Meet Taylon Hope | Singer/Performer/Songwriter and Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Taylon Hope and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Taylon, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I would have to say the most important factors behind my success would be putting God and family first on this journey, working hard constantly, and choosing a team that loves and supports you as a person and as an artist. I started this journey singing in church and I want to always stay true to my faith and never forget where it all started for me. My family has truly been a force behind me. My parents saw what music meant so much to me and they believed in me so much that they moved their own lives to help me accomplished what I wanted to do with my career. I can’t say enough about building your music team and making sure you have good and genuine people behind you who sincerely care about you first then your music. This journey can be like a roller coaster so many highs and lows and without God, family, and an amazing team it would be difficult to travel. I am blessed to have these important factors in my life and they most definitely have contributed to my success in my life and in my music career!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My story really began as I was performing in church when I was really young and I just loved music. I started playing guitar when I was 7 and piano by age 12. I could hear music and I just wanted to do it all the time. I loved performing and watching others enjoy my songs and music together. I met my producer when I was 11.

I met my producer Kent through a wonderful lady named Ruth at Franklin Methodist Church. I was eleven, had written some of my own songs, and was eager to find someone to help me record those. As I walked into the studio for the first time, I was so excited to think of recording my own songs. However, I had no idea I was walking into a wall full of platinum albums by Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire. I mean, knowing my background and love for these artists, you can imagine my face. Kent walked out from the back, and I knew immediately we got each other. Kent was real, approachable, a dreamer like me, and he got country music and the roots where it comes from. That first day I met Kent, we went to the back of the studio, and I played piano for him and sang some of my favorite songs. We immediately started working together and have never stopped. I admire and value him so much as an amazing producer, mentor, and friend who is like family to me

I met Dolly Parton with Kent, and for sure, that was an iconic moment for me. Dolly was everything I dreamed about. She was so real, approachable, and kind to me. She got my dreams as well. One of the moments that will forever be one of my most treasured memories was being an artist to open for Dolly Parton at the age of 15 at the Ryman.

The opportunities I have had to use music to help or heal others have truly been some of my most rewarding experiences. In North Carolina, I knew many family and church members who had used the Ronald McDonald house as somewhere to stay as they had family members battling Cancer or life-threatening illnesses. I asked my parents at Christmas if I could go sing. My mom reached out, and I began going once a month. I was so shocked at the impact that music had on families that we were visiting with. The families soon became like family to me, and I kept up with the patients and how they were doing. As I watched what these families had to endure as they helped their sick loved ones, I appreciated so much that the Ronald McDonald House was providing them with a beautiful, comfortable home, food and meeting all their needs. When I moved to Nashville, finding the Ronald McDonald House here was so important to me. I began performing there the first year we moved to Nashville. Little did I know that my family would face these same battles as we so quickly lost my grandfather to bone cancer in less than four months after our move to Nashville. So, I understood even more their stories and what was happening to their families.

I recently began working and volunteering here in Nashville for Musicians On Call. I can’t describe what it feels like to take your guitar in the hospital and use music to give hope and healing and bring a smile to a patient’s face. To help them escape their pain or situation through singing together and sharing music. It’s just what God would want us to do with the gifts he gives us. Music is a language we can all share, and it brings us together, reminding us that we are in this life together. Don’t get me wrong, some of it is hard, for example, when you’re turned away because someone your age is too sick for the day. However, I take that as a time to pray for that person and pray that on that day, there is someone else I can visit with and help smile and connect with through music. On my last visit, they let me sing to all the newborn babies born that day, and the new parents were all crying because it was such an amazing day in their lives. I sang the song from the TV show Nashville called “A Life That Is Good.” It was a cool moment where time seemed to stand still for just a few minutes. I feel very strongly that if you are given gifts, it’s your responsibility to use those to give back to others. I want to always do that through my music!

I think what sets me apart is my country sound and being true to who I am in my writing. I would say I am a mix of a modern country voice with a songwriters heart for 90’s country where stories were really told. Has it been easy for sure no. It’s work constant work and sacrifices. There are so many highs and lows in the industry. But you have to know the goal you are working for and that it happen in God’s timing. I have been blessed with alot of mentors in this industry who have met it. I take in their advice and I listen. I really admire stories like Lainey Wilson. Lainey came from a small town like me. She for sure lived sacrifices but she never gave up and believed in herself and her songs. Now she has others believing and is doing what she loves everyday. As Lainey said my favorite quote, “If your gonna be a dreamer you better be a doer”! I overcome challenges by prayer, learning on family, friend in the industry, church, and taking good care of myself through running and working out. I have learned that you have to take this journey one day at a time and make sure you are still loving music and what you do. If it becomes a chore its not fun anymore. I want the world to know I am who I am. I am real and true to myself and my songs. I want others to relate to my stories I sing and I want those songs to make a positive difference in their life. I want them to sing them in their cars and feel the words. A dream would be to one day watch them sing those songs with me! I pull from my roots and things that ware important to me in my music and I think I always will.

