Otis Taylor

Taylor returned to music in 1995, and as of 2008, has released nine blues albums on several record labels. His music tends to focus on the hard realities of life, especially relating to the black community. Some common themes in his music are murder, racism, poverty, and the need for redemption. To date, Taylor has eleven Blues Music Awards nominations while White African was named 'Best Artist Debut'. Down Beat magazine critics' Poll named Taylor's Truth is Not Fiction as Blues CD of the Year for 2002. Living Blues readers' poll awarded Taylor (along with Etta James) the "Best Blues Entertainer" title in 2004. Down Beat named Taylor's Double V as Blues CD of the Year for 2005. Down Beat named Definition of a Circle as Blues CD of the Year for 2007. They also then named Recapturing the Banjo as "Blues CD of the Year, 2008." His 2008 effort, Recapturing the Banjo, was an attempt to reconnect himself and the world with the true African origins of the banjo. "There may not be," claimed Down Beat in a review, "a better roots album released this year or decade than Recapturing the Banjo." Taylor was the support act on Gary Moore's 2007/8/9 European tours and played on his last album. In May 2009, Taylor won a Blues Music Award for his banjo playing. He held the first Trance Blues Festival in Boulder, Colorado in November 2010.