Taylor Hollingsworth rocks the blues

When Taylor Hollingsworth was but a wee pre-rocker, he clambered up the stereo to spin his dad's precious vinyl of the Beatles' "Come Together."

"I just remember I really liked that song," said Birmingham-based Hollingsworth, who's playing at Egan's tonight in support of his new Brash Music CD, "Tragic City." "I was scratching the record up real bad. My dad got pretty mad."

Leaping from that way back playback moment, Hollingsworth notes that the next large step in his musical progression came from laying hands on his first guitar at 14.

"I had that teenage angst kicking for me," he said. "I don't know if I officially decided in my head that day, but I didn't ever try to do anything else. I did terrible in school because I didn't really care about anything else but music."

Fast-forward through a blur of horrible school bands until his skills caught up with his ambitions. Hollingsworth began landing gigs with established Magic City groups such as Cutgrass and Verbena, inching forward until he wound up singing and writing as well as slinging around six-strings.

"I guess I was just seeing, if all these guys can do it, I can do it, too," he said. "I guess I always had the desire to be the front man."

The sloppy-wild blues-rock that grew out of Hollingsworth's advances drew comparisons to everything from "Sticky Fingers"-era Rolling Stones to peak Replacements" and prime Stooges. "Tragic City" is the second Brash solo disc of his young career.

"When I first started my solo thing, I was listening to lots of punk, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, Wire, Iggy Pop and the Stooges," he said.

All the influences critics and fans cite are on the money, he said, noting that modern bands led him back to their predecessors.

"Nirvana led to Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix," he said.

"I'm still going for a sound; I don't know if I've totally got it yet."

Even though he's known as a hot guitarist in the sloppy-garage vein, the "Tragic City" recording uses horns, keyboards and backing vocals.

"I was looking at it as 'This might be my only chance to work in a studio [Nickel and Dime in Atlanta] with a producer" he said.

"My writing's constantly evolving; I'm concentrating more on the lyrics. But it's still stripped down. I didn't stack on tons of guitars."

With titles such as "Duct Taped Heart" and "How Could You Be So Cold," the alt-country influences rings through. Add the fact that, of the 13 tracks, the only cover is Jimmie Rodgers' "Gambling Barroom Blues," and it's clear the roots are showing. When introducing his sounds - crucial when trying to emerge from a city with no college radio station or sense of a music scene - Hoilingsworth simplifies. "A lot of times I just say rock 'n' roll.'"

Written by Mark Hughes Cobb. Originally published by Tusk Mag.