Spotlight :
Monica Taylor
The history of
A SONGBIRD
COURTESY PHOTOS
Somewhere around 1982 , Billie Taylor gave her 14-year-old daughter a Peavey sound system .
The rest is history – a 30-year history of music performed across the world with legends like Bob Childers , Steve Ripley , Jimmy LaFave and the other “ godfathers ” of Red Dirt . “ My mom said , you need to be able to hear yourself and maybe go places to play for people , and this will help you do that . I hauled it around everywhere ,” said Monica Taylor , a Red Dirt veteran who grew up in Perkins . “ I sang in a southern gospel trio called The Messengers with Daryl Evans and Bob Duke at various churches and revivals . I learned so much about harmony and stage presence from them .”
Taylor began recording as a teenager at Lamb recording studio east of Stillwater , and later made an appearance on a Tom Skinner album recorded in the studio in the back of Daddy O ’ s Music store on Main
Street in Stillwater .
After graduating from Oklahoma State University with a degree in elementary education and a minor in broadcast journalism , Taylor taught public school in Bowring , Oklahoma , a small ranching community north of Bartlesville .
“ Then I packed up my car and moved out to the western slope of Colorado where I spent many happy Junes going to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival ,” she said . “ I needed to get out and see more of the world . That was a place that I had a lot of friends , so I knew I could ask for help in finding work .”
She lived in a cabin up on Last Dollar Road , an old trail from the 1800 ’ s that still saw sheep farmers moving their herds up and down the Sneffels mountain range .
STILLWATER OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE / 8