Taylor Roberts Plays “Eddie’s Attic”

Guitarist Taylor Roberts provides insight from a recent gig at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, GA.

“Eddie’s Attic had been on my radar for a number of years. It took a bit of a nudge from my friend Kevin Bales to finally reach out to them, and as with most of my other gigs, I didn’t let it up until I got a response. I got acquainted with Rem Hellmann, the club’s talent buyer, and we got to work on a date.

Whenever I play in Atlanta, at least up to this point, I like to use Kevin Bales on piano and Billy Thornton on bass, not only because they are dear friends of mine, but our musical relationships go back some 26 years. As I’ve gotten more familiar with the scene in Atlanta over the past several years, I’ve become well aware of how stacked with talent the city is. Lots of great drummers to choose from, but who’s really gonna push the show over the edge?

Kevin said “You should call Terreon. Tell him I sent you.”

“Terreon Gully?” I said to myself. “Herbie Hancock’s drummer?!” I had to psych myself out quite a bit before reaching out to him, but I’m so grateful that I did. We hit it off immediately, and he was happy to do the hit with us.

Rem was such a joy to work with leading up to the show, and we built it up quite a bit in terms of promotion. We sold nearly 70 tickets on a late Thursday night, which is not bad, considering it was my debut at the club. 

The adrenaline flowed from the second I stepped inside, and didn’t even begin to dissipate until well after the show was over. 

Of the thousands of gigs I’ve played over the years, this one has to be in my top three of all time. The band was on FIRE. The crowd was full of energy and flooded the room with nothing but love and enthusiasm for what was happening on stage. I had the great fortune of working with these three gentlemen in the night before at a jazz jam, so we already had a rapport going in. I wouldn’t change a thing about how it all went, and the club was very excited about the prospect of having us come back. To boot, I got to bring up Darren English on trumpet and a new friend I’d met the night before, Christopher McBride, on alto sax for Herbie Hancock’s barn burner “One Finger Snap” to close out the show.

In my extensive email correspondence with Rem, he expressed a dream in making Eddie’s Attic the premier jazz spot in Atlanta, and I fully believe that that will come to fruition as long as the community support continues. 

Since this was, in a way, the inaugural jazz concert for a series that they’re trying to curate, I feel confident that we started it off with a bang.

My love for the Atlanta music scene grows with every trip I make up there, and I can’t wait to get back again soon.”

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