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Grain for Good / Lost and Found / Gear Up for the Holidays / Remembering Nanci / Growing the Family / Pop Goes Acoustic / Have Taylor, Will Travel / News From Nashville / The Wood&Steel Playlist / Win a GS Mini

Lost and Found

Gear Up for the Holidays

We’re fast approaching the holiday season, and you know what that means: the Taylor Guitars Holiday Gift Guide is here. Packed with recommendations for guitars and accessories that will make for truly memorable gifts this season, the guide features our favorite guitars from the Taylor line arranged by budget so that you know exactly what to look for at your price level when you head to the music shop.

Have Taylor, Will Travel

Every day, our guitars find their way into hands all around the globe. Our international Taylor artist roster has grown substantially this year to include new musicians from a wide swath of genres and styles, supplying more proof that there’s a Taylor for every job.

Among the newcomers is innovative fingerstyle guitarist Natee Chaiwut, who’s been making waves in his home town of Bangkok, Thailand. Chaiwut’s dynamic style blends fretboard slaps, two-hand tapping and intricate arpeggios into a propulsive acoustic sound. He recently filmed a solo performance on his new GT 811e. You can scan the QR code and watch him flex his chops.

Scranton, Pennsylvania punk-rockers Tigers Jaw have also joined the Taylor fold, just in time for their latest album, I Won’t Care How You Remember Me. The album carries on the band’s signature alt-punk sound, blending acoustic elements with driving rhythms and overdriven guitars to great effect. Founding member and lead guitarist Ben Walsh recently stopped by the new Russo’s Music location in Philadelphia to share acoustic versions of a couple tracks from the new album, performing on his 814ce.

Non-cutaway versions of our Grand Auditorium guitars are proving to be popular in Nashville. The guitar community tends to be consistent in their tastes, gravitating toward non-cutaway body shapes, classic tonewoods like mahogany and rosewood, simple appointments and darker tops, including sunburst, black or vintage amber-tinted spruce….Niko Moon’s guitarist, Jared Martin, is one of several players who have recently taken to the 514. He’s currently playing it out on the road as an opener on Lady A’s “What A Song Can Do” tour… Big Machine artist Conner Smith is busy on the road radio touring with his AD17e Blacktop.

The Summer NAMM Show, held in Nashville in July, certainly was different than previous years, but members of our artist relations team enjoyed lots of great visits with local musicians, including singer-songwriter Brock Gonyea, who fell in love with the new 818 and will be taking one on the road later this year when he’s out as the opening act on Dolly Parton’s stadium tour. Our team also met with some fantastic Taylor players like worship artist Jon Reddick and Florida-based YouTuber Dovydas.

Want to Win a GS Mini?

We’re happy to offer Wood&Steel readers the chance to win a new GS Mini. These solid-topped, ultra-portable guitars are among our most popular models and offer players of all levels a compact and fun-to-play option for practice, songwriting and performance. All you need to do is complete a short survey and tell us what you think of Wood&Steel.

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Beatie Wolfe / Taylor in Primetime / Original Grain / GT Love / Universal Vibrations / Folk Alliance / Manchester Orchestra

Beatie Wolfe: From Green to Red to the Nobel Prize Summit

British singer-songwriter and musical innovator Beatie Wolfe (324ce, 110e) has devoted her career to changing how people engage with art and music. Her passion for creating immersive new formats for making and experiencing music lies not just in songwriting and recording, but in using those inventive musical forms to explore important issues and preserve our sense of humanity. In the past, she’s performed from inside an anechoic chamber (a room designed to absorb all sound waves), beamed her music into deep space, and designed the first 360-degree augmented reality experience to visualize her album Raw Space.

Recently, Wolfe was invited to appear at the inaugural Nobel Prize Summit, held as a virtual event April 26-28, 2021. The event, themed “Our Planet, Our Future,” assembled thinkers, artists and leaders from around the world to innovate solutions to the problem of global climate change as they explored the question, “What can be achieved in this decade to put the world on a path to a more sustainable, more prosperous future for all of humanity?” 

The event tackled environmental issues along with challenges such as inequality and the role of technology—two questions intricately entwined with the larger crisis of the changing climate. Wolfe was invited to perform and speak on a panel related to urban wood and the declining canopy in cities around the world. (Not surprisingly, she is an outspoken proponent of Taylor’s urban wood initiative.) Her appearance culminated in a musical performance accompanied by a data visualization that illustrates the rapid acceleration of greenhouse gas emissions in recent decades. Powered by data from NASA, the animation visually presents a planetary timeline that tracks the last 800,000 years, creating a more accessible context to relate to a deeply complex problem.

Wolfe and her musical art piece, titled “From Green to Red,” were introduced by Nobel Prize laureate and decorated physicist Robert Woodrow Wilson, who had previously helped Wolfe beam her album into space from the Holmdel Horn Antenna in New Jersey—the same antenna where Wilson and Arno Penzias discovered cosmic microwave background radiation for the first time. 

