Monica Taylor

Check out Monica's latest video here!  Rescues

Monica and her partner Travis are in the area playing Four Corners Folk Fest and are excited to play a gig (maybe two if we're lucky) at the Brewery.  These amazing musicians have traveled from Oklahoma, so we hope to give them a warm Colorado welcome.  

Hailing from different regions of Oklahoma, Monica, the Cimarron River Valley in Perkins, OK,

and Travis from Northeastern "green country" of Oklahoma, (Muskogee and Tahlequah), each

artist come to the table with their own unique musical influences and performance traditions.

Monica grew up with Southern Gospel and Bluegrass as her primary influences. From an early

age, Taylor sought out the performers and songwriters she was hearing on the airwaves and

recorded music. One formative moment occurred at the Sander's Family Bluegrass festival in

McAlester, Oklahoma, when Monica age 12, who had been playing guitar for 3 years, waited

offstage for the legendary Bill Monroe to finish his performance. After waiting in the wings,

Monica, asked for Monroe's autograph. Taylor said, "I've been playing your songs on my guitar

and I love bluegrass!" He told her "that's great that the younger generation is playing these old

songs.

Then a sweat-drenched Bill Monroe gave Taylor a hug leaving Monica's entire left side

covered with sweat. She vowed to never take a bath again!

Travis similarly was surrounded by a variety of musical styles in his youth. Blues, Jazz early

east coast R&B and outlaw country were some of the sounds coming from the record player.

Leo Kottke, once a resident of Muskogee in his youth, was a friend of Travis' father. It was not

uncommon for Leo to "drop in" during the 1970's while he was touring the country to spend

an entire night playing acoustic music to a small group of friends sitting cross legged on the

floor in the the Fite's residence. "Leo would just show up and usually play all night long," says

Fite, "just a free-flow of his best solo material. That was the first time I heard someone play

slide guitar in person, when I was about 6 or 7. I remember his frenetic blues-folk slide sound

resonating with me at a very earty age.

In 2009, Monica enlisted the help of producer and multi-instrumentalist,