It has been a long (yet paradoxically short) strange trip for the 25 year-old New Jersey native who counts The Police, Paul Simon, Dave Matthews, Bob Marley and Cat Stevens among his key influences. Taylor’s music career got its official start in 1999 when, at the age of 17, a back injury sidelined a budding golf career and left him searching for new ways to channel his energy. The son of an opera singer/piano teacher mother, music was a natural choice so he decided to try out guitar. Unlike others dabbling in guitar for the first time, Taylor managed to teach himself to play proficiently over one summer and immediately began writing and playing his own music. One year later he had his first live performance, opening for the popular rock-reggae-funk band Dispatch. The crowd reaction confirmed that music would be his future, so he moved to Nantucket, MA where he quickly grew a devoted fan base playing a regular gig at The Muse, the iconic venue known for having hosted greats like Dave Matthews, the Wailers, George Clinton and more.

In 2003, Taylor relocated to suburban Washington, DC and shortly after that hooked up with bassist Scott Harlan and drummer Chris Keever to form his first band. Taylor’s vocal abilities, guitar skills and memorable original music quickly established him as an up-and-coming talent in the Washington music scene, leading to opportunities to share the stage with reggae legends Toots and the Maytals in 2003, and Barenaked Ladies lead singer Ed Robertson in 2004.

He was twice a featured artist on one of DC’s top music radio stations, the now-defunct Z104, before beating out dozens of other talented local musicians to be chosen as Z104’s “DC Artist of the Year” by the station’s large listening audience in 2004. Later that year, fans picked his band again over scores of popular area musicians in a contest sponsored by area entertainment publication OnTap Magazine, winning him a spot to play the renown 2005 South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin, TX at the age of 22.

Harlan, Keever and Taylor went on to record their first album 2005 Open Invitation, a sampling of the songs Taylor had been writing since he was 17. Critics and fans alike hailed the freshman effort, with one reviewer from OnTap concluding, “Generation X had Dave Matthews, Generation Y has John Mayer and Generation Z will have Taylor Carson.”

Fans, in the meantime, snapped up the CD, wooed by the young artist’s sweet yet soulful voice, appealing musical arrangements and everyman lyrics. The intrinsically personal nature of the songs on the album also speaks to listener, as Z104 host Jenni Chase once observed. Calling Taylor a “captivating live performer” Chase noted in On Tap “when you listen to his album, you’ll think he’s sitting in your living room, singing to you and no one else.”

Scott Harlan eventually left the band in 2005 to pursue other interests but later introduced Taylor to his current bassist, Patrick Thornton. The chemistry between Taylor and Patrick, a classically trained musician and founding member of the popular East Coast funk/go-go band Boogiehawg, was instantaneous.

“We just click on and off stage,” Taylor recently told an interviewer, “and our musical styles seem to complement one another. “Taylor tends to lean towards the folk, rock and bluegrass influences and I tend to lead towards funk, soul and go-go sounds,” Patrick adds. “The balance is synergistic and real, totally different sounding. I think that’s part of what keeps people coming back for more.”

Since the release of their first album, Taylor and the band have become an established presence on the East Coast music scene performing at a range of venues including those known for booking national acts like Iota Club and Café and the State Theatre in the Washington, DC area, the Lion’s Den in New York City and clubs in Philadelphia, Richmond, Atlanta, and more. Meanwhile, their fan base has continued to grow, as evidenced by winning first place in the opening round of the 2007 Emergenza Music Festival; thousands of visits to Taylor’s MySpace page and growing number of Washington-area automobiles sporting his trademark “TAC” (Taylor Adam Carson) bumper stickers.

Taylor, Pat and new drummer Jamie Watkins (who started banging on drums shortly after exiting his mother’s womb and has a number of previous bands under his belt) recently finished recording their second album, Tangled in Truth, set for release in March 2007. While the sophomore effort maintains many of the same qualities that made their first album a hit, Taylor believes Tangled in Truth will “reflect the band’s growing awareness about its musical identity” and better capture “what you hear at a live show.”

Next on tap, Taylor, Pat and Jamie are looking forward to promoting their second album, Tangled in Truth, scheduled for release at the Iota Club and Café in Arlington, VA on Saturday, March 24, 2007.