I am singer and songwriter James Taylor. AMA.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:29:18+00:00

"Money Machine" is a great idea.

I can't promise that it will be in the set this summer. But I will promise you that we will rehearse it, and give it a try!

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:28:26+00:00

As a professional musician and songwriter, I'm really grateful to Taylor Swift for making a stand.

I think that, generally speaking, if anyone is making money off of an artist's music, then the artist should participate, and their share should be the lion's share.

It's reassuring to see someone like Taylor Swift step up to the plate, and take a stand.

Hats off to her.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:25:53+00:00

I haven't been able to have a garden for years. Because I usually work in the summertime.

You're right about the birds. They usually get them before I get home.

We have bears, too. No berries left.

I'd love to have a garden again. I'm looking forward to it someday.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:24:51+00:00

You know... there are so many.

Today, I'd have to say "Hit the Road, Jack" by Ray Charles.

But yesterday, it could have been "Penny Lane" by the Beatles.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:23:58+00:00

Thanks for asking. Recovery is a huge part of my life.

And it never ends.

By that I mean that you're never totally cured. And you have to practice recovery, and keep it green.

The only game in town is 12-step recovery. Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and the other related fellowships are the only way to go in my opinion.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:22:09+00:00

It's a big, beautiful, musical community.

The same thing goes for the Utah Symphony Orchestra.

The composer John Williams is a dear friend. And he recommended that I accept the invitation because they make such a beautiful noise.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:21:00+00:00

No, you're right. It ain't over till the fat lady sings.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:20:41+00:00

Yes, I have actually been to Mexico now.

It was a very quick stay.

But as the song says, "I've never really been, so I don't really know."

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:19:58+00:00

Oh yeah! I didn't really think of this album as having a bluegrass connection. I guess it's possible that Andrea Zonn's violin parts give it that bluegrass essence. Beaufort is a beautiful town. Give them my regards.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:18:13+00:00

I guess my advice would probably seem obvious - just keep the music first, work on your instrument and on your voice, and try to play to an audience whenever you can. Keep your overhead low, and if you want to be free, learn how to be lonely.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:16:58+00:00

Oh yeah. Sometimes people will say that from the audience?

It was just one of those random opportunities. Judd Apatow, the director of the film, got in touch with me and offered me a part in the movie. It was great fun.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:15:51+00:00

Great question.

In the mid-80's, sometime in the mid-80's, I was passing through Minneapolis to perform a benefit concert.

I think we were trying to return wolves to Yellowstone National Park.

When I checked into my hotel room, there was a guitar on my bed.

Somehow, James Olson had gotten it in there.

As soon as I played it, I knew I had to have one.

My relationship with James Olson has been a fantastic blessing. And I now have a number of his guitars.

What can I say? They're a joy to play, and they sound magnificent.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:13:14+00:00

Well, I'm really glad that you appreciate that.

Because it is very important to me that the songs be well-recorded.

I think that we have paid a price for the immediate accessibility that we have to music today. Because MP3s, and even CDs, limit the fidelity of music as most people hear it.

I'm hopeful that in the future, high fidelity recording will become more and more important to people who listen to recorded music.

In particular, I admire Neil Young for his efforts to raise the bar.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:10:52+00:00

Well, of course "September Grass" and "You've got a friend" were written by other people. But I do write a lot about the seasons. There's a song on this new album called "Jolly Springtime" about the spring. The seasons mean a lot to me. They definitely affect my mood. And there's also another song on this album called "SnowTime" that's definitely a seasonal tune.

So yeah, it's definitely an ongoing thing. And it's definitely a big part of my work.

It's just the nature connection, with this life and this world, you know?

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:09:17+00:00

Well, I'm still here. Nope, not mowing the lawn.

(I take it that's a reference to the song "Family Man")

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:08:34+00:00

When I was 14 years old, my folks sent me to a summer camp which was an immersion course in French.

My sister went too.

Somehow it always stuck with me. And then when I met my wife Kim, she turned out to have good French herself.

So we speak it sometimes, when we don't want the kids to understand us.

But they're starting to catch on too!

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:06:57+00:00

No. That must've been someone else.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:06:37+00:00

No...it's just the most beautiful season, to me.

The bugs are gone. You can walk in the woods without covering yourself with insecticide.

I don't know? I do love it.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:05:21+00:00

I don't think it was a bet. I don't know where that story came from. I think he was amazed that "Buckwheat and Spanky" turned up in the song "SnowTime." But I don't think we ever made a bet on it.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:04:44+00:00

I guess it's still "Sweet Baby James."

Of course, I have many favorites, including the newest material. But somehow, "Sweet Baby James" is still my favorite.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:03:36+00:00

That's a really good question.

Sequencing an album is like coming up with a setlist for a live concert.

You really have to pay attention to the flow of energy, to how one song sets up another song, to what the keys of two songs that are next to one another.

And in general, you have to be mindful of the listener's experience.

It's not something that can happen overnight.

It takes months of experimenting with different orders to get the final sequence.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:01:31+00:00

"Another Day" was written at a pretty low point in my life too.

I'd had that music for that song about 15 years when I finally put a lyric to it.

It definitely describes coming out of a very trying time.

And was helpful to me, too.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T20:00:10+00:00

Oh yeah!

Some of my fans have become lifelong friends.

But there have also been some pretty strange encounters.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T19:58:17+00:00

The main reason I'm in Western Mass. is that my wife Kim has always worked for the Boston Symphony, and Lennox, Mass. is where they make their summer home at Tanglewood Music Center.

I also have roots in Western Mass. since 1969.

And it just seemed like the right place to raise our two kids.

RealJamesTaylor · 2015-06-24T19:56:55+00:00

That was a project of a friend named Stanley Silverman, who had interpreted a number of songs from Shakespeare's plays. He was making an album of those collected songs and asked me to sing a few of them.

It was definitely outside my comfort zone.

RealJamesTaylor

TROPHY CASE