Old Enough to Rock
By Roberta T. Vowell, The Virginian-Pilot/The Saturday Break/9-29-07

The ROCK STAR is in trouble with his mom. "You know where I found that T-shirt?" Mom asks, handing the rock star a shirt backstage at Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater. "Balled up in the middle of a bunch of other balled-up T-shirts." Grant Austin Taylor grins up at her and pulls on the black shirt. "Thanks, mom," he says. He gives a final tug to his sneaker laces, slips through the stage door and strides to the microphone. In front of a thousand or so people, he rips his electric guitar into Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World." Fingers fly up the frets, strings wail and Grant drops a gravelly tone into his high, clear voice for the chorus. Half the audience is on its feet, screaming. The other half simply stares, jaws dropping over early afternoon beers. Grant is 12. He is studying Western Expansion in seventh grade at Norfolk's Azalea Gardens Middle School. He stands about mid-chest-high to the rest of the musicians at Lunatic Luau, a day-and-night end-of-summer rock show. He is the opening act. "This is a song I wrote," Grant tells the crowd before his next number, "when I was a kid."



12-YEAR-OLD GAINS FANS WITH MUSIC

That line always gets a laugh. But the thing is, Grant means it. He wrote the tune, a bluesy rocker called "That's The Way Life Goes," when he was 9. That was about the same time he played with the band Better Than Ezra, in front of 40,000 people in Atlanta's Olympic Park. "It was awesome," Grant said, sitting on the edge of a couch in the family's Norfolk home. "It was terrifying," said his dad, David Taylor. "The more people," Grant confided, "the easier it is." Since then, Grant has played B.B. King's Blues Club in Los Angeles. Couple times. He opened for Motley Crue and Aerosmith last year at the Beach Amphitheater. Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee, Motley Crue's two-rocker wrecking crew, watched the headliner's set from the wings with Grant. "When you've already hung out with Joe Perry-you know, Aerosmith? Guitar?-where do you go from there?" David Taylor said.

David is 50, a Norfolk firefighter who plays "a little guitar" and is still pals with the guys from his class at Booker T. Washington High. Amy Taylor, 43, is a special-needs teacher in Portsmouth. Their daughter, Blair, 16, is in high school. David has a second daughter, Ashley, 25, in California. The Taylors live near the Botanical Gardens, in a brick rancher shaded with trees. The front room of the house contains a couch and an explosion of guitars, amps, chords and speakers the size of boulders. "We used to have a regular living room," David said, settling himself on a piano bench, "but we finally just moved the furniture out and gave up." Amy remembers the moment her little boy decided to become a little rocker: Grant was 4. It was the last day of summer vacation, and she had taken the children to the oceanfront to see local performer Lewis McGehee. He played a Jimmy Buffet song. "Grant walked out," Amy said, "got some kind of serious and quiet and said, "That's what I wanna do. I wanna be a guitar player." The boy asked for music. His parents brought home used CD's and rock concert DVDs. Next thing they knew, the pre-schooler was channeling Roger Daltrey, hair-flinging, microphone-swinging lead singer for The Who.

"He was into cowboy stuff too," Amy said. "He would put on his cowboy vest, with the fringe, and no shirt, and then swing the vacuum cleaner electrical plug, like a mike." "We have it on videotape," David said, trying to hide his smile as Grant shot him a level look from his black eyes. "He was serious," David said. "It wasn't like a joke." "He was performing," Amy added. David brought home a guitar. "A toy guitar," Amy said. "It wasn't a toy guitar," David said, "just a small scale." "And Grant just started picking out chords," Amy said. "Mom," Grant said firmly, "Dad showed me some chords too."

They took him to see local bands, and he took a shine to a touring group, Better Than Ezra. Grant learned all the chords and the words to Better Than Ezra's songs. Within a year, he was onstage with the band at Town Point Park and then joined them in Atlanta. How this all happened boils down to the fact that rock'n'rollers are just big boys themselves. They got a kick," Amy said, "out of this little first-grader." "Second-grader," Grant corrected. "Yeah, second-grader," David continued, "and thought it was cute that he knew all their songs." When Grant was 6, the Taylors talked McGehee into teaching the child. The first songs he learned were "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth." Guitarist Henry Johnson also has taught him. David rounded up musician buddies and cobbled together a band for Grant's first batch of gigs.

"Great guys," David said. "A lot of my friends spent many, many hours with him for no money. But those guys can't drop their other jobs and family obligations when Grant gets a gig." So the family-Grant, actually-hired professionals. Harvey Kojan, a radio station deejay and program director, plays keyboard, and Jimmy Wiseman, who played with longtime local bands including Snackbar Jones and Blue Lords, is on bass. "I'm a hired gun," Wiseman said, "but I'm Grant's main man. I'll stick to him like glue." Wiseman brought in professional drummers, including Jason Neil of Carbon Leaf, Ralph Copely of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Scott Travis, a drummer who lives in Virginia Beach but is a member of Judas Priest. Seriously, Judas Priest, the arena-filling metal gods who practically invented leather-clad lead singers. "It was kind of humbling for a guy like him to play Waterside with an 11-year-old," David said, "but he really likes playing with Grant."

