Alum wins MUSICIAN
awards
for
songwriting
CREDITS CCC FOR INSPIRATION
tim es, Ljust d o n ’t seem to have the m ath
skills that I use to have when I was younger, *
which is weird because music and math goes
hand in hand. W hile I was here, it really
was just music. I m ean, it was a breath of
fresh air to be surrounded by people who
were as dedicated to m usic as I was, and it
was weird at the tim e because we were in
Randall, and they put us above the jocks,
so it was like reliving high school all over
again, we would go to choir practice and
pass the basketball guys. They weren’t as
m uch o f bullies compared to high school.
After I left, o f course, they created a new
m usic building.
TCP:Do you remember a teacher who
taught at CCC that made a significant
impact to-you?
Taylor: L o n n ie C lin e . H e w as a
m assive influence in m y life. I was kind
o f a knucklehead and I had m issed like
four choir classes in a row, ju st to drive
around tow n w ith m y friends and w ent
to whatever W endy’s and the gym , and I
was embarrassed to go back because I had
m issed so m any classes and I didn’t want
to piss Lonnie o ff. He was not m ean but h e
was ju st a perfectionist. H e didn’t really
Former Clackamas Community College student, Kit Taylor, plays piano in a bar.
BY ALUE PERKINS @ÂRTSANDALLIE
ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
K it T aylo r is a m u sicia n w h o h a s w on
m u lt ip le a w a rd s, th e n e w e s t b e in g
th e g r a n d p ri^ e ip th e in s t r u m e n t
c a te g o ry in th e 2 0 th G re a t A m e ric a n
S o n g C o n te s t . H e p re v io u s ly w e n t to
C la c k a m â s C o m m u n it y C o lle g e , an d
h e s till liv e s in th e O re g o n C it y area.
T h e C la c k a m a s P rin t in terv iew ed th e
m u sica lly ta le n te d alu m .
The Clackam as Print: How did you
begin your m usic career?
Taylor: I started ta k in g piano lesson s
w h e n I w as 5 or 6. It w as k in d o f lik e
“ Su rv iv o r” p ian o . A ll your friend^ are
p la y in g p ian o an d th e n ,they grad ually
dro p o u t, a n d e v e n tu a lly I w as 16-17
and I w a s th e o n ly o ne le ft , and at th a t
p o in ti had already w on like two or th tee
song co m p etitio n s. A t.m y ch u rch , I m et
a g e n tle m a n n am ed M a rk Je le n ié w sk i,
and h e w as a p ro fe ssio n a l p ia n ist. H e
h ad m e sta rt su b b in g fo r h im around
to w n , at ja z z clu b s, h o te ls , an d th in g s
lik e th a t. I th e n grad u a te d fro m h ig h
scho o l in ‘ 99 a n d w e n t here [Clack am as
C o m m u n ity C o lle ge] as a m u sic m ajo r,
and I still was co n tem p la tin g if I w anted
to do it fo r a liv in g , b u t h e re is w h ere I
am at, lik e som e o f th e m ost talen ted
m u s ic ia n s e v e r fr o m m y class^ fr o m
L o n n ie C lin e w h o w as our co n d u cto r,
h e ’ s o ut o f th is w orld ta le n te d .,I learn t
so m u ch fro m h im , h e w as so ded icated
to p e r fe c tio n b u t h e d id it in a k in d
w ay. S t ill to th is day, th e lead sin ger o f
m y b a n d , o n e o f th e b e st sin g ers I ’v e
heard m y en tire life , h is n am e is Pau l
C re igh to n . H e sin gs like Stevie W onder,
h e ’ s a w h ite d u d e . W e h a d o u r b a n d
“ Ih te r v is io n ” , a ll m em b ers o f ch o ir o f
th e m u sic dep artm en t, and before lo n g,
we were sellin g out th e A laddin Theater .
W e ’Wè toured th é co u n try , w e o p en ed
fo r L ife h o u s e , T h e N e v ille B r o th e r s ,
we w on a b u n ch o f so n gw ritin g aw ards,
fro n t page o f th e O rego n ia n , an d it was
to th a t p o in t, I d o n ’t th in k th ere h ave
e v er b e e n a g ro u p to Com e p rim a rily
fro m here [C C C ], to a ch ie v e th a t lev e l
o f s u c c e s s . W e c a m e d o s e to g e ttin g
sign ed b y B lue N o te [Records] fo r two
ja z z lab e ls.
TCP: W hat other awards have you
received?
Taylor: I have w on or b een n am ed a
finalist for 8 different pretty major ones, like
worldwide competitions, 2 withintervision
for a song we wrote called “ Live Out Loud”
W e won the Independent Music Award and
finalists for the John Lennon Sbngwriting
Com petition. A nd then on my own, since
the band broke up, I wanna say six wins; i
finalists, 5 wins, one o f the finalists in U SA
Songw riting C o m p etitio n , M id -A tla n tic
Songwriting Com petition, and three Great
A m e ric a n S o n g w ritin g C o n n o iss e u r,
including m ost recently the Grand Prize in
Instrum ental category.
TCP: What did you study at CCC?
Taylor: I a ctu ally d id n ’ t fin is h m y
degree here, I have always been a talented
son gw riter, and th e b an d , you kno w ,
th e guys are a m a z in g m usicians, but we
eventually just decided to go on tour, and
I le ft. I’m actually o ne m ath class away
from finishing, and I tried three different
theclackam asprint.com
tolerate show ing up late all o f the tim e.
H e took m e aside one day, h e found m e
ju st w andering around, and he was like,
“ H ey.kid, you’re really talented. You’re a
great singer, but I can’t have you m issing
class. I’m not m ad at you, I’m not yelling.
Ju st com e back tom orrow and pretend it
never happened, and don’t let it happen
again. ’’ And I did, I went back th e next day,
and every tim e I missed one since, I gave a
good reason. I took it seriously from that
point on. He was just really phenomenal. He
really knew m usic, and still to this day, we
still talk. We just talked the other day. H e’s
just inspiring. He was just a perfectionist,
though. There were tim es where he would
be teaching and would start to tear up if we
didn’t have a part finished. I really respecter!
th a t, because th a t’ s how I feel now , like
w hen I put the band together, I macft the
album that I put out that won all of these
awards and it has Jennifer Baton, M ichael
Jackson’s guitar player, David Toum , who
wrote songs for Madonna and play? for John
Legend. I’m ju st always looking fo r, it’ s
ju st n ever good e n o u g h , so ju st be th e
best you can get and be th e best th at you
can b e, and w ill still never be satisfied.
Nay 15, 2019