Monica Taylor

Hailing from different regions of Oklahoma, Monica, the Cimarron Songbird, in Perkins, OK, and Travis from Northeastern “green country” of Oklahoma, each artist come to the table with their own unique musical influences and performance traditions. Monica grew up with Southern Gospel and Bluegrass. From an early age, Taylor sought out the performers and songwriters she was hearing on the airwaves and recorded music. One formative moment occurred at the Sander’s Family Bluegrass festival in McAlester, Oklahoma, when Monica age 12, who had been playing guitar for 3 years, waited offstage for the legendary Bill Monroe to finish his performance. After waiting in the wings, Monica, asked for Monroe’s autograph. Taylor said, “I’ve been playing your songs on my guitar and I love bluegrass!” He told her “that’s great that the younger generation is playing these old songs.” Then a sweat-drenched Bill Monroe gave Taylor a hug leaving Monica’s entire left side covered with sweat. She vowed to never take a bath again!
Travis similarly was surrounded by a variety of musical styles in his youth. Blues, Jazz early east coast R&B and outlaw country were some of the sounds coming from the record player. Leo Kottke, once a resident of Muskogee in his youth, was a friend of Travis’ father. It was not uncommon for Leo to “drop in” during the 1970’s while he was touring the country to spend an entire night playing acoustic music to a small group of friends sitting cross legged on the floor in the the Fite’s residence. “Leo would just show up and usually play all night long,” says Fite, “just a free-flow of his best solo material. That was the first time I heard someone play slide guitar in person, when I was about 6 or 7. I remember his frenetic blues-folk slide sound resonating with me at a very early age.”

Jared Tyler joined them on 2 NEW albums for Monica: Trains, Rivers, & Trails (2022) and A Red Dirt Ramble- Tribute to the Pioneers of Red Dirt Music (Fall ‘23.)