Wolfe called her work an “environmental protest piece,” designed to give the audience a deeper understanding of the impact of human behavior on the planet.

Taylor Thrives in Primetime

Those who have been following Taylor for the past year or so are probably aware of Taylor Primetime, our weekly series of live interviews broadcast over YouTube. Primetime has been a source of inspiration and entertainment, and with the second season of the show well underway, we’ve talked with Brian Collins about making it as an indie musician, our own Bob Taylor about how robots can help us build guitars, and “Invisible Guitarist” Paul Pesco about his career as a session musician.  

In April, we hosted Mark Moore, a supervisor in our milling department, to get the details on what happens with our tonewoods in that part of the factory. Earlier, we talked with factory expert Mike Venezia about how players can explore new sounds and tonal flavors with their acoustic guitars and discover a distinctive individual style.

Each week, Taylor hosts Jay Parkin, Lindsay Love-Bivens and Andy Lund bring you fresh interviews, rapid-fire audience Q&As, and more, so be sure to stop by our YouTube channel every Tuesday evening at 6:00 pm Pacific time and get in on the fun. 

Going with the Grain

Earlier this year, we launched a partnership with local San Diego watchmaker Original Grain to design and produce a limited-edition run of Taylor-branded timepieces incorporating our Crelicam ebony and Urban Ash tonewoods. Original Grain specializes in watches that feature real wood in the face, bezel and other elements, and each design is crafted using wood and other materials with an interesting backstory. The Taylor watches they created—featuring ebony’s dark hue and the chocolatey brown of Urban Ash set off by abalone dial faces and the Taylor peghead silhouette—exceeded all expectations in both craftsmanship and consumer demand.

  

The first run of 300 watches sold out quickly in February, prompting us to renew the partnership with a second order triple the size of the first. The project even got some buzz on local TV news when Scott Paul (our Director of Natural Resource Sustainability) and Original Grain co-founder Ryan Beltran were interviewed by KUSI San Diego. 

The best part? Proceeds from the timepieces go in part to two organizations working toward admirable causes: Guitars4Vets, which distributes guitars and provides lessons for military veterans coping with PTSD and other mental health issues, as well as Tree San Diego, which works to restore, grow and protect the urban tree canopy of San Diego County. The first phase of the project garnered over $12,000 for the two organizations. 

In June, Guitars4Vets will be hosting a graduation ceremony for eight local veterans, where they’ll be presented with their own Taylor guitars aboard the USS Midway at downtown San Diego’s Embarcadero. If you’re interested in learning more about the watches and maybe purchasing your own, head to OriginalGrain.com. 

More Love for the Taylor GT

After the release of the latest branches of the growing GT family—the rosewood/spruce GT 811e and the all-koa GT K21e—reviewers were anxious to get their hands on them and test out these new versions of our reduced-scale, all-solid-wood acoustic guitar. The pair shares the new, compact body style with the original GTe Urban Ash, this time with new tonewood combinations in keeping with the established 800 and Koa Series from our standard line. 

Writing about the GT 811e for UK’s Guitarist magazine, David Mead called the GT 811e a “revelation,” one that adds “an extra gear or two” to the tonal possibilities offered by the GTe Urban Ash.  

“We weren’t prepared for how much fun it is to play and how adaptable it is to various styles of music,” Mead writes. “We tried some fingerpicked blues, strummed chords, fingerstyle acoustic and the 811e batted everything back to us with multilingual dexterity.” 

He likewise commented on the relaxed feel common to all GT models, thanks to their shorter-than-standard scale length and compact body, which help bring the player’s hands closer together for a more intimate, accommodating feel. 

“The reduced scale length…produces the slinkier feel of a drop-tuned instrument,” he says, “while enhancing the playing experience overall.” 

In other parts of the web, Peghead Nation got a chance to review the GT K21e after playing the GT 811e earlier in the year. Having heard both guitars, reviewer Teja Gerken drew a useful comparison, noting the sonic richness and texture of the koa version. 

“I found that it had an extra dose of warmth and tonal complexity,” he says. “Though I tend to favor spruce tops over hardwood tops like koa or mahogany, I had to admit that in this case, the koa top yielded a more sophisticated tonality.”  

Gerken also took time to play the GT K21e through an acoustic amplifier, giving the onboard ES2 electronics a chance to shine in the context of the new, smaller body shape.  

“Plugging the guitar into a Fishman amp yielded an excellent amplified voice that is likely to be indistinguishable from full-size Taylors with the same electronics,” Gerken writes.  

After more plaudits about the GT’s playability and feel, Gerken wrapped his review with a lovely summation of the GT K21e, calling it a perfect option for discerning players. 

“Players looking for a beautiful guitar with a sophisticated character and contemporary tonality while being incredibly easy to play won’t need to look any further,” he concludes, “as this latest Grand Theater checks off all the boxes!” 

