Josh Taylor Awesome Actor, Extraordinary Entertainer, Vibrant Vocalist

While this site boasts some of the very best talent in the world, I’m always excited to discover one more multi-talented artist to introduce here.  About a month ago I discovered 13 year old Josh Taylor’s YouTube Site for the first time.  He was singing his original song entitled “I Don’t Want to Be Ordinary” which contained a powerful message wrapped up within an amazing musical masterpiece! In addition the video was artistically produced and acted out with such professionalism that I knew I had just found a youngster that was NOT ORDINARY!

I thought to myself who is this young performer? Is he signed? Is he being produced yet?  I immediately read the description contained within that post and found that he was working with two amazing writers, Matthew Humphrys and Andrew Beverley of 360 Artist Development.

It only took moments to compose a letter to his production team requesting more information about Josh in an attempt to learn more about him.

I was delighted to be put in contact with Josh’s Father who graciously supplied me with the following insight into the background of his extraordinarily talented son!

After watching and listening to Josh, I was amazed to learn that nether of his parents were musically involved in the arts in anyway.  This discovery lent itself quite well to the theory of a God given talent from birth, and in Josh’s case, was born with NO ORDINARY portion!

  I Don’t Want To Be Ordinary

His Father explained that they first noticed Josh’s singing ability at around five or six years old when his Mom, a teacher, wanted to learn the piano for teaching purposes at school. His Father purchased a second hand piano as a Christmas present and had a friend who was a music teacher check it out to see if it needed tuning. As their friend was playing Silent Night, Josh just stood next to the piano and to everyone’s surprise started singing along.

A few years later Josh once again showed interest in singing while they were on holiday at a caravan park. Every week they held a talent night in the club house and Josh wanted to audition.

Josh had been singing the song “Let Me Entertain You” by Robbie Williams for weeks prior to their vacation, so in he marched with his CD in hand. To his disappointment they would not let him perform, as he did not have a backing track and licensing laws prevented them from allowing anyone to sing over copyrighted material. While he was extremely disappointed and upset at the time, his parents sat him down and explained that if he really wanted to sing, he needed to start learning the words and singing with music and backing tracks rather than singing over the song.

Josh’s desire to advance in his singing was unquenchable. Because Josh wanted singing lessons and his younger sister enjoyed dancing, his parents enrolled them both in an academy that instructed in music, dance and stage performance.  However, Josh soon became board due to the school not being aggressive enough with singing lessons and after six weeks he had yet to have one lesson in singing. Josh’s parents then decided to find Josh his first vocal coach and withdrew him from the dance school. (His sister however still dances with the same school).

Josh’s first vocal coach was Melissa Finbarr-Smith, who ironically is a dance teacher. Melissa, as well as teaching dance at Melody Pop Tuition, also taught the smaller children to sing and perform on stage. This was a great start for Josh because they also managed lots of Park events were the kids got the experience to perform live. Having had a little training he returned to the holiday parks and went on to win on several occasions.

 His dad confessed; “I think the cute factor may have crept in at this point.

Thinking Of You Tonight

 As Josh moved through primary school he got involved in the choir, drama and talent nights and through his early years he was often cast in lead roles at school making his parents very proud. As this talent and desire surfaced his parents put his name down for a place with a local theater (Activ8 at The Octagon Theatre, Bolton) that held weekly acting classes which is when it all started! The more he got involved the more he wanted to do. His first real break came when he was cast as Tiny Tim in the production of Scrooge The Musical (with Bolton Premier Production) and when he attended the International Talent Showcase in Paris, from then onwards he has been busy with multiple productions (often at the same time) which has meant lots of juggling.

His father proclaimed; “Still to this day I do not know how he can remember scripts and lyrics whilst spinning so many plates”.

As Josh matured as a singer and Melissa took him as far as she could, Josh moved on to a new vocal coach ‘Lorraine Harris-Roche (Bella Saprano)’ who has continued to develop his range and has helped him manage this difficult period as his voice breaks. Josh has now been with Lorraine for nearly three years.

What made Josh so interesting to me is the fact that he is already producing originals. This shows him to be more than just a singer but a true artist with a desire to tell a story.

When asked about his original material and what aroused his interest in music and what he hopes to accomplish with his singing career I was told;

“Josh loves working on original material and he is trying to establish himself as an artist as opposed to just being a good singer who sings covers. This is why he started working with Matthew and Andrew at 360. Josh wants to be a performer that can entertain large crowds as well as having a recording voice that plays well on CD’s, the radio, other media and in front of smaller more intimate crowds. As he gets older, artistically he is growing. In terms of why he became interested I can’t really tell you. He just was, it’s almost as if that’s what he was always going to do. It’s always been with him.”

Josh has performed in parks, at charity events and in many shows including the a fore mentioned International Talent Showcase in Paris, the Remembrance service at the Albert Halls in Bolton with a Big Band, a concert performance at the Rose Theater in Kingston for the International Youth Arts Festival and at West End Live in Leicester Square 2010 and Trafalgar Square 2011.

