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If we've come to learn anything over the years, it's that the term Americana can't truly be defined.
Seemingly serving as a catch-all for artists that don't have "enough" country, rock, folk or whatever else to be considered in that format, the genre has evolved and expanded to host a wide swath of sounds and styles.
Under the Americana umbrella, somewhere between Appalachian folk and grunge punk, you can find the one and only Nolan Taylor.
A dynamic talent with cutting lyrics and an endearing authenticity, Taylor took to the Poncho Stage at the inaugural Dreamy Draw Festival on Saturday evening by storm, supplying an hour-long set of his contemplative and stirring tunes.
Unafraid of delving into dark and heavy topics in his music, Taylor shared: "I write a lot of songs about drug addiction, suicide and things like that, because those are things that I live with and have dealt with my whole life." What followed was the bluesy heater 'Okay', written from the perspective of loving someone with a drug addition and pleading with them to stop.
@hollercountry We can’t get enough of that voice! ❤️🔥 @Nolan Taylor Music hit the Poncho Stage yesterday at Dreamy Draw Festival 2023, delivering a performance to remember ✨ #nolantaylor #dreamydrawfest #countrymusic ♬ original sound - Holler
This was the crux of Taylor's set, and much of his music at large, which also included the rambling 'Wichita', the more light-hearted 'Wicked Ways', the gut-wrenching 'Brokenness' and his most recent release, the explosive 'Life/Love'.
"This is my first time ever playing in Arizona so this is really new and very cool!" noted the Ohio native. "In 2018, I tried out for The Voice and made it pretty far, actually. I went to Open Call but didn't take it too seriously. Everybody was drinking tea and honey and I was smoking Marlboro's. I wasn't really too smart about it but they passed me on to the second round."
Explaining how he was sent on to the third round in LA, but ultimately didn't make the cut, he told the crowd how he went home and wrote a little number called '500', which shortly thereafter went viral and kickstarted his career as a singer-songwriter.
Delivering a pitch perfect performance of the career-defining tune, the crowd melted into the palm of Nolan Taylor's hand and begged for more.
For more on Dreamy Draw 2023, see below:
