Louise Taylor is a talented singer/songwriter whose openness to new cultures has helped define her purpose and growth as a musician. It's taken her down the paths of American balladry and Celtic storytelling, along the back roads of the blues, into the realm of self-discovery. Storytelling is important to her songs, but she embraces folk, jazz, Celtic music, and blues to expand her avenues of expression. Taylor's songs came from tough wisdom in 2001 after enduring the personal hardships of divorce and her mother's death. Despite these personal setbacks, her songs remained earthy and poetic and full of melodic grace. Travels to Ireland inspired her 2000 CD, Written in Red (Signature), Taylor's fourth album, which blended her bluesy style with the lyrical beauty of traditional Irish storytelling. For Taylor, music was not always an integral part of her life. She hit the road from her home in Brattleboro, VT, at age 15 as an itinerant troubadour unsure of herself, playing songs on the street, but not consciously seeking a career in music. In her youth she was shy, but through the encouragement of her brother and other musicians, she found her way. Finally, in 2000, after three albums, she discovered the confidence and poise to make her an accomplished singer/songwriter on Written in Red, but she's always ready to learn new things. Two other vital factors in her development as a musician came from her association in the late '90s with guitarists Chris Smither and Ray Bonneville. From Smither, she learned more about the emotional expression needed in playing the guitar and from Bonneville she honed a sharp fingerpicking style. Taylor's newfound expression on guitar took her from being primarily a rhythm player to one adept at maneuvering through any number of musical styles and ideas. ~ Robert Hicks