CMT Blog: Archive

When Benjamin Taylor was a kid, his dad would go around the house singing one particular line from George Jones' "Things Have Gone to Pieces," over and over. "I don't think he knew the words to it, except for the part that was like, ‘I got nothing in my pocket except three nickels and a dii-ii-ime.' It sounded so much like Sam Cooke to me," says Taylor. "It was the first thing that really turned me on to country music in that soulful way, and the first time I really dug it and how soulful it really was."

Benjamin Taylor's dad is James Taylor. His mom is Carly Simon. And although Benjamin considers himself a "kung-folk" singer-songwriter, he says that Alison Krauss is "my No. 1 favorite singer" and remains a big fan of Willie Nelson and Hank Williams.

"Willie Nelson -- I was always a fan of his character as much as his music. About five or six years ago I got to open up for him at the House of Blues. That was a real experience. First, he was gracious. Not everybody you open for is that gracious. He had me on the bus and smoked me out. And then the next thing I knew, he got on stage and played this show that was stopless. He just came out and started going. It was like, ‘Now that is performance and that is a performer.' I think he's my favorite. He's one of those guys who's effortlessly soulful. He couldn't do something that wasn't soulful, because it's not in him."

Taylor also jokes that he had to overcome his envy when an old girlfriend was crazy about Hank Williams. "It took me a while to come around. I was jealous a little bit," he says with a laugh. "You can't resist for too long."