a weariness that made us trust and believe her words, fragile tones fragmented through soft acoustic strumming and velvety textures. Skip forward four short years later to when Maria set off on her own for a while, resulting in the stunning solo album called 11:11. A critical smash that wrapped her now-familiar voice in everything from acoustic folk to electronic dream pop, the album established Maria as a master storyteller with a flare for perfect, harmony-soaked melodies. To follow up a stunning debut, Maria has put together another glimmering collection of songs in the shape of her second solo record, Lynn Teeter Flower.
The songs for Lynn Teeter Flower, an album named after a family friend in Maria’s native Birmingham, Alabama, were written in between tours for 11:11. The collection reveals a woman settling very well into her role as a solo artist, peeling back some of the layers of the last album to reveal a more organic sound, one that resembled the hundreds of shows she had done all over the globe in support of 11:11 over the course of the last year. She began her new recording sessions with Spoon’s drummer Jim Eno in Austin, hopped over to Athens to record four more tracks with Now It’s Overhead’s Andy LeMaster (who worked on 11:11), and then ended up in Memphis to work with Doug Easley (Cat Power, Pavement). The record sees contributions from Maria’s brother and sister – bassist Macey Taylor and keyboardist Kate Taylor, both of whom played in her live band, as well as Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst, who co-wrote and sings on “The Ballad of Sean Foley.”
With Lynn Teeter Flower, Maria Taylor is taking her songcraft to new heights, mixing together soaring guitars, bubbly electronics, feathery farfisa organs and sugary layers of vocals into the sweetest confection of an album you’ll hear all year. Opener “A Good Start” is propelled by a vicious groove, setting the tone for an album more influenced by rhythm, very possibly the result of one of Maria’s favorite hobbies: playing the drums. “Smile and Wave” weaves a bed of “Strawberry Fields”-esque mellotron with ribbons of Maria’s rich voice, while “My Own Fault” strips everything down to a sparse drum machine, a dry electric guitar and a seasick organ mingling with Maria’s lament. “Irish Goodbye” picks up where 11:11’s “One for the Stockholder” left off, dancing in a place where acoustic guitars mix effortlessly with a crisp electronic beat, and “Lost Time,” with its lone acoustic guitar, melancholy piano and plaintive vocal, reminds us of some of the moments that made us entranced by Maria Taylor in the first place: a voice as smooth and sweet as honey spinning marvelous, insightful tales of the world around us with much aplomb. As far as we’re concerned, that’s certainly something worth falling for.
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Maria Taylor- US Spring 2007
Wed-Mar-07, Orlando, FL, The Social
Thu-Mar-08, St. Augustine, FL, Café 11
Fri-Mar-09, Athens, GA, Caledonia Lounge
Sat-Mar-10, Birmingham, AL, Bottletree
Mon-Mar-12, Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
Tue-Mar-13, Charlottesville, VA, Satellite Ballroom
Wed-Mar-14, Washington, DC, Rock and Roll Hotel
Thu-Mar-15, Philadelphia, PA, First Unitarian Church
Fri-Mar-16, New York, NY, Mercury Lounge
Sat-Mar-17, Brooklyn, NY, Southpaw
Sun-Mar-18, Cambridge, MA, T.T. the Bears
Tue-Mar-20, Buffalo, NY, Mohawk
Wed-Mar-21, Toronto, ONT, Horseshoe Tavern
Thu-Mar-22, Gambier, OH, Kenyon College
Fri-Mar-23, Chicago, IL, Beat Kitchen
Sat-Mar-24, Minneapolis, MN, Triple Rock
Tue-Mar-27, Seattle, WA, Tractor Tavern
Wed-Mar-28, Portland, OR, Doug Fir
Fri-Mar-30, San Francisco, CA, Bottom of the Hill
Sat-Mar-31, Los Angeles, CA, The Echo
Sun-Apr-01, San Diego, CA, Che Café
Tue-Apr-03, Phoenix, AZ, Modified
Thu-Apr-05, Salt Lake City, UT, Kilby Court
Fri-Apr-06, Denver, CO, High Dive
Sat-Apr-07, Omaha, NE, Sokol Underground
Check the tours page at saddle-creek.com for updates.
Maria's US tour began on March 1 and continues through April 7. Full dates are listed below. Check out one of the shows if you can!