Guitar Girl Magazine also got in on the GT love, running an interview in mid-April with Lindsay Love-Bivens, Taylor’s Artist & Community Relations Manager. Lindsay shared her experiences with the GT guitars, noting their unique blend of portability and playability with high-end craftsmanship. 

“You’re seeing a lot of professional players and nonprofessional players alike that want smaller guitars,” Lindsay said. “And yet, they don’t want to compromise the tone or the full-body experience that you get with these bigger-body guitars. And so someone that’s looking for a really high-end smaller body guitar—this is it.” 

Universal Vibrations

Ed. Note: Earlier this year, Taylor owner and recent college grad Tate Ward reached out to us to share what his Big Baby guitar meant to him. A couple of email exchanges later, we agreed that it would be fun for him to interview the person who gave him the guitar — Ed Roland, the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the band Collective Soul — and discuss how Roland became passionate about guitars and sharing the gift of music with others.   

I met singer, songwriter and guitarist Ed Roland from the band Collective Soul when I was a kid. His son Lindsey and I consider ourselves cousins (it’s a long story). Ed is family first, both in and out of music. For him, the band is a family. Throughout his life, music — and guitars — have been a gift that he both received and has been happy to share with others. I would know; Ed saw my interest in guitar when I was a kid, and then one day, a package arrived at my front door. Inside was the coolest gift I’ve ever received: a Taylor Big Baby guitar.  

During the extended downtime of the pandemic, I had a chance to talk with Ed about gifts, family, guitar culture and the vibrations that make up the universe.  

You gave me a Taylor guitar when I was a kid. What prompted you to do that?  

It’ll stay with you the rest of your life… I grew up in a musical family. My mom played the piano; my dad was operatically trained. Bono said, “Learn three chords, take over the world.” I say learn three chords and enjoy life.  

How did you get your first guitar?  

A friend of mine, Terry Hamilton, gave it to me. I told him one day I wanted to learn to play, and he came in the next day and gave me a guitar. The next summer I worked painting fences to earn enough money to buy an electric, and once I had enough money, my parents saw I was serious about it and paid for it. So, my first acoustic was from my friend, and my first electric was from my parents.  

How did you learn to play?  

[Terry] gave me a song book of Elvis songs. They showed you how to finger the chords…it was trial and error for two or three months. It took off from there.  

It sounds like your parents were supportive of you playing guitar.  

Very supportive. I was allowed to stay up as late as I wanted to practice guitar as long as I didn’t complain when I got up in the morning.  

What made you want to play?  

I played clarinet, [but] I wanted something a little louder…I remember seeing a picture of Paul McCartney with a guitar when he was in the band Wings and thinking, man that looks cool, that’s what I’ll do, I’ll take up the guitar.  

What’s it been like being in a band with your brother?  

I couldn’t imagine being in a band without him…. It makes it easier to have your family and friends out on the road with you. You don’t get as homesick. You actually get homesick when you’re at home because you miss your pals.   

I know your son Lindsey is involved in music. Is keeping music in the family something that’s important to you?  

What’s important for me is for my children to be happy… if they wanna do music, great, but this is their gig now. Whatever they want to do, I’ll support them however much they’ll let me.  

Do you think music can give a connection to people that you couldn’t get otherwise?  

One hundred percent. It has a language of its own. We’ve played places where we didn’t understand their language and they didn’t understand ours, but we played music and, you know, it becomes vibrations. That’s what we’re made up of, the whole galaxy is made up of vibrations.  

I’m from Kentucky, and the guitar is an important part of Kentucky culture. Would you say the same is true for Georgia?  

Georgia has a very diverse culture…there are a lot of great guitar stores here, so I’d like to think so! If I was to say what resonates with the state of Georgia, it would be more football. I’d like to think guitar was up there, but I don’t think anything would beat football.  

How has the coronavirus impacted the band?  

Well, I mean, we’ve been shut down for a year. We’ve done a couple of shows, and we had to be very careful. It’s like everyone else — we’re trying to be responsible and respectful. We’re kinda stuck, but we’ve made good use of the time. I mean, we’ve actually made two records during the year. Just to stay ahead of the game — it keeps us busy, gives us something to do and we get to see each other. We just try to make good use of the time.  

How has the pandemic affected smaller bands? Gigs haven’t been happening as much.  

Yeah, as far as the business side of it, it would be a terrible time to start a band. You could write, rehearse, get all that ready, but you still gotta wait for all this to be lifted and to play in front of people. I still feel that’s literally the most important part. The younger generation still wants to get out and hear live music.  

I know you’ve done charity performances in the past. With the pandemic going on, are those events still happening?  

No, I usually do one at a place here called Eddie’s Attic in Atlanta. Didn’t do it this year. I did go to South Carolina, where they had lifted the restrictions, and we did two shows in one night — raised a lot of money for kids for Christmas.   

