"We made a pact that when we travel, rather than just seeing hotels and the back of a tour bus, that we’ll try and get out and busk. People think that musicians have a really glamorous lifestyle, and they do to an extent, but often they travel and don’t really get to see anything. The best way to see a city is to go out and play for the people of that city.”
Wise words from Harry Hudson-Taylor there, talking to Hot Press at The Electric Picnic in 2013. Surely, though, the rigours of a hectic touring schedule and the promotional responsibilities of an up-and-coming young act have rendered such idealistic ambitions impractical, nay impossible to fulfil on a regular basis? Not for two young men who cut their teeth regularly busking in the busy surroundings of Dublin’s Grafton Street and Temple Bar. A quick look at the duo’s Instagram feed confirms that yes, while in the midst of a sold-out headlining tour of Germany, the Hudson Taylor boys do indeed take the time to get out amongst it and rub shoulders with the locals. Busking seems to be in the sibling’s blood and their social media is updated with daily evidence of them out “singing for strangers”.
It’s an attitude that has served Hudson Taylor well, turning them into a polished and engaging live act, and in the process earning them a loyal, worldwide fan base. A support slot on an arena tour with Jake Bugg and a simple twist of fate that led to them opening for The Rolling Stones at Hyde Park has seen the band play to the biggest crowds of their young career over the past couple of years. And, having just returned from a mammoth UK tour that saw them regularly sell out venues and play their biggest UK headliner to date, at London’s legendary Shepherd’s Bush Empire, the band have barely paused for breath before embarking on an extensive Irish tour.
The boys are looking forward to being part of the Rose Of Tralee mayhem in August, but before this milestone they'll bring their high-energy live show back to Dublin for a date in the Olympia Theatre (May 30) and a special guest slot with men-of-the-moment, Kodaline, at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham (June 26). These are two massive shows for Hudson Taylor who, having sold out the Olympia earlier in the year, will be eager to repeat that success and to build upon it in front of the biggest crowd they’ve yet faced in the capital, at the RHK.
In the meantime the Irish tour will see the Blackrock boys spend most of the summer on the road in support of recently released debut album, Singing For Strangers. Building on the critical acclaim of several self released EPs, Hudson Taylor’s first long-player hones to a fine point the harmony-heavy folk-pop sound that has seen them draw comparisons to not only contemporaries like Mumford & Sons, but also to such icons as Simon and Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills and Nash. Indeed, the pair got to honour Messrs Simon and Garfunkel when last year they accompanied Joy Williams for a rendition of ‘The Sound Of Silence’ at the fabled Carnegie Hall in New York. Upon its release Singing For Strangers quickly hit the top of Ireland’s iTunes chart and HP’s own Colm O’Regan remarked of the brothers’ knack for a hook, “Writing great accessible pop is an art in itself, and one Hudson Taylor have mastered with aplomb.”
The brothers are particularly proud of the eight bonus tracks that they self-produced for the album. Keen to retain both the immediacy of their live shows and the intimacy of songs written in the conservatory of their mother’s house, they are determined to get even more involved on the production end of things next time out. “Having worked with so many people – and seen things go wrong so many times,” Harry told Hot Press, “we wanted to give it a go ourselves.” With such determination and with youth on their side, Hudson Taylor have every chance of capitalising on what has already been an incredible year for the band.