Otis Taylor

It's not everyday that you come across a blues music legend who has featured on television programmes, films and even has a selection of instruments dedicated to them... well step forward Otis Taylor. The 66-year old is indeed a very talented musician, having been known to pluck the guitar and banjo as well as blow on the harmonica in a tuneful manner. Otis has released 13 albums in total, the most recent of which made its début in February 2013 entitled 'My World Is Gone'. The man himself played the Philadelphia Folk Festival in the same year and introduced himself with the song Ran So Hard, which contained one of the funkiest and complex repeated guitar riffs I have heard in this particular genre of music. A nice touch was also the back and forth solo playing between Otis's banjo and fiddle player Anne Harris. Despite being a pensioner, Otis easily managed to keep the energy levels up in the audience between songs by being informative and also witty. The song 10 million slaves was also a great hit, where the song had an almost psychedelic vibe due to sound of the guitar. Otis plays the guitar strings in quite a unique way, a similar style that he uses for playing the banjo, and thus produces a very upbeat and funky rhythm. My personal favourite was the song 'Hey Joe', probably most known to people for being a Jimi Hendrix hit. However, Otis put his own unique spin on the tune and made it more soulful with the assistance of a fiddle and his deep yet soothing voice. It was overall a very enjoyable performance and I can't wait to see where he will tour next!