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Taylor Davis (violinist)

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Taylor Davis
Screen capture from Taylor Davis' video of "Wide Awake".
Screen capture from Taylor Davis' video of "Wide Awake".
Background information
Born (1987-03-20) March 20, 1987 (age 37)
Western Springs, Illinois, U.S.
GenresVideo game music, classical music, film score, anime music
Occupation(s)Violinist, arranger, composer
Instrument(s)Violin
Years active2010–present
Websitewww.taylordavisviolin.com

Taylor Davis (born March 20, 1987) is an American violinist, arranger, and composer. Davis is best known for her violin covers of music from video games featured on her YouTube channel "Taylor Davis", where she also features performances of her own arrangements of music from films and musicals. Since July 2013, she has begun releasing her own original compositions as well.

In 2012, Davis released two albums and an assortment of singles. Her seventh album was the first one exclusively with original music; it was crowdfunded, and the album, entitled Taylor Davis, was released in March 2015 and debuted at #10 on the Billboard Classical Charts.[1][2][3]

Biography

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Taylor Davis was born on March 20, 1987, in Western Springs, Illinois.[2] Davis started playing violin at the age of 8, while in elementary school.[2][3][4][5] While in high school, Davis began playing video game music. Later, Davis attended Gonzaga University, where she worked to introduce video game music to the college orchestra and quartet members.[6] Davis graduated from Gonzaga University with a degree in Public Relations, and a minor degree in Violin Performance.[2][3][7] After attending college, she intended to get into the profession of scoring music for games, films, or other media. It did not work out at the time,[8] so she took a business job for a short period, while at the same time posting YouTube videos on the side (as a classically trained violinist).[2][9][10] Davis worked as a PR person for a non-profit organization until November 2011;[11] and then quit her job to concentrate all her efforts on developing her career through YouTube.[12]

Career and activity on YouTube

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Davis started her first YouTube channel under the pseudonym "ViolinTay" on April 30, 2010.

In October 2013, the Critical Hit band's debut took place. This is a group led by Jason Hayes (keyboardist and composer of the World of Warcraft video game's soundtrack) and Michael Gluck (under the pseudonym "Piano Squall"). Davis joined the band in the same year,[13] and the other band members are composer Adam Gubman, keyboardist David Paich (Toto's co-founder); violinists Michelle Jade, Caroline Campbell and Molly Rogers; bassists Carlitos del Puerto and Tim MacDonald; cellists Tina Guo, Ginger Murphy and Leah Metzler; percussionists Doug Belote, Joel Taylor and Kevin Dooley; guitarists Kole Hicks, Nita Strauss, Chet Stevens and Laurence Juber; pianist Salome Scheidegger; flutists Sara Andon, Shannon Canchola, and the "World Music" woodwinds-reeds-wind synthesizers specialist Pedro Eustache. The band published its first album in the same period.

Personal life

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Davis married a man named Jarred in 2011. They have two sons, born in 2019 and 2021. They also have two dogs names Jax and Indy. She is a Christian.[14]

Discography

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Albums

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  • Gaming Fantasy (2012)
  • An Enchanted Christmas (2012)
  • Game On: 2 Player Mode (2012) – Taylor Davis & Lara de Wit
  • Legendary Movie Music (2013)
  • Melodies of Hyrule: Songs from The Legend of Zelda (2013)
  • The Anime and Game Collection (2014)
  • Taylor Davis (2015)
  • Odyssey (2016)
  • Songs of Christmas (2017)
  • Melodies of a Magic Kingdom (2018)
  • Cover to Cover, Vol 1 (2021)
  • Songs of the Lost Woods (2021)

Singles

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Awards and nominations

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Year Award Work Result
2015 "AudioGANG" Best Game Music Cover/Remix Award[15] "The Last of Us Theme – violin cover" (with composer Adam Gubman) Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "Taylor Davis : Live in Concert 2015 - Highline Ballroom". highlineballroom.com. Archived from the original on September 19, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Exclusive video premiere: Taylor Davis' 'Jurassic Park Theme'". Allen Foster for www.asx.com. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c "A Few Minutes With Violinist Taylor Davis". www.pollstar.com. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
  4. ^ "About". Taylor Davis. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  5. ^ Peter Thomas (August 16, 2012). "Peter Thomas Interviews Taylor Davis – Part 1" (Podcast). gamentrain. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  6. ^ "Zelda Dungeon Exclusive Interview With Taylor Davis". Archived from the original on June 29, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  7. ^ "Taylor Davis ('09) – Classical Violinist and Gonzaga Alumna". ZagsOnline. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  8. ^ "Taylor Davis interview" (PDF). Geek Syndicate: 17. November 2012.
  9. ^ "Taylor Davis – Gonzaga". ZagsOnline. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  10. ^ "YouTube Millionaires: Taylor Davis Gets "Emotionally Attached" To Her Music". October 29, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  11. ^ "[AMA] Hey I'm Taylor Davis, violinist, composer and performer - AMA!". September 22, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  12. ^ "An interview with Taylor Davis, a violinist and composer with a love of videogame, anime and movie soundtracks". cmuse.org. March 23, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  13. ^ "Taylor Davis – Violin". Critical Hit. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  14. ^ "About". taylordavisviolin.com. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
  15. ^ "AudioGANG 2015 Awards". audiogang.org. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
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