Singled Out: Julian Taylor's 100 Proof

Keavin Wiggins | 11-14-2021

photo credit: Mark Robinson courtesy Skye Media

Award winning singer-songwriter Julian Taylor recently released a cover of the Tyler Ellis song, "100 Proof," and to celebrate we asked him to tell us how the cover song came about. Here is the story:

My friend Tyler Ellis and I used to run an open stage every Monday night at Dora Keogh Irish Pub. It's a beautiful public house where musicians would gather, and each night they would get up to play a few songs. It was there that I really came to appreciate my co-host's writing. A few years back, he asked me to play guitar on one of his records which was actually recorded at Blue Rodeo's studio, the same place that I recorded my album, "The Ridge."

Anyway... fast forward to 2020... and the global pandemic hit. The open stage moved online and onto Zoom. It wasn't the same, but it was still nice to see familiar faces on screen. One night, Tyler performed a new song called "100 Proof." I fell in love with the story and the main character immediately. It's such a well-crafted allegory about life and the lessons we learn and that we get to teach others. In a time when people are feeling the burden of so much in our everyday lives, it was nice to hear a song that embraced the true heroism in living our very own everyday lives.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about Julian here