The Nash New Artist Interview – Christina Taylor

Singer-songwriter Christina Taylor was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida but grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. “I pretty much categorize myself as a Carolina girl,” she tells us. “I listened to all types of music. Country music, rock music, a lot of hip hop and R&B stuff so I like to think that I’m able to pull from a lot of influences.” She deems herself a big fan of Eric Church as well as vocal pop divas like Beyonce and Christina Aguilera. “A lot of my bigger vocals are inspired by them. It’s really cool that I grew up in a household where you listened to everything because I’m able to make music that’s different.”

When she was 18, she started driving back and forth to Nashville instead of going to college like her peers of the same age were doing explaining, “That was the deciding factor to me. Getting to write in town, and loving Nashville so much, and performing out live really made that decision that Nashville was gonna be my college instead of the regular route my friends were taking.” For a few years, Taylor was driving to music city twice a month before officially making the move when she turned 21.

This past year, Taylor has released various singles. The first was “I Got That from You” which was released in the summer. Taylor wrote it with Kelley Lovelace and Lynn Hutton: two people she had written with before. “It was such a pleasure to write with those guys,” she states. “‘I Got That from You’ was really about heartbreak in general. We get a lot of traits from our family, you know I get my daredevil attitude from my dad for sure, but there’s a lot of things from life that shape who you are that don’t have anything to do with genetics. And I think heartbreak is definitely a huge thing. It can make you jaded or it can make you a super loving person, everyone’s different, but I think it has a lot to do with who you end up being later on in life and how you love going forward.” The track sparkles with a powerful, larger-than-life vocal performance from Taylor where she puts her range on full display during the emotional choruses.

Her most recent single, “Damn Boy,” was given to her after one of the songwriters on the track and a mutual friend Jordyn Mallory, decided she didn’t want to record it. “It was offered to me through a mutual person we were working with at the time and when I heard it, I immediately fell in love with it and related to it,” Taylor exclaims. “I think everyone has that story where you fall for someone who maybe isn’t ready to fall for you. I wouldn’t cut a song that I didn’t completely resonate with and didn’t feel like it was my own.”

“Damn Boy” has garnered decent attention on TikTok and has almost passed over 200k streams on Spotify alone. Not only does it contain a relatable story, but the track is paired with a visibly catchy instrumental. “I’ve never had a reaction to a song like this,” she tells us.

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As the song gained traction, Taylor’s affinity for it also grew so she decided to give it another life with an acoustic version that was released last month. “The song is more mid-tempo and calls to be more stripped,” she exclaims. “Every time I sing it out live and it’s more of an acoustic set, I always loved it.”

For the holiday season, she released a cover of “Jingle Bell Rock” with fellow Nashville singer-songwriters Haley Mae Campbell, Brenna Bone, and Kaylee Rose. “I know all those girls and came up with them,” she tells us. “I wanted to do something holiday-related. But I didn’t just want it to be me by myself doing the same old thing that everyone else is doing and putting out a Christmas cover.” She came up with the idea of working with multiple girls, covering “Jingle Bell Rock,” and having a music video that acted as a spin-off of the iconic scene from the classic 2004 film, Mean Girls. “I reached out to the girls and kind of pitched them my idea and all of them were on board and excited about it,” she explains. “I wanted to do something a little bit different and we nailed it.” The video that was released on December 1st, mimics the sass found in the original movie with orchestrated outfits and acting. The three artists also put their own special twang into the holiday classic.

With the clean slate of the new year, Taylor looks forward to releasing brand new music that she’s recently written. “I’m going into a new year of life. I’m excited to unveil a new side of me,” she says with optimism. “I feel like as I get older I figure out more about myself as a person and an artist.”

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