Episode Notes Welcome to the September edition of The Art Parlor, brought to you by Friends in Art! In this episode, we speak with author and entertainer, Abbie Taylor. Join us as we explore her journey starting as a music therapist, with music entertainment and writing following in step. We also learn about her newly-published book, Living Vicariously in Wyoming: Stories. It was a pleasure having Abbie with us on the Art Parlor and we hope you enjoy the show! To learn more about her and stay up to date, visit her website at www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com. AI-Generated Transcript Opinions expressed on ACB Media are those of the respective program contributors and cannot be assumed to serve as endorsements of products or views by Friends in Art, the American Council of the Blind, their elected officials or staff. Friends in Art welcomes you to the Art Parlor, where visually impaired artists of all types will discuss their work. Pull up a chair, bring along your beverage of choice, and listen to thoughtful, stimulating conversations with visually impaired artists in all media and from all parts of the world. And now, here's your host, Ann Chiappetta. Good evening everyone, welcome to the Friends in Art Art Parlor, where artists and audiences thrive. You can find us on www.friendsinart.org. Tonight we are talking to Abbie Johnson-Taylor, and Abbie is a singer, a musician, a poet, and an author. Did I miss anything, Abbie? I don't think so, I think you covered it all. All right, and we're going to talk a little bit about your newest book, Living Vicariously in Wyoming, which is a great title, by the way, and all the other creative things you do in your life. Hopefully we can get it all in in the time that we're going to be talking to you. So, Abbie, first maybe you tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live, what you do, and then we'll go from there. Okay, well I'm in Sheridan, Wyoming, and I am, as you said, a writer, and I'm also a singer. I've published seven books, and there's two novels, two poetry collections, and a memoir, and then this new short story collection that just came out back in March. And when I'm not writing, I entertain monthly at two or three senior facilities in the community, plus at our local senior center, and then I also do the music for a local church the second Sunday of the month. And then in the fall, winter, and spring months, I sing with a group called the Hubcaps, which meets at the senior center and does most of our performances there. My goodness, you need a personal assistant to like help you out. Right, well, that's what I have my AMAZON ECHO devices for, and my iPhone. So, yeah, yeah, definitely. So, how long has it been for you, like, when did you get the bug, like this, you know, I know that, at least I think I remember you saying you came from a musical family, and can you talk a little bit about that? Well, my grandfather played the saxophone in a band, and so I think I must have inherited his musical genes. And then my younger brother did play drums for a while, and I think he still does, but I don't know that he does it on a regular basis as much as I do play the piano and guitar and sing. But yeah, I have, and when I went, my mother loved to tell this story about how I started playing music. They had purchased a used piano, upright piano, and they thought it would just be a toy. And I was about five years old, and I was digging around one day, and I don't really remember this, but my mother said she heard me playing "da-da-da-da," and so she immediately went to call a piano teacher. Oh, and so where did you go from there? Well, I took lessons, you know, off and on. At that time, we were living in Tucson, Arizona, and I, you know, took lessons from several teachers, and then we moved here to Wyoming, and I took lessons for another year or so, and then I finally gave up, and I then got interested in playing popular songs and then singing and using the piano to accompany myself. And I pretty much did that, you know, through my teen years. And then in college, when I decided to study music therapy, I had to get a guitar, because, you know, if you're working, like, in nursing homes, and of course the residence rooms don't have pianos, and so you need something portable that you can take, you know, and play when you're in those situations. So, and that's basically how my music career got off the ground. How long did it take for you to really learn the guitar and feel confident with the guitar? Well, I actually, I'm guessing maybe like one semester, because I just took a beginning guitar class, and that was really all I needed for what I was going to do. Just, you know, learn some basic stuff, you know, just to play, you know, a few chords here and there, nothing, nothing really fancy. So, yeah, about a semester. And then, you know, the piano kind of, I really don't remember how long it took to learn the piano. I was pretty small when I started, but, you know, I...
続きを読む
一部表示
50 分