Tar & Flowers began in the dingy recesses of a honky-tonk in the west San Fernando Valley with a man-boy named Taylor. In the faces of dancers, players, there were stories of people great and small - stories that Taylor wanted to tell through songs.
While performing as a solo artist, Taylor was approached by engineer and musician Wolf Kroeger to track songs for his new album. The two found in one another a mutual love for the west and cowboy culture. Wolf’s involvement changed the sound of Tar & Flowers from simple folk music to what can best be described as “Western-Americana.”
After booking a featured artist spot at The Lost Knight Pub in Echo Park, Taylor approached Michael Ward, whom Taylor successfully collaborated with on the credits track for the indie game, Diluvion, to play guitar and sing harmonies; Ryan Fultz, a percussionist and composer, to play cajone and djembe; and Wolf Kroeger to play bass.
Taking from the cosmic-country of Gram Parsons, melancholy musings of The Cowboy Junkies, and finger picking spirit of Skip James, Tar & Flowers has become an experiment. Drawing on depression era roots music of The Carter Family, the folk-rock sensibility of Led Zeppelin and Buffalo Springfield, and the singer/songwriter ballads of Bob Dylan and Townes Van Zandt, Tar and Flowers keeps one foot firmly planted in the past with an eye toward the unknown.
Though the four band members occasionally disagree, they are able to find common ground in a few things: superheroes, science fiction, video games, and the love of playing affecting songs of fallen heroes and western myth.