Tiny Bookshop Concert with W. James Taylor

About the artist: W James Taylor was born in April of 1949 and grew up in the Austin Homes and Lonsdale Homes areas of Knoxville as one of eleven children. He vowed to dedicate his life to art and music in his mother’s name after her passing in 1975. He started Geneva Galleries, Inc., which is currently in the Emporium building on the 100 Block of Gay Street. When asked abour his music, James says he "was a product of the turbulent and emotion-packed 1960's, first only a street kid in the Lonsdale Homes Community of North Knoxville, then a rock-and-roll drummer in a regionally famous funk band 'Freddy and the Flamingo's, opening for such acts as Funkadelic, Bill Withers, Rufus Thomas, and Mary Wells, just to name a few. When my life was my Art and Music, sporting bigger than real Afro hair and fur- trimmed knee-high boots, rocking Knoxville's world."

Art and music are in his blood, and he says they are things he could “just always do.” Today, he uses those gifts to enrich the lives of others. He plays music in senior living facilities and for events, helps non-profits and arts organizations with graphic design needs, and uses his gallery space to support emerging artists.

Tiny Bookshop Concert Series is funded in part by community supporters TN Arts Commission.