Giving back through music is clearly important to you. Can you tell me more about that?  

I love to travel with my guitars, and Baby Taylors are great for that. It gives me a way to express myself, and it’s just fun…I want everyone to feel what I feel when I get to play; I want everybody to be happy.   

I have around 300 guitars, and my dream is one day to give them to a school or a college and have it like a library where kids can check out a guitar and start a band…. I think music is such an important part of everybody’s life, and they don’t even realize it. When they get in the car to take the kids to school, they turn the radio on…music is in our lives way more than we ever think. So, I just think it’s a wonderful way to live life, and I just love to share it in that manner.  

You say you want to give the guitars to a school. Do you think that giving me a Taylor guitar was a microcosm of that?  

Yeah, the only difference is they’re checking it out; you got to keep yours! That’s what I’m saying, I love the guitar so much and it’s nice to share things like that.   

Folk From Afar

Taylor has maintained a long-standing relationship with Folk Alliance International, an organization devoted to promoting, sharing and preserving the unique cultural power of folk music in its many forms. Its big-tent “music-of-the-people” inclusiveness spans a range of sub-genres, from Americana to hip-hop to global roots. Like so many other organizations, FAI was forced to transition its annual gathering to the digital space this year, keeping the music alive with a four-day virtual experience in February that included an artist showcase hosted by singer-songwriter Dan Navarro. Presented in partnership with Taylor Guitars, the showcase featured a roll-call of Taylor artists from various parts of the expansive folk music universe, including performances by Jade Bird, Katie Pruitt, Jackie Venson, Glen Phillips, Deborah Holland, Sara Niemietz and Snuffy Walden, Hannah Bethel, Steve Poltz, and Navarro himself.

Packed with intimate acoustic renditions of both classic folk tunes and original songs, the event delivered many musical highlights, including Steve Poltz’s “Pandemic Blues,” a brilliant and hilarious parody on coping with life over the past year. Poltz’s musical take on pandemic life made the rounds via social media after the video was released in February. You have to watch the video for yourself below. “Pandemic Blues” kicks in around 42:15. And be sure to catch some of the other great performances, too. 

Good Morning from Manchester Orchestra

Hailing from Atlanta, indie rockers Manchester Orchestra have been garnering critical acclaim since debuting in 2004. Lately, frontman and lead guitarist Andy Hull has found himself gravitating toward Taylor acoustic guitars, so much so that he opted to record parts of his band’s new album, The Million Masks of God, with his new Taylors. Since jumping on the Taylor bandwagon, Andy has been playing a Builder’s Edition 717e, a GTe Urban Ash and a Builder’s Edition 816ce, the last of which he played during a recent appearance on the “Saturday Sessions” segment on CBS This Morning. Manchester Orchestra played two tracks from their upcoming album on the morning show in a stripped-back, unplugged setting, striking a contrast from the more electric sound of their studio recordings. 

You can listen to The Million Masks of God on streaming services everywhere, or grab a physical copy here. 

When society has collapsed, will there still be music? This summer, Taylor teamed up with the video game developers at Naughty Dog to show the world how essential music is to the human experience. Naughty Dog is responsible for the critically acclaimed The Last of Us, a 2013 action video game that follows Ellie and Joel on a brutal journey of survival across the U.S. 15 years after a contagious fungus transforms the bulk of the population into dangerous, infected humans controlled by the fungus. Now, Naughty Dog has returned with The Last of Us Part II, the highly anticipated sequel, and they reached out to get Taylor Guitars in the mix.

From humble beginnings making his name at open-mic nights to being named the best British Male Solo Artist at the 2019 Brit Awards, singer-songwriter George Ezra’s career has moved fast. The 27-year-old from Hertfordshire makes music that belies his youth, with a warm, gravelly voice that wouldn’t sound out of place in a Southern rock song or old-school blues record. His intimate, catchy pop songwriting style has captured the attention of audiences around the globe, and a listen through his two albums — the 2014 debut Wanted on Voyage and its 2018 follow-up Staying at Tamara’s — reveals a maturing sound that promises a bright future for this young up-and-comer. We caught up with Ezra recently to talk about his musical history, his influences, and the Taylor guitars that have helped inspire his songwriting.

A Golden Opportunity

Taylor Goes Primetime

After our part of the world was upended earlier this year, Taylor, like everyone else, found new ways to connect with people. In May, we launched Taylor Primetime, a livestreaming series on our YouTube channel, which serves up lively guitar-related talk and exclusive behind-the-scenes insights into our world of guitar-building. The vibe is fun-meets-informative, and if you love learning more about our approach to making guitars, sourcing wood, and other guitar topics from our factory experts, or gleaning player-centric tips like how pick and string choices can change your guitar’s tone, you should check it out.