I am proud of how I have built a name for myself in music. I had the honor of playing the Grand Ole Opry several times and opened at the Ryman Auditorium for Dolly Parton. I am a regular performer at the Listening Room and as a writer that was always a goal of mine. Recently I have joined Musicians On Call and I am singing each month local hospitals to children and adults who are overcoming Cancer or other disabling illnesses. This has been one of my favorite organizations that I have been involved in ever. This has been such a rewarding experience and has blessed my life. It’s a honor to have others come up to you and say your song is on repeat on their playlist that is a full circle moment for sure.

I would have to say I have two favorite venues, and when I am on stage at these venues, I know I am doing what I love most. I have performed at the Grand Ole Opry on three occasions, my first being for the Ralph Stanley Tribute. Singing at the Grand Ole Opry is like no other stage to perform on because you can feel the tradition, the history, and the love for music when you are on that stage. It’s like the feeling of being home and with family. The crowd, the artists, and the staff at the Opry are all in it together; it’s a shared experience you won’t ever forget.

Secondly, the Listening Room. That stage has become such a home for me, and I have such respect for it. I have been blessed to play at The Listening Room as an ongoing artist. The Listening Room is such a special place in that the respect shown for the songwriters is how it should be. People come to really hear your words and to understand and connect with your song. When I started leading my own writing rounds and having “Taylon Hope” and friends begin at the Listening Room, that was a dream come true. I know, at that moment, I am doing something I love dearly. When the video comes on there, and we take our stool to share our songs, it’s a gift every time. That connection with the crowd is something vulnerable and special. I will never take that for granted.

Fans can expect new music very soon, within the next month. I will be releasing a new single that I produced with Smith Currey. I have tried to become more vulnerable and real in my writing, and I think this shows in these new songs. In the New Year, I will be releasing my 5th album, and I am really excited about this one! I also plan to begin touring again. Going through Covid was one of the most difficult times throughout my music career. It was that way for all of us as artists. I mean, we are entertainers, and we could not do what we loved. So, like most, I went to the internet as a way of performing and created “Tuesdays with Taylon” where I came on to sing and check in with everyone every Tuesday. That experience gave me so much as I had missed traveling and entertaining. So, now that I am settled in college, I hope you will see me traveling to some new and larger venues on the weekends. I have new merch coming out and will continue performing around the Franklin and Nashville area. I feel like I have been working to gain all the experience since I was very young, and now it’s time to put all of that to use and go for it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Oh this is a fun question! We would most definitely visit the Listening Room so we could hear some of the most amazing songwriters sing their songs. Performing at the Listening Room is one of my favorite things I do in Nashville. Then we would put on our jeans and go down to the Boot Barn on Broadway and buy us some great boots and hats. Then we would head on over to the Wildhorse restaurant where we could take line dancing lessons and dance the night away! We would then spend the next night dressing up and visiting the Grand Ole Opry for a night show and possibly heading down to Deacons in Nashville for dinner. The next day we would go tour sweet downtown Franklin, TN for shopping, ice cream, and then head on out to Leiper’s Fork for open mic. night. Another day we would go into the studio and write together and maybe even record a song or a favorite cover we love. Our last night we would head to the Bridgestone for a concert with Mr. Eric Church.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would have to say my family especially my parents. Our roots were in a beautiful small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Truly God’s country as its beautiful there. You have all four seasons and each is beautiful in its own way. Our family was there grandparents, my Uncle, cousins, our church, and our church family. My parents had bought their dream home and both had great jobs within a mile of our home. However, as my music continued to progress they traveled constantly getting me to important performances. I recall one night we drove to do the Blue Bird all in one night. It was my first night performing there and they knew how important it was to me. We traveled home and got home at like 5:00 a.m. and still went to school and work. It came to a point where they knew I had to move closer to my writers and producers or I could not move forward. As a family we decided to move to Franklin, TN right outside of Nashville. It was an adjustment for all of us especially my parents. We had a new home, new school, new jobs, and had left our own support system in NC. However, the move has offered me opportunities of a life time and I needed to be here to accomplish alot of my goals especially in writing. The love my parents have shown me in making these sacrifices is something I cherish. It’s what family is truly about and loving someone is about. I will never forget what they have done for me and continue to do for me. They have been my push and they believe in me no matter what where my music is. They pray for me, they travel, they carry guitars, and they are just always there for me. They are a true force in my life and I could not do this journey without them! I love them so much and I know how blessed I am to have this kind of support! We are a team and music is just a huge part of who we are.

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Image Credits
Feiten Photography