Terry Scott Taylor by Terry Taylor

Calendar Winter/Spring 1987

Terry Scott Taylor

Calendar Winter/Spring 1987

by Terry Taylor


Hello. I'm Terry Taylor. I've been "firmly" instructed by my record company to conduct my own interview; ask my own questions; report my own insights. This is not a device that I am entirely comfortable with. Mind you, I'm certainly not against "plugging" my own record entitled A Briefing for the Ascent, but I can't quite bring myself to "toot my own horn," which is by and large what this request requires. But you know those marketing types, they felt it would be clever if I represented the interviewer and the "interviewee."

They caught me on a lousy day. Perhaps I'm subconsiously contemplating D. A.'s underrated role in redefining of the term "contemporary Christian music." (not found in any concordance) "D. A." (formerly Daniel Amos) is a band I've spent ten years leading through the quagmire of varying degrees of public scorn and misunderstanding. Those same record company guys felt I should do this so-called interview to clear up some misconceptions about me, and the important value of my solo album, A Briefing for the Ascent.

I have been called everything from "enigmatic" to "wierd." I do admit to rather eclectic tastes and while the musical controversy lingers on, it has helped me to understand a little about human nature. I realize that many stores who may not have carried D. A. albums in the past may very well not carry Terry Taylor albums. But I do hope that my solo project will do well.

During this last year, I lost someone in my family who was very dear to me. Out of that myriad of emotions one experiences through trial and loss, birth the heart of A Briefing for the Ascent. This record is kind of a self-reflection, a "fairy tale for adults." A record of "everyman's" loss, a record of "everyman's" dreams. The "baptism of imagination" is like the wind; coming and going, it seems to me, at will. This record is my latest baptism - our Lord being the Baptiser. This "immersion," however, escapes me at the present W. B. Yeats mood I'm in: "Things fall apart, the center cannot hold... the cerimony of innocence is drowned, the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. Surely some revelation is at hand. Surely the Second Coming is at hand."

Interviewer: Mr. Taylor, what do you think of your latest album?" Mr. Taylor: "It's good."