“And so the concert comes, and, about the ending piece of the concert. I didn’t know who I was. All that vanity and ego, ‘I’m a classical musician,’ all of that stuff, those labels go right out the window. And why is that? Because it’s down to survival time now.” -- Jonathan Taylor

This episode’s guest is a California native who’s currently representing the U.S. as an American Cultural Specialist in South America and the Caribbean. He’s performed sold-out concerts for such luminaries as UN delegates, American ambassadors, and foreign heads of state. During his formative years in the 1970s and ‘80s, he studied music at Chapman University and was head of the music department at the Newport Institute of the Arts in Southern California. He’s known for his virtuosity and unique transcriptions and has performed extensively throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia. He was one of the very first artists to record digitally back in the early ‘90s and he’s set about creating a catalogue of over three hundred tracks. His music is streaming worldwide on iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, Sirius Radio, and most streaming services everywhere.

His name is Jonathan Taylor, and our two-part discussion is a must-listen for anyone interested in the power of sound – and particularly the power of music. Prepare to be inspired!

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(0:00:00) – Musical Journey and Touring Adventures

The episode starts off with a look back at the start of Jonathan’s musical journey, and the grandmother who played the organ for silent movie productions. “Those things,” he says, “I’m sure, influenced me, and I started picking out tunes, you know, on the ukulele, because the guitar would have been too big for my fingers at that age.” He talks about the challenge of mastering, rather than just being proficient at, music, and the difficult promise he made to himself at age fourteen to truly master the guitar. “It is saying that you have made an oath to yourself,” he explains, “which is the only oath anyone can really make, and that it is going to require tremendous labor and work and discovery.”

(0:16:51) – Jonathan’s Encounters Around the World

Our conversation turns to the tours he’s been on all over the world, and how it’s broadened his perspective as a musician and as a person. “Once one steps out of the door of their domicile,” Jonathan tells us, “something will happen because you are now out into the world.” We talk about some of the famous people he met while touring in India and one memorable occasion at an ambassador’s house when music and politics...