Chad Taylor is a highly accomplished and respected professional with extensive experience in business, politics, and community service. He is also known for his contributions to the music industry. This biography explores the various facets of his life and career.
Chad Taylor: Musician
Chad Taylor (born 1970 or 1971) is an American guitarist and backing vocalist. He is known for his work with the band The Gracious Few and as the former guitarist for the band Live. Taylor was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the band Live and appeared on all their albums until June 2022. He met his Live bandmates at the age of 13 in middle school in York, Pennsylvania.
When vocalist Ed Kowalczyk left the band in 2009, Taylor formed the band The Gracious Few along with Live bandmates Patrick Dahlheimer and Chad Gracey, as well as Kevin Martin and Sean Hennesy from Candlebox. They released their debut album, The Gracious Few, in 2010. In 2011, he announced that Live would reform without Kowalczyk.
Taylor has also produced records for other artists, including the 1996 album Happily Ever After by Solution A.D.
In May 2023, Taylor accepted a friend's invitation to sing and play guitar at a small brewpub in Wrightsville, Pennsylvania.
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Chad Taylor performing with The Gracious Few.
Honest Man
Chad Taylor: Family Life
Taylor is married to Lisa, a yoga practitioner. They have three children: Ruby Lou, Scarlett, and Delilah.
Chad Taylor: Other Musical Ventures
Chad Taylor (b. 1973) is also a composer, educator, percussionist and scholar who is a co-founder of the Chicago Underground ensembles. Originally from Tempe, AZ, Chad grew up in Chicago where he started performing professionally at the age of 16. Chad has performed with Fred Anderson, Derek Bailey, Cooper-Moore, Pharoah Sanders, Marc Ribot, Peter Brotzmann, Malachi Favors and many others.
Chad Taylor is incredibly active, leading, co-leading, and appearing as a special guest on numerous new albums in 2025. His versatility and ubiquity in the music scene are noteworthy.
Chad Taylor: Businessman and Public Servant
Alongside his wife Coralee, Chad has been married for 24 years and has raised two successful children, Amber and Franklin. Currently, Chad holds the position of Publisher at CT Publishing, a news organization with a wide range of newspaper assets in Centralia, Yelm, and Battle Ground. The Reflector, The Chronicle, and The Nisqually Valley News are just a few of the well-known publications under his leadership.
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In addition, Chad serves as the CEO of The Silver Agency, a reputable marketing firm based in Chehalis. Chad's outstanding record of public service is equally impressive, having served on the Chehalis City Council for 19 years. During his tenure, he was honored to be elected as Mayor ProTem for two terms before his retirement in February 2021.
Chad's extensive business acumen, coupled with his deep commitment to community service and family values, are the hallmarks of his professional success.
Chad Taylor, Publisher at CT Publishing and CEO of The Silver Agency.
Chad Taylor: New Zealand Author
Chad Taylor is also a New Zealand author of novels, short stories, and screenplays. He was born in Auckland and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts. He was the recipient of the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship for literature in 2001 and the University of Auckland Literary Fellow in 2003. His work has been translated into German, Italian, and French.
In 2006, he was one of 12 New Zealand authors invited to tour France for Les Belles Etrangeres. He appeared at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2012.
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Literary Style and Themes
Taylor's style can be described as neo-noir. His themes include murder and love, sex, reality, identity, and life in an intense, urban environment. He is known as a writer of uncompromisingly contemporary fictions of transience and shifting realities in the modern city.
His fictions often work on the edge of conventions such as the murder story (No Sun, No Rain), futuristic fantasy (Somewhere in the 21st Century), or romance triangle (Pack of Lies, Calling Doctor Dollywell), often through unreliable or unattractive narrators.
Much more ambitious, and weaving a seductive web of existential anomie, is Chad Taylor's Shirker, a fascinating and obsessive novel from New Zealand with shades of Paul Auster's New York Trilogy. Ellerslie Penrose, a part-time futures broker, finds a junkie's body in an Auckland dumpster, steals his wallet, and embarks on a hallucinatory journey into the shadow life of the dead man. This brings him into contact with fantasy bordellos, mysterious manuscripts, bizarre antiques dealers, and a sleazy nest of quirky happenstance.
Book cover of "Shirker" by Chad Taylor.
Adaptations and Screenplays
In 1998, his novel Heaven was made into a feature film by Miramax. The film was produced by Sue Rogers and directed by Scott Reynolds, featuring a mix of New Zealand and American actors.
In 2013, New Zealand director Jonathan King began filming Taylor's original screenplay REALITi in Wellington, New Zealand. The film is a science fiction/noir set in the near future, described as a "talkie" and "a science fiction film with no special effects." The film premiered at the New Zealand International Film Festival and at Fantastic Fest.
In 2015, Taylor dramatised his short story Close to You for Radio New Zealand.
Summary
Chad Taylor's diverse career spans music, business, public service, and literature, showcasing his wide-ranging talents and dedication to his various pursuits.
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