Roasted, Pt. 1: Dark Roast Hughes Taylor

• 1 From the Other Side 02:40
• 2 Midnight Angel 05:17
• 3 Ballad of Big Bill McGuire 04:40
• 4 (In the Morning) When It's Over 03:36
• 5 When Love Comes Home 04:54
• Total Runtime 21:07

Info for Roasted, Pt. 1: Dark Roast

Taking cues from Southern Rocker predecessors, both past and present, Georgia native Hughes Taylor carries the torch with his own mix of blues and rock through his live shows and records, electrifying and soulful. Along with his band and other session players, they gathered in various studios, both physical and remote, with himself donning the producer’s hat to get the songs on tape along with Carl Jah of Dread Zepplin fame. The album was mixed at Capricorn Studios by Rob Evans (Chuck Leavell, Blackberry Smoke) and mastered by Chris Griffin at Griffin Mastering (drivn n cryin); Dark Roast May 17, 2024, on CPI Distribution.

This is Hughes’s fifth release, and he’s been busting at the chops to get this one out. The songs on Dark Roast are filled with greasy guitar riffs, thundering drums, a solid bassline, and Taylor’s expressive voice on top. A voice will recall Jonny Lang and Marcus King. Taylor wears his guitar influences out and proud: Stevie Ray Vaughan, David Gilmour, and Steve Gaines.

Hughes Taylor, guitar, vocals
Ben Alford, bass, backing vocals
Nich Gannon, drums
Zach Wilson, keyboards
Emily Lynn, backing vocals, vocal solo on “Midnight Angel”

Hughes Taylor
An old soul hailing from Macon Georgia USA, Hughes Taylor was immediately drawn to the blues when he first picked up the guitar. Two decades later, he’s become an acclaimed guitarist and songwriter playing a fiery brand of blues-rock whose power trio lineage stretches back to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Cream and Jimi Hendrix. His 5th studio album Dark Roast, set to release May of 2024, is filled with greasy guitar riffs, thundering drums, solid bass lines, and Taylor’s expressive voice on top, blending his bluesy roots with the musical sensibility of his southern-rock predecessors.

Starting on the guitar at age 13, Hughes was performing professionally before he could legally drive, and by the time he started college, creating and performing music was his primary source of income.

He self-released his first full-length album of original songs, Hear My Melody, in the spring of 2016.

Restless followed in early 2018, sandwiched between graduating with honors in marketing from University of North Georgia and marrying the love of his life.

In the summer of 2019, The Hughes Taylor Band’s album Good Blues, Fast, featuring classics lovingly arranged and interpreted by Taylor, was his first release to gain acclaim beyond Georgia and paved the way for the next chapter in his music journey.

In January of 2020, Hughes and his band toured the United Kingdom supporting the Heather Findlay Band. gaining immediate popularity and positive music press reviews. The tour was recorded and released as the Live in the UK album in early 2021.

His 2021 release, Modern Nostalgia, was written during the pandemic and recorded at the legendary Capricorn Sound Studios. A sweet mix of blues, blues-rock, and southern rock, Modern Nostalgia was on the US Blues-Rock Top 50 Album Chart every week for 10 months. A limited-edition double vinyl edition was released in June, 2022.

This album contains no booklet.