They say you can’t go home again, but guitarist Joe Taylor would beg to differ. The South Carolina native returned to the Palmetto State after decades in New York City and hasn’t missed a beat. Now he feels like he’s coming home again, with a date: Aug. 19 at Music On The Mountain at The Homestead. “The fellas and I are really looking forward to it,” he says of himself and his bandmates. “We love the place.”
Guitarist Joe Taylor has received many accolades over the course of his career, from praise by his peers to consideration for a Grammy award. Perhaps none mean more to him than being called “a funky mix of Jeff Beck and Chet Atkins” by The Mississippi Press. “That’s very flattering,” says Taylor from his South Carolina home. “Both Chet Atkins and Jeff Beck, not being singers, played guitar as a vocalist. Like me, it became a way to express (music) in a vocal fashion.” Taylor will perform Aug. 21 at The Homestead as part of its Music on the Mountain Series. He will be bringing the core players from the new album with him: pianist Jeff Franzel, drummer Ray Marchica and bassist Paul Adamy. They came to the recording session with specific instructions from Taylor: they could bring riffs and ideas, but the songs would be written in the studio by the quartet.
This summer, the sounds of blues, bluegrass, pop, reggae, rock and jazz will once again fill the air at The Homestead. The popular Music on the Mountain series is returning for the first time since before the pandemic. The shows will take place at 7 p.m. on alternate Thursdays, beginning July 10 with the Luke Winslow-King duo. They will take place at the top of Bay Mountain, the resort’s ski hill. Patrons can ride the ski lift to the top. The backdrop, with the sun setting behind the sparkling waters of Sleeping Bear Bay, is like no other in the area.