The show is hosted by our marketing team’s Jay Parkin, a content producer and wearer of many (baseball) hats, along with marketing crewmate Chris Sharp, who together keep things lighthearted while also digging into the topic at hand. Each episode explores a specific theme with a relevant guest, and Taylor fans can submit questions in advance for Jay and Chris to choose from, along with live chat questions that roll in during the show. They’ve done more than a dozen episodes so far, and guests have included Bob Taylor (in a rapid-fire Q&A), master builder Andy Powers, sustainability guru Scott Paul and other Taylor experts.

It’s a fun virtual hang, and the show streams live on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. Pacific time. Follow us on YouTube to catch new live episodes. You can also find all the episodes on our YouTube channel.

Among all the hardships the pandemic brought to communities around the world, the most difficult might have been the prolonged sense of disconnection. Here at Taylor, our factories and offices closed, and we watched the music industry we love grind to a halt, with venues, studios, production companies and road crews all losing their livelihoods virtually overnight. But then an interesting thing happened: musicians kept making music, even separated from bandmates and audiences by miles. Artists began recording new music and playing shows for live audiences around the globe via social media and streaming services, all in a shared effort to reestablish the musical bonds that connect people and give voice to our struggles.

For the Taylor team and our extended family of artists, as with so many other musicians, staying connected meant making music. That’s the idea behind “I Know What Love Is,” an original song and philanthropic project that will help raise money to support members of the music industry whose art and careers were put on hold by the pandemic. Conceived by the Taylor marketing team’s Jay Parkin (From the Factory Podcast, Taylor Primetime), the song will be released for audiences to stream on platforms such as Spotify or iTunes.

Keith Goodwin (816e, AD27e), the singer, guitarist and songwriter of indie folk band Good Old War, wrote the song’s melody and lyrics. Keith and Jay collaborated with producer and sound engineer Gabriel O’Brien to mix and master the original skeleton of the song, but hearing the finished product, they decided that something was missing. In his role as producer, Jay says he realized that the song could be even bigger.

“We were shooting for this ‘Hey Jude’ meets ‘We Are the World’ vibe,” Jay explains, “and the song itself felt good. But this was always about supporting musicians and bringing people together, and we realized we needed the song to reflect that sense of community, too.”

To accomplish that, Jay and Keith drew on their connections to the music industry to enlist dozens of Taylor artists for the project, from hobbyists and weekend warriors to touring bands and big-label acts. Each artist was asked to contribute their own version of a piece of the song that spoke to them. This obviously made Gabriel’s job more complicated, and mixing the song became a gargantuan task that involved fitting together vocals, guitar parts, and other sounds sent in by artists around the world. Jason Mraz, KT Tunstall, Chris Conley, Alana Springsteen and many others contributed enthusiastically, responding to the song’s inspiring message of solidarity among the musical community during a time of great need. Comprised of over 200 tracks, “I Know What Love Is” is a tribute to community, connection and the power of music.

All proceeds from the song will benefit MusiCares, an organization founded by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to provide resources for artists, studio musicians, crews, producers, songwriters, venues, music students and families in times of need.

You’ll be able to hear the completed song soon, and not just in its original form: We’ve decided to release the raw music files to the public for remixing and reimagining, and we can’t wait to hear how our community transforms the song and builds on its message. Until then, follow our social media channels for updates.

Last year in Wood&Steel (Soundings, Vol. 94), we wrote about trailblazing singer-songwriter, multi-platinum producer, and activist Linda Perry, whose hit-studded musical resume includes success in the band 4 Non Blondes, followed by songwriting and production collaborations with some of pop music’s brightest lights, including Christina Aguilera, P!nk, Alicia Keys, Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani and Adele. Perry’s musical Midas touch has produced a remarkable run of pop gems over the years; you can hear some essential cuts on the Spotify playlist we compiled. 

As we shared in Soundings last year, Perry had discovered our Grand Pacific guitars while working with songwriter/producer/guitarist David Saw (517e) on a recording project with Dolly Parton. After putting our mahogany Builder’s Edition 517 and rosewood Builder’s Edition 717 models through an extensive test-drive comparison, Perry favored the 717e (with a sunburst top), and it became her go-to acoustic, which she played live during several performances with Parton. 

In conversation with Taylor Director of Artist Relations Tim Godwin one day, Perry asked if Taylor would make her a custom version of her 717e with a different pickup system, modeled after the acoustic/electric guitar (a Martin D-18e) famously played by Kurt Cobain during Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged concert. (The guitar had been outfitted with electric pickups and featured front-mounted tone knobs, like on a solidbody electric guitar.) Tim relayed the request to Andy Powers, who agreed to make her one. Custom features include a neck pickup designed by Andy and mounted across the soundhole, along with our behind-the-saddle ES2 pickup. David Judd from our product development team assembled and wound the pickups and configured the electronics to enable the two different pickups to work in the same circuit. He also installed the soundboard-mounted volume and tone control knobs. As a finishing detail, Perry’s initials were inlaid into the pickguard.

