Triple Take 25: Maria Taylor

You might recognize her from Little Red Rocket. Or Azure Ray. Or Now It’s Overhead. Or Bright Eyes. Birmingham-raised Maria Taylor has already lived many musical lives. With Friday’s release of “In the Next Life,” she has seven solo albums to her credit, in addition to the many bands and collaborations she’s been part of over … Continue reading Triple Take 25: Maria Taylor

Maria Taylor photo courtesy of Liz Bretz

You might recognize her from Little Red Rocket. Or Azure Ray. Or Now It’s Overhead. Or Bright Eyes.

Birmingham-raised Maria Taylor has already lived many musical lives. With Friday’s release of “In the Next Life,” she has seven solo albums to her credit, in addition to the many bands and collaborations she’s been part of over the years.

Taylor’s newest effort includes the work of several past collaborators, including producer Nik Freitas, mixing by Andy LeMaster and vocals by her brother, Macey Taylor. It arrives three years after her last album, “Something About Knowing.” Since then, she’s given birth to a second son and relocated from Birmingham to Los Angeles.

“I think that’s why this record is so precious to me. It took a long time,” Taylor says. “I found these little nuggets of time and I really used my time wisely. I had to find more discipline, too.”

Taylor is the latest guest on Triple Take, the podcast where we discuss how books, albums and films shape us. She had trouble picking just one item in each category. Her movie picks are “Parenthood” and “Shortcuts”; her books are “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” by Jonathan Safran Foer and “Wherever You Go, My Love Will Find You” by Nancy Tillman; and her album, Carole King’s “Tapestry.”

On the films “Parenthood” and “Shortcuts”:

“I have so many friends in different parts of the world and I’ve lived in so many different places, and they all connect in some way, and I love that. So maybe I find some kind of similarity in those kinds of music and my life.”

On “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” by Jonathan Safran Foer: 

“When you’re dealing with death, you always find comfort when you’re reading or listening to music or when you find art. Or just hearing other people, other stories of how they’ve dealt with death.”

On Carole King’s “Tapestry”:

“She wasn’t trying to be anything but herself. You listen to it and you automatically know who Carole King was. It was so warm, so warm and honest. So I felt like I knew right then, that’s the kind of artist I wanted to be.”

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