Jackson Taylor Music Videos , Pictures and Photos including Outlaw Women Music Videos on Yallwire

Jackson Taylor

Country music today has lost its edge. In the national Nashville-oriented country music scene, rough and tumble "outlaw" acts in the spirit of Willie Nelson and Hank Williams Jr. are glossed over in favor of tame, overproduced country-pop. Though this might be a general nationwide trend, it sure doesn't hold true in Texas. In the Lone Star State, the gruff spirit of outlaw country lives on with acts like Jackson Taylor.

Jackson's forearm tattoo pretty much sums up his career: "Honky Tonk Hero." Born to a poor migrant farming family in a small town smack dab in the middle of Texas, Jackson discovered a fondness for country and roots rock early in life, inspired by the likes of Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Johnny Cash, and Dwight Yoakam. After finally graduating from high school in a small northern Washington farm town, Jackson decided to try his hand in the music business by moving to Nashville, Tennessee.

Though he held down a job as a songwriter in Nashville for awhile, his musical style - rough country and roots rock tempered with a dash of punk rock in the vein of Social Distortion and the Dead Kennedys - wasn't exactly welcome in Nashville, and Jackson soon called it quits and moved back to Texas. This time, he packed his bags and moved to Austin, the epicenter of the Texas alternative music scene. His gruff, unapologetic demeanor and lyrical content soon found a niche, and before Jackson new it he was well on his way to becoming one of Texas' most popular independent country music artists.

After releasing a number of CD's on independent Texas label Gaske Records (including 2004's Goin' Down Swinging and 2006's Whiskey Sessions), Jackson stepped up his game in 2007 when he accepted a contract to his current label, Smith Entertainment - home to Cross Canadian Ragweed and Stoney LaRue as well as good ol' Willie himself, among many others. Jackson’s latest album, 2007's Dark Days, has proved to be his biggest success yet, with songs like "Outlaw Woman" and "Shallow Grave" tearing through the Texas country charts. As of summer and fall 2008, Jackson Taylor and his backing band are on tour across the Midwest and (of course), Texas. Check his MySpace to see if Jackson will be riding through a honky tonk near you!

From Lastfm:

Jackson Taylor is a story teller, plain and simple.

Jackson Taylor tells stories about what he knows -- life. Jackson?s lyrics paint tales of lives filled with passion and joy as much as of a life tainted by sorrow and disappointment ? his life. Jackson sings of heaven and hell, beauty and grit ? Jackson sings of real life.

Born one of eleven siblings to parents of migrant workers, his life began in Moody, Texas, a small town just north of Austin. It was a nomadic existence stripped of the comforts and security that most take for granted. Jackson?s roots instead became deep seeded in his love for music, a passion passed on to Jackson at an early age by his father who would steal away whenever possible to see and hear country greats like Waylon, Willie, and Billy Joe Shaver perform, often with Jackson in tow.

Jackson's adolescence was spent bouncing from one migrant labor town to another, finally settling in a small farming town in Washington State. After graduating high school, he moved back to Texas for a while but soon left to try and make his mark in Nashville. There, Jackson found work as a songwriter, but life for Jackson was still a steep uphill climb, and after a couple of tough and frustrating years, Jackson had to face the hard truth that Nashville was not the ?home? for which he had spent his whole life searching.

From New York City to Los Angeles, Jackson has finally found his rightful home, ironically right back where his life began -- in Texas.

Combining his real life experiences with old school country elements, and throwing in the flavors of punk and southern rock to create a style all his own, Jackson Taylor continues to break the rules of traditional country music with his straightforward lyrics, "take it or leave it" approach, intense live performances, and the drive and determination of a freight train. The end result can not be pigeon holed into any style and can only be rightfully defined as what it is: ?Jackson Taylor Music?.

Recently signed to the Smith Entertainment Group (Stoney LaRue and No Justice, catalogue on Cross Canadian Ragweed and Randy Rogers Band, the Live at Billy Bob?s Texas line), Jackson Taylor is ready to take country music by storm with his latest release, aptly entitled Dark Days, which was produced and engineered in the mountains of Washington State at Cascade Studios. The CD (produced by Jackson Taylor and Ronnie Belaire, and engineered by Allen Larsen) contains 12 tracks and features the debut single ?Lonely,? a tale of emotion that Jackson knows all too well. Other tracks include ?Outlaws Ain?t Wanted Here No More,? which is a true account of Jackson's experiences in the country music industry that eventually pushed him to take his own musical path. Also featured on the new album is a cover of the tune ?Honky Tonk Heroes,? written by Billy Joe Shaver, one of Jackson?s favorite music outlaws.

Billy Joe Shaver summed up it up best when he said, ?Jackson?s songs are so real and honest, you know straight off he's been there and done that. He writes and sings like he lives, great songs that I believe will live forever."