Grant is rolling into the middle of his Lunatic Luau set with a tough-edged version of "Wicked Game." At the side of the stage, a guy with tattoos up his arms and gobs of black liner around his eyes watched, fingers tapping his chin. He's Josh Todd, lead singer for Buckcherry, a hard-rocking band near the top of the bill, a band whose set list has songs like "Slit My Wrists" and "Whiskey in the Morning." "This guy is amazing," Todd says pulling in guitarist Stevie D. "He's got great pitch, just right in there." Stevie D. cocks his head, listening, a Marlboro dangling forgotten between his fingers. "Yeah," he says. "like a little Stevie Ray Vaughn." Grant swings into "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," hips swaying as he blows his harmonica. "Love his voice," Todd says. "God, he's so assured." "That bit with the harmonica," Stevie D. says. "He's working the crowd now."

The group on the side of the stage grows as word of the guitar kid circulates backstage. A couple of guys from hard rock band Tesla whisper to each other, and the lead singer from the alt-rock outfit Papa Roach is angling for a better view. Grant throws a handful of guitar picks-inscribed "grantaustintaylor.com"-into the crowd and bounces offstage. His eyes are shining as he hands his guitar to his father. "Did you see the guys from Buckcherry and Papa Roach watching me?"

Grant Austin Taylor signs autographs for 45 minutes, which probably seems a lot longer when you've got to write "Grant Austin Taylor" on every one. He's at a table at Lunatic Luau, a pile of glossies of himself in front of him, a line of faces snaking behind the amphitheater's concession area. "He's so cute," a girl in a tank top says as he signs her jeans. "You're awesome, dude," a young man in a ripped shirt says. "Is he your son?" a woman asks, waving to Amy. "He is awesome." Amy smiles. "And soooo cute," the woman continues. The Taylors watch every face in that crowd. "There's always someone that you're not sure about," David says later. "Someone taking too many pictures, or just people who have maybe had too much to drink, and they keep talking to him, and sometimes we'll say, You need to give him some space. And sometimes, the venue will have to ask them to leave." Grant nods to each person, says thanks, shakes hands, holds still for pictures. But he's not crazy about this part of the deal. While he's all rock-n-roll swagger onstage, once he's off, he's a 12-year-old boy. Which means he's had enough of sharpies and strangers.

Backstage, Grant fuels up at a buffet set out by the sponsoring radio station. He loads a huge slice of sub sandwich on a paper plate-"Grant can eat," Amy says-and picks a spot on a sunny patio with his band, away from his parents and their companions and the radio hubbub. "Sometimes," Amy says, "he'll be around all these people, all of them expecting him to talk to them, and expecting him to say something, and he just seems to need to go away by himself a little." After a while, he comes back to Amy and David, and tells them about the band he just watched. "The guitarist," Grant says, "he got up on the drum riser and lifted up his Les Paul and smashed it down on the drum kit. A Les Paul!" His parents look at him, then at each other. They are silent for a moment. "Don't," David says, "even think about it."

Grant loves Los Angeles

"My favorite place," he said, reminiscing at home. "The weather, that's 50 percent. The music business. And... I don't really know, it's pretty. Oh, and the Lamborghinis." He even worked a red carpet there, accepting an honor from a foundation called Young Artist Awards. "It was Stage Mothers 101," Grant said. "'Turn this way, look at the camera. Pose.'" He gives a rare giggle, and both parents relax into smiles.

Grant is usually very serious about his business. His business is Grant Austin Taylor, LLC, a corporation set up a few years ago. The Taylors have filed a tax return for him for the last three years. It was the only way, they say, to balance Grant's earnings with the costs of his career-instruments, gear, mileage, paying the other musicians. Grant has a state of California work permit and a Coogan account-named for child star Jackie Coogan, whose money was squandered by guardians-where all the money earned in that stage is protected. There is always pressure, from the outside, for Grant to do more, to move ahead faster. Agents and producers push business cards into the Taylor's hands at shows. The music Biz people talk about packaging and TV and how easy it would be for the boy to have a career, if only they'd move to L.A., today. But for now, the young rocker as another plan. "Grant," David said, "is a gigging musician."

ROCKING WITH THE BIG BOYS - Just 12, he's been keeping up with national musicians for years.
By: Deanne M. Bradley - LINK

GRANT AUSTIN TAYLOR doesn't say much-at least not with adults around. His dad, David Taylor, plays guitar with Grant and did most of the talking when Link stopped by. Their living room has 11 guitars, a piano, amps and more music equipment. Grant already has space reserved for a drum kit, but he's still trying to sell his dad on the idea.

RENAISSANCE MUSICIAN
Grant started playing guitar when he was 6 years old and picked up drumsticks a few years ago. Now the seventh-grader has a thing for strings, so he joined the school orchestra.