At the 2019 Winter NAMM Show this past January, Godwin and Jay Parkin from our marketing team caught up with Perry, who was gracious enough to sit down and share her Taylor story, show off her new custom Grand Pacific, and perform an acoustic rendition of her hit “Beautiful,” originally recorded by Christina Aguilera.

Beyond her creative drive as a musician and producer, Perry is equally passionate about mentoring and providing resources for artists, which she’s done with the record label/publishing house/production company she co-founded, We Are Hear. Perry also devotes her energy to an array of charitable causes, including MusiCares and CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort), founded by Sean Penn. She’s been actively involved with both organizations in recent months to support COVID-19 relief among members of the music community and in neighborhoods throughout the Los Angeles area.

If you’ve been paying even the slightest bit of attention to pop music over the last few years, you’ve heard of Billie Eilish, who, as of late, has cornered the market on music awards on the strength of her latest album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? What you might not know is that Eilish’s co-writer and producer was her brother, Finneas O’Connell, who goes by the professional moniker FINNEAS.

A lifelong creative born to musical parents, Finneas has been acting and writing songs since his teenage years. His band played the Warped Tour in 2015, and his first solo single, “New Girl,” saw public release in 2016. He and Billie had been recording music at home for years before her songs were released and set the music world ablaze, and since then, Finneas has earned his share of accolades for his songwriting and producing chops. He also regularly performs alongside his sister, handling guitar and keyboard duties.

Taylor first connected with Finneas last year through Aron Forbes, a guitarist, producer and songwriter who has collaborated with Billie and Finneas along with pop acts Halsey, BANKS, Donna Missal, One Direction and others. Late last year, Eilish was announced as a special honoree at the inaugural Apple Music Awards event, and she and Finneas were invited to perform an intimate acoustic set at the company’s Steve Jobs Theater in early December as part of the festivities. 

In advance of the event, Taylor Director of Artist Relations Tim Godwin and longtime Taylor guitar guru Terry Myers sent Finneas several Grand Pacific guitars to test-drive, including versions with an array of different pickup options to assess his preferred amplified acoustic sound. Finneas fell in love with the mahogany Builder’s Edition 517 (sunburst top) and opted for a Baggs system. 

Myers worked with Finneas and his guitar tech, Trevor Jackson, to set up the guitars to suit his playing preferences, which included stringing them with lighter gauge strings (11s) — a setup Myers says he’s seeing more among players. The guitar enjoyed a lot of stage time during the performance, which you can find online.

Soon afterward, Finneas asked if we could make him a custom, all-white Grand Pacific to play on stage in support of his first solo release, Blood Harmony, which showcases his songwriting range, along with his smooth, nimble vocal style. The guitar, essentially a custom 517e, features an arctic white body, neck and peghead overlay, Silent Satin finish, sapele binding, and custom electronics. It looks great under the lights on stage, especially with the muted sheen of the finish over the brilliant white.

We also made a custom guitar for Billie. The base model was an all-mahogany 322e 12-Fret. Custom touches include an all-black (satin) finish, black binding, a Baggs pickup, and custom artwork screen-printed on the top. She also has a Taylor nylon-string Academy 12-N.

Though the coronavirus pandemic forced the postponement of Billie’s tour, she and Finneas have made the most of their down time, working on new material together and streaming performances of their music from the comfortable confines of home. You can find more videos on Finneas’s Instagram account, and listen to his music on streaming platforms everywhere.

“One of the beautiful things about the V-Class idea is that it allows for a much wider range of guitars…. A lot of these different personalities that we’re building into instruments are more significantly different than they would have been in the past.”

Andy Powers, reflecting on the Builder’s Edition collection in an interview with Guitar.com and Guitar Magazine

While Andy Powers has been extolling the virtues of V-Class bracing as an exciting new foundation for acoustic guitar design since its debut in 2018, our recently expanded Builder’s Edition collection — now featuring nine distinctive models — delivers on that bold promise in a remarkably tangible way. With four new models joining the family to kick off 2020 — the Builder’s Edition 324ce, 12-string Builder’s Edition 652ce, Builder’s Edition 912ce and Builder’s Edition 816ce — reviewers have been jumping at opportunities to demo these latest guitars and discover their unique musical personalities. Here are some highlights of what they had to say.

“The future of Taylor Guitars is in safe hands.”

Back in January, the UK website/print publication Guitar.com and Guitar Magazine ran multiple features that included reviews of the Builder’s Edition 324ce and Builder’s Edition 816ce (see Michael Watts’ comment on the latter further down), plus an insightful piece on Andy Powers by Chief Editor Chris Vinnicombe (which produced the quote above). Vinnicombe, who had chronicled the debut of V-Class bracing and the Grand Pacific over the past two years, paid another visit to Andy’s home workshop in Carlsbad, California, where the two discussed Andy’s process of bringing his Builder’s Edition ideas to life. As heady as Andy can get when discussing the technical nuances of a particular design, he revealed the simpler essence of his creative approach.