 If You Choose To Leave

In addition to his singing, Josh stays extremely active as a stage performer, performing in and around his home town of Bolton which is near Manchester in the North West of England.  From school productions, to roles with Activ8, CATS, The Lowry Young Actors Company, Youth Music Theater UK to The National Youth Music Theater, Josh has continued to be involved with many societies at both a local and national level which has meant that his training has been varied, diverse and interesting. He has been involved in many productions and has been cast in many lead roles. He has also acted on camera for many low budget short films. This commitment and desire has since helped him to secure several professional jobs which have included several runs in theater, some camera work and vocal commissions for animations. He has been frustrated at times because he has just missed out on some major roles at the final cut which could have lead to a run in the West End, a role in a major film or on TV in either an established soap or a new series. At 13, he has come to realize how difficult this industry can be and how hard you have to work with nothing guaranteed.

Read or download Josh Taylor’s Full Resume. Josh Taylor Resume (.pdf format)

When Josh is not busy with his singing and acting career he enjoys many outdoor activities. He especially enjoys spending time at the beach.  When Josh was younger he and his family were all very actively involved in water sports. Josh enjoyed Jet Skiing, body boarding, knee boarding, water toys, generally messing around in the sea and hanging out with friends on the beach from morning until night. Prior to his involvement with acting, he also spent many hours out on his BMX and generally outdoors in Wales at a holiday park near Porthmadog.

Josh loves animals and has a pet dog called Scooby Doo and a Crested Gecko call Jeffery. Like many teenagers, his current hobbies include Xbox Live, and Urban Rollerblading. It is not unusual for him to take his dog for a walk on his Roller Blades! Most recently he has become interested in magic and is often researching tricks on the Internet and practicing on friends and family.

Josh also spends his spare time watching movies. He loves the big screen and attending local cinemas watching everything from Animations, to Action Movies with Science Fiction and Comedy added to the mix. He especially enjoys anything James Bond or similar with his favorite genre being Comedy. Josh loves a good laugh – Little Britain, Family Guy, and Come Fly With Me. On TV he is currently into I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and X Factor. He lists his favorite actors as Jude Law, Adam Sandler, and Jonny Depp.

Josh enjoys Italian food, especially a good carbonara. He likes to experiment with fish and Paella dishes. He enjoys hot and spicy foods. Dads full English Breakfast and a cup of tea is also a winner.

Josh does not get much time for books, as he is usually memorizing scripts or lyrics. He tells us that the last books he read were from the Twilight series.

Josh enjoys going to large music concerts and his favorite artists and groups include Robbie Williams, Take That, Michael Bublé, Queen, Ed Sherman, Adele, Jessie J, Cold Play, Bon Jovi, Rihanna, and Kings of Leon.

 Look Into My Heart

For sports he lists; Running, Swimming, Climbing, Outward Bound Type Activities, Water Sports and similar activities.

Josh dreams of being an international pop star and/or an A list film actor and at times he does get frustrated wondering when or if he will get a break, especially having no one connected to the industry at a professional level who can point him in the right direction. Over the years he has come very close to being cast in some high profile roles. Having missed out, he just picks himself up and moves forward in the belief that one day when the time is right it will be his turn.

As regards his listeners he just wants them to enjoy his music and performances and to connect with them to establish a fan base that will help him to get established and who will support him in the industry.

Bitter Pill

Josh is currently working on original material for his first album with songwriters Matthew Humphrys and Andrew Beverley. His songs, all which have been included in this article are “If You Choose To Leave”, “I Don’t Want To Be Ordinary”, “Thinking Of You Tonight”, “You Can Be Mine”, “Look Into My Heart” and “Bitter Pill.”

During 2011 Josh was commissioned to record Friends No More in German for Hexis Productions, a classical vocal for a play called ‘The Interview – the story of the holocaust’. He also recorded The Bible The Bible for a new animation series called “Cherub Wings Bible Tales 1” for Herald Entertainment Inc. and three further vocals for independent animation specialists in Mexico.

One of Josh’s proudest moments over the last few years was being selected to represent the National Youth Music Theater (NYMT) were he went onto perform at the Shoreditch Theater in Sweeney Todd. During this run he got the opportunity to meet Jude Law, Tom Chambers and mix with some of the best up and coming junior actors and musicians in the industry. Last year he completed a 3 month run at The Octagon Theater, Bolton in David Copperfield playing the part of Young David Copperfield. This year he has played Sky Masterson in the junior production of Guys and Dolls with The C.A.T.S. Youth Theater at the Theater Church in Bolton, he has completed a re-run of Sweeney Todd with the NYMT performing at The Rose Theater in Kingston-upon-Thames. More recently he played the part of Abraham in Korczak a musical theater play about Janusz Korczak and the children that faced their final journey to Treblinka in 1942, also at The Rose Theater with the Youth Music Theater UK.

Just this past week Josh completed the Wedding Singer with The C.A.T.S.Youth Theatre, which was a sell out every night. This month Josh is rehearsing and playing the part of Vincent in The Memory Master with Activ8 at The Octagon Theatre whilst slotting in several live performances as Josh Taylor in and around Blackpool.

For 2012 Josh has been cast to play Ronnie Winslow in the Winslow Boy, his fourth professional production with The Octagon Theatre and Dim, a principle role in The Grandfathers, a new play which will be showcased at The Lowry Theatre. Most recently he has been cast to play a part in The King & I also at The Lowry Theatre. Also in 2012 Josh hopes to officially launch his music.

You Can Be Mine

 

To learn more about Josh Taylor visit:

• Josh Taylor on YouTube
• Josh’s Second YouTube Channel (old clips / archive material)
• Josh On Starnow
• Josh On Spotlight
• Josh’s Domain Site(being updated)

360 Artist Development Website