LIVINGSTON TAYLOR
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LIVINGSTON TAYLOR FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 22 DOORS AT 6 PM SHOW AT 8 PM
Livingston Taylor picked up his first guitar at the age of 13, which began a 50-year career that has encompassed performance, songwriting, and teaching. Born in Boston and raised in North Carolina, Livingston is the fourth child in a very musical family that includes Alex, James, Kate, and Hugh. Livingston recorded his first record at the age of 18 and has continued to create well crafted, introspective, and original songs that have earned him listeners worldwide.
From top-40 hits “I Will Be in Love with You” and “I’ll Come Running,” to “I Can Dream of You” and “Boatman,” the last two recorded by his brother James, Livingston’s creative output has continued unabated. His musical knowledge has inspired a varied repertoire, and he is equally at home with a range of musical genres—folk, pop, gospel, jazz—and from upbeat storytelling and touching ballads to full orchestra performances.
Livingston has never stopped performing since those early coffeehouse days, shared the stage with major artists such as Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Fleetwood Mac, Jimmy Buffett, and Jethro Tull, and he maintains a busy concert schedule, touring internationally. He is a natural performer, peppering his shows with personal stories, anecdotes and ineffable warmth that connect him to his fans. His relaxed on-stage presence belies the depth of his musical knowledge, and fans might just as often be treated to a classic Gershwin or something from the best of Broadway.
Livingston is a full professor at Berklee College of Music, where he has taught a Stage Performance course since 1989. He teaches young artists invaluable lessons learned over the course of an extensive career on the road; the course is consistently voted the most popular at the College. His high-selling book, Stage Performance, released in 2011 offers those lessons to anyone who is interested in elevating their presentation standards to professional standards.
Livingston's 50th year of making music was celebrated by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, both declaring January 18, 2017 "Livingston Taylor Day".
The Old Roslyn address 19 Bryant Avenue resonates with musical legend and history. Originally a dilapidated country-western bar owned by Jay Lenihan, the place was bought by partners Michael “Eppy” Epstein and his cousin Richie Hersh in 1971. After teaming up with local radio station WLIR-FM, My Father’s Place—affectionately known as MFP—quickly became a hotbed for concerts and concert broadcasts. MFP presented Billy Joel’s first show after the release of his debut solo LP Cold Spring Harbor and Bruce Springsteen’s first show out of New Jersey, along with seminal radio concerts (including a classic by Lowell George and Little Feat in 1974). The venue kept live performance vital when the rest of Long Island—and perhaps the country—was discoing the night away. Besides reggae, punk music found a place to grow. Unlike most other clubs that highlighted one genre or one particular era of music, the variety of My Father's Place was possibly its most important trait. The club debuted in America most of reggae's biggest stars, helping to make the genre mainstream. Along with CBGB and Max's Kansas City, My Father's Place was a nurturing ground for young punk and new wave acts like The Runaways, The Ramones, Blondie, The Police, and Talking Heads. Country, bluegrass, and blues artists like Charlie Daniels, Linda Ronstadt, and Stevie Ray Vaughan performed early in their careers, while artists like James Brown, B.B. King, Johnny Winter and Bo Diddley played in the twilight of theirs.. My Father’s Place closed on May 3, 1987, with a blowout performance by the funk rock band Tower of Power, and an era came to an end. Today, the club lives on in the works of the many artists—now legends—who first performed on its stage and in the memories of those fortunate to have been a part of it all.