“Despite his deep understanding of the anatomy and science of musical instruments, fun and approachability are always at the forefront of Powers’ mind,” Vinnicombe writes. “‘More than anything that’s my criteria,’ he insists. “Whether or not a guitar is good. Is it fun to play or not fun to play? That’s what it comes down to, right?

Vinnicombe also observes how Andy’s talents, coupled with Taylor’s manufacturing resources, enable truly envelope-pushing design.

“Part of what makes Powers unique isn’t just his ability to translate the drawings in his notebook into fully realised instruments,” Vinnicombe says. “It’s the scalability of his designs, his ability to work with Taylor’s engineering team in devising methods and even new tooling in order to produce them in significant numbers, and the way in which his ideas create a platform for further innovation.”

Builder’s Edition 324ce

Among our class of 2020 Builder’s Edition guitars, none received more love than the Builder’s Edition 324ce. Our new Grand Auditorium, crafted with responsibly sourced Urban Ash recovered from trees in need of removal from municipal areas in Southern California, showcases a level of refined contouring that makes these guitars such a dream to play, paired with a new tonal flavor that has reviewers singing its praises.

To kick things off, Paul Riario from Guitar World called the Builder’s Edition 324ce a “guitar that exudes sheer elegance,” and praised its combination of luxury appointments with a traditional style that will appeal to working musicians. As for the sound of Urban Ash, Riario had plenty of thoughts:

“It’s reminiscent of good mahogany that radiates a crisp top end and a taut bass, but its sonic strength is that it dutifully serves up a warm, sweetened midrange with a clear, bell-like ring,” he says. “Whether you strum hard or pick softly, it tends to stay within that middle register, and its euphonious voice is so detailed that I sometimes found myself leaning over the soundhole to listen from different angles because I couldn’t believe an acoustic could sound so three-dimensional and smoothly balanced here. It’s a genuinely studio-quality tone, which I’d venture to say even a cheap mic would have a hard time making sound bad.”

Of course, the Builder’s Edition philosophy is also about optimizing the playing comfort to give guitarists as smooth a musical path as possible. Reviewers like Christian Seaman from American Songwriter have responded positively to the Builder’s Edition 324ce’s ergonomic touches, noting that the body shape, armrest and beveled cutaway make for a truly seamless playing experience:

“[It’s] an incredibly comfortable guitar to play, assisted by all facets of its construction,” Seaman writes. “Its body contours increase ease of access to the entire range of the guitar, its Silent Satin finish moves with the player and allows a slick yet organic feel, and of course the classic Taylor neck is fit for many hands whether small or large.”

Builder’s Edition 652ce

This brand-new 12-string embodies Taylor’s forward-thinking philosophy in virtually every aspect of its design, from the beveled cutaway and armrest to the reverse-strung setup that gives the guitar its clean, focused sound. Reviewers have been generous with praise, applauding its playing comfort and unique tone profile within the 12-string arena. Chiming in from Peghead Nation, Teja Gerken talked up the reverse-strung setup and ease of play:

“Like other Taylor 12-fret grand concert 12-strings we’ve tried, the Builder’s Edition 652ce WHB is incredibly easy to play; your fingers might not believe they’re playing a 12-string,” Gerken details. “Played acoustically, the guitar had a bright, assertive sound. The reverse stringing is noticeably different from a standard setup, the fundamental note of each pair being more present than the octave string…”

Other reviewers focused on this 652ce’s fluid, nearly electric feel, the product of the compact body shape, the 12-fret configuration that moves the bridge closer to the center of the lower bout, and the elegant contouring of the beveled cutaway. Art Thompson from Guitar Player appreciated its inviting neck, noting that players will find it easy to explore the guitar’s entire range:

“Playability is awesome, thanks to a mahogany neck with a fairly shallow profile that sits beautifully in the hand, and an ebony fingerboard with rolled edges, immaculate frets and low, buzz-free action,” Thompson writes. “I hate to say things like ‘guaranteed to win you over,’ but the 652ce plays so well that it may blow away any preconceived notions that 12-string acoustics are demanding to play. Not this one, which feels so slinky and effortless.”

Builder’s Edition 912ce

This Builder’s Edition beauty has been a hit with reviewers and artists alike. The Grand Concert body delivers again here with a smooth response and intimate feel, complemented by the warm, overtone-rich sound of solid Indian rosewood and Sitka spruce. V-Class bracing, which we originally launched within the Builder’s Edition collection, remains the finely tuned musical engine of these guitars, and reviewers like Art Thompson continue to expound on the musical benefits of our interior bracing scheme:

“[The Builder’s Edition 912ce] sounds solidly in tune in all positions, and it sustains wonderfully,” he says. “That’s all part of what V-Class bracing brings, including exceptionally well-balanced sound and abundant sustain. Strum a chord and hear how even and consistent it is from top to bottom. Frequencies don’t jump out or reveal any peaks, even when picking hard. Rather, they coalesce into lively and full-bodied tones that breathe in response to playing dynamics.”

