Andi Jo Taylor will be performing at Country Concert 2024.
Courtesy photo
By Charlotte Caldwell
FORT LORAMIE — At 19 years old, Andi Jo Taylor said she will become the youngest Country Concert performer when she takes the stage this summer with other native Ohio performers.
Taylor, from Holland, Ohio — near Toledo — started practicing to make her dreams come true at an early age. She had a vocal coach starting at 7 years old who would hold recitals, getting her comfortable performing in front of people.
“I remember singing in the shower one day and my mom listening to me outside of the door. She asked me if I wanted to start taking vocal lessons,” Taylor said. “I worked with vocal coach Jean Holden for seven years. She helped shape me into the performer I am today.”
At 9, she taught herself how to play the piano, and at 12, she got her first guitar and taught herself. After that, she worked on playing and writing country songs every day.
“I’ve always dreamed of being a performer,” Taylor said. “Growing up I would watch musically driven shows. I would take the broom and use it as my microphone and perform for my family. I never wanted to ‘become’ a musician per se, it’s just always been in me. I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else.”
Performing is Taylor’s full-time job and she has done gigs for the past three years. Last summer, she opened for country music artist Scotty McCreery which helped her become known to more country music fans. This year, along with Country Concert, she will perform at Barbecue Blues and Brews in Bloomfield, Indiana, and Country Legends in West Liberty.
“My first consistent gig was at a Cinco De Mayo in my hometown Holland,” Taylor said. “When I first started out, it was me with a guitar amp and corded microphone. Boy have things changed. Now, you can find me in a bar, restaurant or big stage sporting my cowboy hat, sparkly boots, and my bedazzled microphone for the cherry on top.”
“’If you have a plan B, you’ve already failed’ is something my dad has engrained into my head,” Taylor said. “I am a full-time musician. Constantly perfecting my craft and working on my performance skills. Malcolm Gladwell says in his book ‘Outliers’ that ‘it takes 10,000 hours of intensive practice to achieve mastery of complex skills and materials.’ If I worked any other job, I wouldn’t have time to get anywhere near the 10,000 hour mark. This is my job, career, and life. And I wake up every morning and thank God for it!”
Taylor performs originals and covers. Last summer she released her single “Country Back.” She said fans learned every word along with the line dance her mom created.
“Covers are so much fun to play because everyone knows the songs so they’ll join in and sing along with you. There’s nothing like looking out into a crowd and seeing everyone sing along. But what I didn’t know, is how even cooler it is when they’re singing your own song,” Taylor said. “There’s no greater feeling than performing songs that you wrote, from the heart and seeing people sing them with you.”
Taylor gets song ideas from her life experiences as well as those around her.
“My girlfriends will tell me stories about their love lives and I immediately pull out my notes app and say ‘Wait tell it again, this is a good song idea.’ I’m constantly writing songs 25/8 without even realizing it. My creative juices are always flowing,” Taylor said.
When she found out she would be performing at Country Concert this year, Taylor started to cry and immediately called her family members and friends.
“It was an overwhelming feeling of gratitude that I’ll never forget,” Taylor said. “When I put my head down on my pillow every night, I always thank God for the opportunities I’ve been given and future ones that I don’t even know about yet. This was an opportunity I didn’t expect to happen to me so soon in my career, but one I am more than prepared for.”
When she takes the Country Concert stage, she will share the venue with one of her idols, headliner Lainey Wilson. She also admires country artists Ashley McBryde and Megan Moroney.
“The best thing about being a musician is the inspiration I give to others. I have a handful of younger girls that follow me and really look up to me. I’m showing them that if they want anything, they can take it. Even if people say it’s crazy, they can do it,” Taylor said. “What brings me so much confidence and determination to succeed on this path is seeing the positive impact I’m making on little girls who dream just as big as I do.”
To book Taylor for a gig, email [email protected]. Follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069823703866 or visit her website, https://andijotaylor.com/.
