The first time I ever even heard the name was less than a year ago from Ray Perrone, who, at the time was with Old School OC Band. One of the things you’ll notice with bands is that there always seems to be personnel changes going on for a myriad of reasons. An opening for a lead guitar player came about with Old School, when Mike Smith departed, and Ray said to me that he thought they found their new lead guitar player. I said who’s that? He said, Taylor Knox. I said, who’s that? And he commenced to give me all of Taylor’s credentials right there. I said, whoa, I got to hear this guy. Ray has since left the band and formed another band called It’s About Time with himself on drums, Ted Gelinas on bass and Dave Tarlecki on lead guitar and vocals.
    So, while he was still with Old School, Ray convinces me to come out and hear Taylor on lead guitar and vocals. Honestly, I thought to myself that any lead guitar player, 25  years old, with a degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston, is going to have a bit of an ego to deal with until he’s lived a little bit of life. Well, anyone who has met, or is friends with Taylor, already knows that nothing could be further from the truth. He’s got it all: talent, skill, passion, work ethic, an ability to play pretty much anything on the fly, good looks, high energy and charisma. But, what is most noticeable about Taylor is that his feet are firmly planted on the ground. He is a man of good character, humble, if you will.

RandyJamz: Taylor, how did you get your start in music?
Taylor Knox: My dad got me a Fender Squire Strat and told me that since he got it for me, I was going to use it. So I took lessons over at Millsboro Music from a guy named John Clifton, who happened to be a great teacher who got me going on my way to  playing guitar. I also played trumpet and bass drum in school. I did that through my middle school years and in high school, I decided that this was what I wanted to do.
RJ: Tell me about your high school years.
TK: I was playing more and more and actually forming a band here and there, and started playing out. I would go to the open mics in the Bethany Beach area and meet other musicians and I got used to playing in front of others. It was a total surprise to me when some folks told me that they would come out every week just to hear me play. I was like, whoa, I never expected that. But, in and around high school, I started to develop my own identity as musician and guitar player. I didn’t major in music in high school but, I was in the school band, and in my senior year, I had a free period, so I always spent it in the music room perfecting my sight reading and other techniques. In fact, when I was ready to graduate, in the yearbook, I got the fame of being best musician and most likely to be a rock star.
RJ: Wow! What came first, your vision in your mind as rock star or your peers seeing you as a future rock star?
TK: There was a little room in my  parents house and I spent a whole lot of time in there practicing for hours on end. I think the music always came first. I never really saw myself as a rock star. But, as I was playing those open mics at the Chalkboard, which is now called Turquoise, my vision of what I could do with music began to form.
RJ: Tell me about your experience at Berklee. Were you intimidated at all?
TK: Oh yeah. When you play locally, you reach a certain point of expertise and you tend to establish your place. Getting up to Berklee opened my eyes, big time. It was definitely intimidating at first because a school like that attracts the best musicians in the region and across the globe. It was a bit rough, albeit awesome, at the same time. I lived in various parts of Boston and got to meet lots of people from all over the world. So, for the people and musical experiences, Berklee was the best thing that could have happened to me. I took four semesters of ear training which really helped a lot. Also, every corner you turn, you run into someone who is really good. You walk outside and there is a horn player just standing there playing and he is as skilled as anyone you’ve ever heard.
RJ: Is it tough to get into Berklee?
TK: Totally. Not only is the audition really tough but, every semester you had to play in front of this board of guitar player/teachers. This group of people could hear every single note you were playing. I was able to get through all of that and move on year by year. I recommend it to anyone who wants to pursue a professional career in music.
RJ: Did you play out when you got to Berklee?
TK: I started a band called The Relevant Elephant with my roommate who was a bass player. We got gigs every month for a year and then we got an offer to tour Australia. I was into it but, there were a whole lot of unknowns, as far as number of gigs and how much money we would be paid. I really didn’t care. I was ready to throw caution to the wind and go for it, primarily for the experience. However, I got out-voted by the more conservative of those in the band who decided not to do the Australia trip. Once that happened, I realized this band wasn’t going where I wanted to go. So, I decided to come back here to the beach and play in the summer time and Relevant Elephant dissolved.
RJ: Are you composing any original material?
TK: Every day. Sometimes I just sit in front of my computer and and just write. I never know which direction it’s going to go. It all depends on what I’m feeling that day. Oftentimes it might just be some melodies on guitar that develop. It seems the melody comes easier to me more so than lyrics. I guess that’s because I always seem to be noodling on the guitar. I like to record myself playing as much as possible and you really learn a lot about yourself when you go back and listen.
RJ: There’s a lot more that this young artist has to share and we may in a second part of this interview for the next issue.
    Get out and see Taylor Knox just as soon as you can. He is currently performing as a solo artist under his own name, as a duo with Brant Andrew and as lead guitar and vocals with Old School OC Band. In fact, I’ll be heading down to BJ’s on the Water as soon as I sign off on this article to go see Old School from 5- 8PM. You can catch them at the VFW in Ocean View on Saturday night.


RandyJamz is the frontman for The RandyJamz Band and half of the duo with, The Baltimore Boyz, featuring Jay Vizzini. Available for gigs of all types as a solo, duo, and full band act. If you would like to be interviewed for a Meet The Band article, contact him at: randy@randyjamz.com.