Other reviewers of the 912ce mentioned its fast-playing feel and robust tonal response, like Teja Gerken from Peghead Nation:

“Not only was it easy to play, but it also facilitated up-the-neck playing and fast, electric guitar–style techniques,” he says. “The guitar’s tone was rooted in the classic Taylor rosewood grand concert voice: balanced, rich, and larger sounding than might be expected given the guitar’s small body. The Builder’s Edition 912ce is a lovely instrument for fingerstyle, and with its wonderful clarity throughout its range, it would also make an excellent choice for accompaniment and lead guitar roles, especially in an amplified setting.”

Builder’s Edition 816ce

That brings us to the most radical entry in our Builder’s Edition lineup: the Builder’s Edition 816ce, a Grand Symphony acoustic-electric featuring a new soundport cutaway and a handful of other shapely contours. Reviewing this 816ce for Guitar.com, Michael Watts delves into the history and function of a second sound aperture in acoustic guitars before sharing his thoughts on how that feature performs on this particular Taylor:

“The instrument comes to life, with an immediately open and beautiful voice, which gives us the sense of being surrounded by the sound,” Watts says. “Dropping the tuning to DADGAD and applying a medium gauge celluloid pick to the 816ce takes the performance up yet another notch, giving the trebles a silky shimmer all the way up the fingerboard, while lending muscle to the bass and low mids.”

With the entire Builder’s Edition collection now available in stores everywhere, we’re excited to see the new musical avenues Taylor players are sure to illuminate with these guitars in the coming months.

There’s something wonderfully pure about a single player, a single acoustic guitar, and a microphone. With Taylor Acoustic Sessions, we try to capture the magic of an intimate acoustic performance, getting up close and personal with exciting up-and-comers as well as acclaimed artists. Our family of artists stretches around the globe and across genres, and we’re excited to bring these intimate musical portraits to Wood&Steel for the first time.

This installment features three live sessions we shot at the Winter 2020 NAMM Show.

Mimi Fox Knows What Love Is

Jazz sorceress Mimi Fox has been ripping licks on Taylor guitars for years. She especially loves her koa/torrefied spruce Builder’s Edition K14ce. (“It’s warm but not too warm, bright but not too bright; it hits that sweet spot,” she says.) She puts the guitar through its paces with this rendition of “You Don’t Know What Love Is” from her latest release, the all-acoustic This Bird Still Flies, showcasing the guitar’s vibrant, contemporary sound in her signature virtuosic style.

Sae Banjoya Brings the Light

Singer-songwriter Sae Banjoya traveled from Japan to California to play at NAMM and brings her impassioned vocals to this sparkling performance of “Koko Ni Aru Hikari.” In this session, Sae plays a Builder’s Edition 324ce, our new Grand Auditorium made from responsibly sourced Urban Ash.

Shane Hall Guides the Way

With his bold acoustic style and burly, soulful voice, Shane Hall is making waves as a bluesy singer-songwriter and Taylor player. Here he performs his song “Lighthouse” with a Builder’s Edition 324ce.

McFly Hails the Heroes

Across the music world, artists from all genres have spoken out to share their support and gratitude for the efforts of front-line workers, first responders, and health care providers in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Joining the chorus was British pop-punk band McFly, who put together an inspiring performance of their song “All About You” from across the barriers of distance and isolation in each of their respective homes. All proceeds from the song for the rest of the year will go to the UK National Health Service, who are fighting to keep the nation well and recovering from COVID-19. The band is just one of a growing number of artists using their voices to spread positivity and creativity during an unprecedented and stressful time for all, with songwriters and bands using an array of digital tools to bring music to fans from their homes. For this recording, McFly rounded up (virtually) the whole gang—including family members and even pets—along with a couple of trusty GS Minis. With some clever video editing and an uplifting message in support of the people putting their lives at risk to protect our health, McFly’s performance makes us proud to have them as part of the Taylor artist family.

Brian Collins Shines a Little Love

Adding to the roster of artists doing their best to spread messages of support and solidarity during these times, acoustic ripper and soulful Americana songwriter Bryan Collins(517 WHB, Western Sunburst 710, custom 710 with Vintage Sunburst, GS Mini-e Bass) led a group of over 60 musicians, singers and other entertainers in a fresh take on his song “Shine a little love.” Cut from pieces filmed in basements, living rooms and breakfast nooks across the country, Brian’s tune asks us to offer each other what positivity we can while practicing social distancing.

[Brian Collins photo credit: Annette McNamara]