Happy New Year to you all. I accidentally typed “Happy New You” and am telling you this just in case that was something you needed to read. Sometimes, we all need to read little messages like that. I, for one, have been receiving dispatches like these throughout 2024, and I can only say that my reception to them has been nothing short of miraculous. But I digress. I am deeply into philosophy so early in the morning.
These New Year posts are becoming something of a tradition. Although 2024’s post was a vague and nebulous smattering of words, 2025’s promises to have a much better sense of direction and purpose as well as the year itself. Looking back, my 2023 New Year’s post was written as I had moved to a new town and locale, starting anew with a musical project. 2025 finds me in much the same boat, moving on to somewhere and something new with gratitude and a definite impetus. 2023 had me moving to New Braunfels, Texas, while 2025 saw me find my way to Barcelona, Spain.
If you’ve been following along, and I hope very much that you have, I made the jump to a new continent in search of adventure while chasing the lure of the muse, that ever-present whispering scream that always seems to lurk just above the edge of the horizon for me. The time to leave had abruptly come, although unknowingly, it had always been the plan. I think that my first return from my first European tour in 2008 started the unchangeable process and I’ve subconsciously worked toward this particular end since then, slowly but surely. And now, here I sit, in Catalunya, at a computer, wishing you all a wonderful New Year and making plans for my artistic future.
My wife, my dog, and I splash-landed in Barcelona a quarter of the year in, finding ourselves neck-deep in the quagmire that is the Barcelona housing crisis, trying to keep our heads above water as we searched for a permanent place to live. We lived in El Borne, specifically in El Barrio de la Ribera, at first which seemed to be the center of everything that was anything in Barcelona. The intense energy of that area of the city was unlike anything I had experienced before, let alone lived in. This overwhelming spirit was loud, it smelled, it was beautiful and old and odd — it was very old and very odd, and it made me feel small in the best possible way. Legends and giants and artists had walked the very streets that I meandered through to get my groceries from the local market. People had fought and died in the narrow corridors and passageways that I scurried through during my early morning runs. The famous park that I visited almost daily, once a citadel of threatening oppression, had been transformed into a wonder of beauty and community… a community that I was struggling to be a part of.
Within days of arriving, I placed an advert on a local Facebook musicians’ group looking for musicians to form a band with, and within a week, the group of talented musicians that would become The Natchet Taylor Band was rehearsing and jamming tunes, building a live set, and working up arrangements for recording a record.
On the continuous hunt for a permanent place to live and needing to escape the madness of El Borne and the Gotic Quarter, we found lodging (a cramped 24m2 studio) in another historic Barcelona neighborhood (at one time a separate town) called Horta. Horta, on the northern edge of Barcelona, bumps up to the Parc Natural de la Serra de Collserola hills that cradle the city against the Mediterranean. My daily morning outings transformed from cramped medieval street and alleyway scamperings to gloriously intense mountain trail runs. I fell in love with these Collserola hills and climbed as many as I could find.
The search for housing was a relentless and everyday affair and the obstacles and efforts required to overcome them could encapsulate a post of their own. But in the end, our persistence paid off, and we settled ourselves outside of Barcelona completely in a beautiful little town called Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, just a 20-minute train ride into the city.
Looking back over my notes, 2024 was a slower-than-normal year for me in terms of live performances, but it was jam-packed with highlights and full of rock-n-roll glory. I played the grand re-opening of the Phoenix Saloon in New Braunfels, Texas in mid-January, followed by a batch of four farewell acoustic shows at the very same Phoenix Saloon. My last show in Texas in 2024 was on March 22nd and it was quite the sendoff, with friends and family from all over coming out. It was a beautiful and warming experience to play that show for all of you. I was honored beyond words as they are failing me now. Thank you, as always, for the love and support. You made my last show in Texas (until I revisit) delightful and I am still “in the feels” about that night. I am always grateful to you all.
My first show in Barcelona was on June 6th at the glorious Michael Collins Irish Pub (it just seems fitting) near the Sagrada Familia. That place is wild and I highly recommend it. Say hello to Niall for me.
I had another solo Irish Pub gig on La Rambla in Barcelona at a joint called Wild Rover, then a guest appearance with the infamous Red Pig Brothers at El Portal dels Encants, and another one with them at the Festa Mejor in beautiful Montseny.
Rounding out 2024’s live show country count at three, my fantastically talented and beautifully soulful friend Al (AKA Red At Night) invited me to play direct support for his EP (With the Radio On – Indilirium Records) Release Show at Franken Bar in one of my favorite cities in the world: Berlin! Vegan food, good times, and great people. Berlin was a highlight of my year. I was honored to be invited and thrilled to share the stage with this guy. The newly minted Natchet Taylor Band played two shows as a trio in Tossa de Mar at The Rockaway Beach Club and in Viladecans at La Bodegueta. The debut of the full four-piece Natchet Taylor Band Deluxe is slated for Jan 11, 2025, in Boriana near Valencia.
My final performance of the year was a Christmas night guest appearance with the legendary Th’ Booty Hunters at the Apolo in Barcelona. Ray Molinari took some EPIC PHOTOS of that crazy night.
The Barcelona full-band debut is in the works and things are indeed looking rosy for the upcoming year here in Catalunya. An album is in the works (of course) and we are gearing up to be in front of as many ears in as many places as we can be. I am gearing up for the most creative year of my life and I hope to see you along for the ride. How’s that for a New Year’s post?
I once wrote, “Gratitude is like coffee; life is much better with it,” in a post about the coming of 2024, and I still subscribe to the notion that you get along better with a healthy dose of gratitude and curiosity in every situation than you do without it. And even if that isn’t true, I wouldn’t know it, because living a grateful life blinds me to anything less than the absolute brightest of horizons. Taking an incredible leap of faith (and let’s face it, this Barcelona move was a bit of a crazy one) proved this to me more than ever. Live life for the memoirs and be thankful for the opportunities that allow you to do so. At least that is what Luna says, and she’s never wrong.
Here is to 2025 and the years beyond. With much love, gratitude, and curiosity,
Happy New Year!