Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor has an interesting way of describing his (and perhaps everyone’s) earthly nature in relation to spiritual matters. “I wasn’t looking for God ever,” he says. “I started going the other direction at birth.” That doesn’t mean the 27-year-old Florida native intentionally sought any particular loss of innocence; it only magnifies the compelling turnaround theme that now shines on his deep worship-meets-ethereally marked pop debut, Take Me Anywhere. Indeed, Taylor’s music is about human wandering, God’s pursuit, and the conversations that ensue. Raised in the beachfront town of Destin, Chris remembers an idyllic childhood made possible by hard-working parents who managed vacation rental properties. Riding along in the family car, he would hear Willie Nelson or Paul Simon on the radio and quietly imagine being part of what they were doing. But playing guitar never occurred to Taylor before age 13 when his mom brought one home to cheer him up after a bad day at school. And that was essentially the extent of the drama in his world until two years later when an older teenage friend wanted to talk at length with Chris about the meaning of life. “He was from a broken home and basically lived with us,” he recalls. “Then one day he shared the gospel with me in his car. At first I was offended, really. We’d given this guy so much—what gave him the right to think that I was missing something? But I soon believed what he was saying, and that’s my story: I had a salvation experience in a car.” By the next year, Taylor was leading worship in youth group. After high school he earned a degree close to home in music and recording. Then the opportunity came for Chris to journey to England where he interned in worship ministry at Soul Survivor church. There he met worship leader and songwriter Matt Redman (“The Heart of Worship”) and was dramatically humbled by the authenticity of his faith.