CT/MA Music

CT/MA Music is a musician and fan run site. If you are in a band or know when certain bands are playing, feel free to add shows to the calendar (on the left). And be sure to check out the message board and talk to fellow musicians and fans of local music here in CT and Western MA!

“My goal as a writer and an artist is to help people emotionally own my song in the 3 minutes and forty seconds,” explains East Coast singer/songwriter, Rob Taylor. This goal has never been more realized than with Taylor’s fourth studio offering and most personal colle...ction of songs, “Sun in a Box”. Charged with real passion from note one, “Who Will Dare?” and “Legendary” start the album with Taylor’s signature guitar-driven anthems. Alive with thoughts and questions that invoke the listener to search their own passions, these songs introduce Taylor’s honest and confessional story-telling sensibilities. The album then progresses to the charming and sexy, “Share the Night,” shifting gears to a catchy, acoustic groove and highlighting Taylor’s whit and knack for clever turns of phrase. “Sun in a Box” is found as the fourth track on the album, and has already proved to be a fan favorite. “I chose ‘Sun in a Box’ as the title track because it not only serves as a true self-portrait, but it also conveys such universal truth. I think at one point or another everyone feels that their potential exceeds their current status. They feel as if they have something great inside of them that has yet to shine.” “I’ve been writing a lot on the piano,” says the Connecticut native. “Sitting at the piano is like being attached to a lie detector. Honesty has everything to do with the crafting of a song that can be felt, rather than a song that can just be heard.” Taylor’s unforgettable piano passages can be found through-out the album and help to define his distinctive style that he has developed over the years. With roots planted deep in 80’s rock, Taylor began writing his first songs a few years before the masses traded their tight black jeans in for flannels. He spent his high school youth obsessed with learning to play as many instruments as he could get his hands on. It was in his heavy metal band "Safe Haven" that he was first able to gain a working knowledge of song structure, studio recording, and live performance. As the 90s progressed, so did Taylor's musical tastes, and he found that the stories he felt compelled to tell sounded most sincere when paired with a lighter, more acoustic blend of pop and rock. This was the approach he committed to when Taylor wrote and recorded his first solo effort “Population 1” 1994 at age 18. He would hone his style and watch it healthily mature through subsequent albums, "Sleepless Lullabies" (1997) and "Sucker"(2001). With his clever and hook-filled alt-rock EP, “Sucker”, Taylor was first able to find national attention. He achieved recognition from several notable sources, including the Great American Song Contest’s “Outstanding Achievement in Songwriting” award in 2002, and the “Best Solo Artist” award in 2003, presented by Unsyned Artist. Since the release of “Sucker”, and the college days of gigging steadily at bookstores and coffee shops, Rob’s wife, Laurie Taylor, has accompanied him on background vocals. “Laurie’s voice is the perfect compliment to mine,” explains Taylor. “Her harmonies brighten even the darker moments on “Sun in a Box” and add an element of hope and innocence to each song they grace.” Through his musical progression, Taylor feels that through his latest release, “Sun in a Box,” he has finally gained his most effective voice. "I realize my music is gaining maturity, and I would not want to regress. Each album reminds me of where I was emotionally at that stage in my life. "Reach Out" is one of the closing songs on "Sun in a Box". It was written as a warm welcome home to my newborn son. I am thankful for the deepening inspiration I am given that can only be manifested through experience." “Sun in a Box” is a collection of engaging self-realizations and relatable character studies that have profound emotional weight. While maintaining enough passion to stir the soul, “Sun in a Box” is filled with fun and clever moments that lighten and uplift. Taylor approaches the next steps in his career with the passion easily felt in his words and in his music. "My goal is to inspire and to be inspired. If more people let the sun out of their boxes, the world would change and become even more beautiful."

CT/MA Music is a musician and fan run site. If you are in a band or know when certain bands are playing, feel free to add shows to the calendar (on the left). And be sure to check out the message board and talk to fellow musicians and fans of local music here in CT and Western MA!