Maria Taylor - Lynn Teeter Flower
The first time Maria Taylor’s graceful voice was heard through our speakers, we knew it was love at first listen. On Azure Ray’s 2001 debut, she sang with a knowledge and a weariness that made us trust and believe her words, fragile tones fragmented through soft acoustic strumming and velvety textures. Skip forward four short years later to when Maria set off on her own for a while, resulting in the stunning solo album called 11:11. A critical smash that wrapped her now-familiar voice in everything from acoustic folk to electronic dream pop, the album established Maria as a master storyteller with a flare for perfect, harmony-soaked melodies. To follow up a stunning debut, Maria has put together another glimmering collection of songs in the shape of her second solo record, Lynn Teeter Flower.
The songs for Lynn Teeter Flower, an album named after a family friend in Maria’s native Birmingham, Alabama, were written in between tours for 11:11. The collection reveals a woman settling very well into her role as a solo artist, peeling back some of the layers of the last album to reveal a more organic sound, one that resembled the hundreds of shows she had done all over the globe in support of 11:11 over the course of the last year. She began her new recording sessions with Spoon’s drummer Jim Eno in Austin, hopped over to Athens to record four more tracks with Now It’s Overhead’s Andy LeMaster (who worked on 11:11), and then ended up in Memphis to work with Doug Easley (Cat Power, Pavement). The record sees contributions from Maria’s brother and sister – bassist Macey Taylor and keyboardist Kate Taylor, both of whom played in her live band, as well as Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst, who co-wrote and sings on “The Ballad of Sean Foley.”
With Lynn Teeter Flower, Maria Taylor is taking her songcraft to new heights, mixing together soaring guitars, bubbly electronics, feathery farfisa organs and sugary layers of vocals into the sweetest confection of an album you’ll hear all year. Opener “A Good Start” is propelled by a vicious groove, setting the tone for an album more influenced by rhythm, very possibly the result of one of Maria’s favorite hobbies: playing the drums. “Smile and Wave” weaves a bed of “Strawberry Fields”-esque mellotron with ribbons of Maria’s rich voice, while “My Own Fault” strips everything down to a sparse drum machine, a dry electric guitar and a seasick organ mingling with Maria’s lament. “Irish Goodbye” picks up where 11:11’s “One for the Stockholder” left off, dancing in a place where acoustic guitars mix effortlessly with a crisp electronic beat, and “Lost Time,” with its lone acoustic guitar, melancholy piano and plaintive vocal, reminds us of some of the moments that made us entranced by Maria Taylor in the first place: a voice as smooth and sweet as honey spinning marvelous, insightful tales of the world around us with much aplomb. As far as we’re concerned, that’s certainly something worth falling for.
--------------------
Maria Taylor- US Spring 2007
Wed-Mar-07, Orlando, FL, The Social
Thu-Mar-08, St. Augustine, FL, Café 11
Fri-Mar-09, Athens, GA, Caledonia Lounge
Sat-Mar-10, Birmingham, AL, Bottletree
Mon-Mar-12, Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
Tue-Mar-13, Charlottesville, VA, Satellite Ballroom
Wed-Mar-14, Washington, DC, Rock and Roll Hotel
Thu-Mar-15, Philadelphia, PA, First Unitarian Church
Fri-Mar-16, New York, NY, Mercury Lounge
Sat-Mar-17, Brooklyn, NY, Southpaw
Sun-Mar-18, Cambridge, MA, T.T. the Bears
Tue-Mar-20, Buffalo, NY, Mohawk
Wed-Mar-21, Toronto, ONT, Horseshoe Tavern
Thu-Mar-22, Gambier, OH, Kenyon College
Fri-Mar-23, Chicago, IL, Beat Kitchen
Sat-Mar-24, Minneapolis, MN, Triple Rock
Tue-Mar-27, Seattle, WA, Tractor Tavern
Wed-Mar-28, Portland, OR, Doug Fir
Fri-Mar-30, San Francisco, CA, Bottom of the Hill
Sat-Mar-31, Los Angeles, CA, The Echo
Sun-Apr-01, San Diego, CA, Che Café
Tue-Apr-03, Phoenix, AZ, Modified
Thu-Apr-05, Salt Lake City, UT, Kilby Court
Fri-Apr-06, Denver, CO, High Dive
Sat-Apr-07, Omaha, NE, Sokol Underground
Check the tours page at saddle-creek.com for updates.
