Nassau, Bahamas – Isaiah Taylor, leader of Grammy award-winning band Bahamen, called for more musicians to be willing to take advantage of the vast opportunities available on the global stage and stop settling, or being comfortable, in just playing at local gigs.
His comments came as he stepped from the shadows for the first time to address young people preparing for the third round of The Music Project (TMP) competition.
In The Bahamas today, many musicians are comfortable with just playing at home for whatever they can make and do not broaden their skills internationally.
He personally has witnessed occasions where there were opportunities for Bahamian bands to work in places like Japan and China; however, no band was willing to leave the comforts of their island home to explore these new frontiers.
He encouraged the up and coming professional musicians taking part in TMP to consider this and take advantage of the vast opportunities available to them in music today.
Taylor loves to remain behind the scenes as the driving force of the success of Bahamen. He would usually send another member of the group to make public appearances involving speeches.
However, he has witnessed the previous two years of success of TMP and thought it important to step up this time and impart some of his more than 40 years of experience as a professional musician to the next generation.
TMP brings public and private school bands together for months of training leading up to a popular band competition with prizes that students sincerely look forward to.
Taylor was well received by the group of kids from who attended the first set of training sessions for TMP as a part of the preparations for the competition which will be held in February.
He told the young band members that he absolutely loves his work, but it is not an easy calling. It is one which requires commitment at any hour of the day and all through the night, and will also require one to travel and forego home commitments for a time. He said Bahamen, which is signed to Sony Records, is successful because of the individual commitment and passion of each member to the group’s goals.
He called on the youngsters to take time management seriously and to stop relying on their phones to be successful in music, but use their memory to help keep their minds sharp as they grow in their profession.
