"The King Cross Street Connection"

"I never thought that Greenville, SC, by way of St. Croix was the secret pathway to musical success," says platinum-selling singer/songwriter Edwin McCain. "Taylor Moore and I share the underground King Cross Street connection. The adventurer's spirit and the sailor's soul, cradled by the well-worn Blue Ridge Mountains." Though the wanderlust-stricken McCain -- whose hits include "I'll Be," "I Could Not Ask For More" and "Solitude" -- tours 200-plus nights out of the year, he was born in Greenville, SC, where Moore, the Caribbean journalist-turned full-time guitar-slinger, songwriter and bandleader now calls home. The two crossed paths navigating the burgeoning Carolina music scene in 2010 -- McCain the veteran troubadour and Moore the moxie-laden, roadrunning newcomer -- where they learned of that "King Cross Street connection." Both had lived just blocks away from one another in Christiansted, St. Croix, USVI, though in different eras. "I want to see myself in him... but I could never play electric guitar like Taylor," McCain says. "I have promised myself not to hover over him like a big brother, but I can't help but feel proud of his musical future. There is a band of silver that only a few wear that comes with a wink and a nod. Taylor has reminded me to get mine out of my lock box and dream that blue water dream and sing a salty tune."

But Taylor's not only stirring up recognition among his fellow musicial compatriots, but the critics as well. According to the Atlanta Music Guide,“Moore absolutely beats his guitar senseless when he plays, and you would think that would take away from the energy he exudes in his singing; quite the contrary…,” while Metromix Greenville says: “Now Greenville-based, Moore infuses post-Stevie Ray Vaughn licks—SRV acolyte Chris Duarte is a major influence—with Caribbean spirit.” Moore takes such spirit across the Southeast, to musical hotbeds like Atlanta or Athens, GA, Asheville, NC and Charleston, Columbia and Greenville, SC. He considers his second home the island of St. Croix, where he frequents and tours.

Recent review of The Taylor Moore Band by John Jeter, novelist and owner of The Handlebar: A Listening Room in Greenville, S.C.: "Taylor Moore: The Complete Box Set."

"Taylor Moore lived the life, still does. For several years, he knocked around the Virgin Islands, playing gigs here and there, sharpening his guitar axe, wastin’ away and searchin’ for a lost shaker of some damn thing. He’s a good lookin’ fella, too. Has those golden frat-boy looks, Tom Cruise smile, Caribbean-sea eyes—all that. Then, something happened. Taylor moved back to Greenville, South Carolina, closer to family, and he got a little fire in the belly. He got a little yearnin’ to burn, wanting to make a name for himself in the music business. No sooner can you say, “Jimi Hendrix,” the boy’s smokin’ bars like homies lighting up blunts on a street corner. There he is in bars and concert halls, the girls getting’ all jiggy wid’ it and the guys wondering who the blues-rock guitar slinger is that’s turning the chicks inside out. Well, see, he’s also hooked up with Matt Holmes, too, another young Brat Pack-lookalike, one of those bicycle-racer types with the lean physique and the clean-cut good looks you would never expect to see … in a drummer. Now that youngster can clean the skins. Sort of a Charlie Watts-meets-Buddy Miles style of drummer—a white boy whose wrists and hands do all the work, keeps the beat and flat-out rocks with a strong blues backbeat. Meantime, Taylor’s slicing through rock and blues numbers like he’s actually having fun. He even puts spaces between notes (imagine that!). He writes his own songs, tunes that don’t have that same-ol’ same-ol’ three-chord blues humdrum sound, material with a party-your-ass-off island vibe that’s a nod to the days (and nights) when he was flip-flopping through Margaritaville and looking for rock that wasn’t all fizzy pop. Taylor’s a pro; when he and his band covered Santana’s star-making “Soul Sacrifice” at a recent Woodstock tribute, the trio flat freaked people out. And that’s just the music side. Along the way, see, Taylor got smart with the business part of the music business. Like a good ‘rita, which takes quality ingredients (crappy tequila and low-rent lime juice make little better than a nasty hangover), Taylor’s figured out that the music business is 90% business and 10% music. No problem with the latter, and he’s got the brains, drive and moxie to work the former. Complete box set. Okay, sure “Taylor Moore” might sound like one of those cheap pink wines you can buy by the carton. But, what the hell, chilled and poured out at a picnic with some fiery drumsticks? Whole thing’ll light you up. Just like Taylor, whose first few spicy, even incendiary licks will keep you coming back for … Moore."
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Taylor Moore Music