A hundred yards from Wil Taylor’s cabin at the foot of a mountain in the Cherokee National Forest, you can smell the wood smoke wafting from the structure’s chimney.  Fifty yards from the cabin, you can hear the sounds of a banjo and harmonica drifting down the Washington County, Tennessee hollow.

            The tall, lean 68-year-old mountain man with closely cropped gray hair comes to the door, and you immediately have to ask him about his music.

            “I guess it’s a combination of folk and mountain music with gospel and bluegrass mixed in,” says Taylor.  “I’ve been trying to get it right for 25 years, and I’m not quite there yet.”

            Taylor credits three legends for inspiring him to be a musician.

            “Pete Segar and the Weavers were on the radio back in the 1950s, and they started folk music probably more than anyone else,” continues Taylor.  “Chet Atkins used his thumb to carry the music, and I use my thumb to carry mine.  But nobody can do it like Chet.  And Earl Scruggs had more than anyone to do with popularizing bluegrass – more than even Bill Monroe.”

            Taylor has composed a number of songs for his albums, among his favorites is “Windmills.”

“What you sow you also reap,

So if you plant beans you're gonna get beans,

If you plant beans you don't get cotton.

If you plant good thoughts of peace and love,

You're gonna get what's good and not what's rotten!”

            Another favorite song is “The Blacksmith,” which honors his grandpa’s profession and also helps Taylor proclaim his deep religious faith.  Also deeply meaningful to him is “Thank You” which is a paean to the Lord.

For more information: www.wiltaylor.com; banjo@xtn.net