Livingston Taylor practices what he preaches. “They (the audience) have given you their time and money and they expect you to pay attention to them. They want to have a good time, to suspend their reality and be part of the reality that you as a performer are creating” Taylor writes in his book Stage Performances, a book he uses as a text in his role as a professor at Boston’s Berklee School of Music. Pay attention to us he does, every moment that he is on-stage. The result is a few hours spent in complete enjoyment listening to his lilting voice, lyrical tunes and humorous commentary.
After having spent the summer in Nashville recording his new CD, Liv Taylor will bring his music and words of wisdom to the Firehouse Center for the Arts, on Market Square in Newburyport, Friday – Saturday, October 9-10 at 8PM. Tickets are $29 for Members and $32 for Non-Members and may be purchased by calling the Box Office at 978/462-7336 or by going online at www.firehouse.org.
Taylor’s latest album, still too new to even have gained a permanent moniker, will probably be called “Last Alaska Moon” and will be an extension of “There You Are Again”, the first of the two-part recording that was issued in 2005 with 12 tracks of original songs. This second CD should be available this autumn.
Most of us know Liv as one member of the “First Family of the new rock” (Rolling Stone, 1971). He was born in Boston, but he and his other singing siblings (James, Kate, Hugh and Alex) were raised in Chapel Hill, NC; where his father taught at the medical school. It must be those years that one hears in Liv’s soft drawl and that helped develop his penchant for telling a good story. Since his teenage years Taylor has loved being onstage where he can weave his tales and music together. In 1970, his intimate and laid-back style caught the eye of Jon Landau of Capricorn Records who produced Taylor’s debut album Livingston Taylor. Several albums later, Live still loves the life. “I love playing live, I love being on the road, I love touring, I love being around my audience – all parts of the experience… I really love it…” He said.
It is just this love for his craft that he passes on to his audience as well as the students of his “Stage Performance Techniques” class at Berklee, even in describing how he handles a case of pre-show jitters: “I thank God for putting me in a position to be nervous. If I am nervous it is because it is important to me. I’ve asked for it. I’ve been given what I asked for.”
If you are looking for a good show you’ll find it here in Newburyport at the Firehouse. Just go ask the Professor. Livingston Taylor will surely deliver on all he promises and you too will get what you asked for.
THE ESSENTIALS:
Livingston Taylor plays two shows: Fri – Sat, October 9-10, 8PM at the Firehouse Center for the Arts, Market
Square, Newburyport, MA.
Admission: $29 Members and $32 Non-Members
For more information call the Box Office at 978-462-7336 or visit www.firehouse.org.