THE MUSIC
Grant plays rock, blues and some alternative. B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughn covers are crowd favorites.

"Grant can just shred out the blues," David said.

"I do this because the chicks dig it," Grant said.

ROLLING WITH THE ROCKERS
Imagine this-a second-grader playing guitar with Better Than Ezra. Grant did it. The rockers invited him to the stage at Town Point Park; then he played with them in Atlanta. When Grant played the Lunatic Luau last month, Papa Roach, Buckcherry, and others stuck around to hear him.

"The bigger they are, the nicer they are," David said.

WHAT'S NEXT?
"I want to go to Europe and California," Grant said.



Luau Report By Jeff Maisey
The Virginian-Pilot 9-21-07

Lunatic Luau 11, an annual hard-rock festival organized and promoted by WNOR-FM (98.7), had a paid attendance of 17, 000 on Saturday at the Verizon Wireless VIrginia Beach Amphitheater, which has a capacity of about 20, 000. More than 4, 500 people "walked up," or purchased tickets on the day of the show.

"That it is the biggest walkup in Luau history," said Jeremiah Xenakis, the amphitheater's director of marketing.

FM99 program director Harvey Kojan said there were numerous highlights but noted "the guys from Hinder, Papa Roach, and Buckcherry all hanging side-stage watching the Grant Austin Taylor Band rockin' out" and "Josh, Buckcherry's lead singer, handing Grant a special silver necklace."

Grant Ausitn Taylor is a 12-year-old singer-songwriter from Norfolk. Kojan plays keyboards in his band.

FM99 Lunatic Luau 11 "The Shocker" − Sept. 15th

Yes, The "Party of The Summer" is Back. And this year´s Luau has a little something for everybody: straight-ahead rock, screaming metal, a renowned ´80s band, a 12-year-old guitar whiz...even two chicks who play nuthin´ but Metallica...on harps.

Headlining will be the stars of this summer´s "Bad Boys of Rock" tour: Hinder, Papa Roach and Buck Cherry.

14th Annual Verizon American Music Festival − Sept. 1st

From Portfolio Weekly − "Twelve-year-old local guitar phenomenon Grant Austin Taylor got the crowd going with a rousing performance featuring some originals as well as bluesy takes on a range of hits, including "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and Chris Issac's "Wicked Game." A crowd of thousands seems to be nothing but a thing for Taylor, whose shy in-person demeanor (we could barely get a word out of him when he visited our office for an interview a couple of weeks ago) is replaced by a savvy stage presence befitting any budding rock star. Oh, then there's the fact that he shreds on the Les Paul with a proficiency most grown-up guitarists only dream of. The audience at AMF went wild over Taylor's solo licks and surprisingly soulful vocals." Read the full article >>

Philadelphia Soul Soul Summer Slam − Aug. 11th

Beach Football Tournament at the Schellenger Ave. Beach, Wildwood, NJ − Click here for full details!

Outrageous Young Entertainers Association Honors (O-YEAH) − Aug. 9th

Heart of Gold Entertainment & Guitars For Life Present: Outrageous Young Entertainers Association Honors (O-YEAH) featuring Antonio Pontarelli, Fredrik Strand Halland, Grant Austin Taylor, Anthony Wagner, Chris Iorio, Eliott Janz, & Special Guest Ronny North.

O-YEAH is an ongoing series of concerts featuring astonishing young musical prodigies from around the world. These young stars will inspire the audience with their virtues, performing for their charity of choice (helping children less fortunate). Tickets are $20, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting each artist´s charity.

The line-up includes Temecula, CA, teen sensation electric violinist Antonio Pontarelli, who became the Grand Champion for NBC-TV´s America´s Most Talented Kids in `05, and is currently recording original material with his band as well as actively supporting music education through the "GRAMMY Foundation." Also featuring 16 year old amazing guitarists Eliott Janz from Wisconsin; Las Vegas´ very own "guitar shredding" Chris Iorio; 12 year-old "Pride Of Virginia" singer-songwriter & guitarist Grant Austin Taylor, also America´s Most Talented Kids winner and recipient of the Young Artists Award for Outstanding Young Original Blues-Rock Artist; Fredrik Strand Halland a 13 year-old Norwegian often compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan; New Jersey´s own Anthony Wagner, he started drumming at age 4. Anthony has won several competitions including Guitar Center Drum Off. Special performance by S. Cal based adult guitarist Ronny North, who mentors many young musicians. HGE and GFL are grateful to Mills Acoustic, who is providing sound equipment for O-YEAH and endorses both North and Pontarelli.

Grant Austin Taylor wins Outstanding Young Original Blues-Rock Artist Award

Grant attended the red carpet event Saturday, March 10th 2007, in Studio City, CA to receive a special award for the most "Outstanding Young Original Blues-Rock Artist." Grant performed his original "Make This Love Last" along with James Taylor's "Steamroller." Click here for more >>


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