Hughes Taylor Band makes history at renovated Capricorn Studios

A bit of trivia to hang on to: who’s the first band to record, mix and release a single at the renovated Capricorn Studios?

The somewhat historic answer: The Hughes Taylor Band. The single is called “Trouble.”

Hughes Taylor and bandmates Nate Lee and Adriana Thomas joined Capricorn’s Rob Evans Dec. 17 for a day of recording. The next day, Taylor and Evans, chief engineer at the studio, did the mix. Now, “Trouble” is available through standard internet music outlets and at www.hughestaylormusic.com.

But of course, for Taylor, 24, who grew up in Macon, this bit of trivia isn’t trivial.

“Man, the whole time I kept thinking, ‘What is going on? Look where we are. What are we doing here? I can’t believe it.’ I didn’t have a moment I looked around and had an epiphany – the whole time was that way. Maybe most intense was looking at the rest of the studio from the vocal booth where I sang and played guitar. I can’t describe it. I guess surreal does a pretty good job.”

Growing up in Macon-Bibb/Jones County, Taylor said he thought of Capricorn in a mythical way. The music he loves, songs he writes and what his band plays harkens to the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton and the Allman Brothers Band but he said he didn’t really “get” Macon’s place in it until he was in his teens.

“After I got pretty good on guitar, I sat in for eight years playing a Christmas show with what’s known as the Charles Brook Band,” Taylor said. “We played a lot of Southern Rock and I was into it but I didn’t know much history. It came up that one of my favorite guitarists is Steve Gaines of Lynyrd Skynyrd and they said he recorded his solo album down the road at Capricorn. I was like, ‘No way, he’s from Oklahoma – and where down the road is Capricorn studio?’ They told me more and I started getting what that studio meant. I was about 14 when my perception of Macon and music changed.”

The Capricorn complex is now owned by Mercer University who brought it back to life and celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. The whole complex goes under the name Mercer Music at Capricorn and includes studios, practice and office spaces, a museum and other areas.

Aside from the recording session’s dreamlike quality, Taylor said the practical experience with Evans was great.

“Really, we were guinea pigs,” he said. “Rob told us we were the first real band to record with all the new equipment and we were kind of a test run to make sure everything was working. He was great to work with and took his time helping us a lot with recording and the mix.”

Going in that day, Taylor said had misunderstood where they’d be recording, thinking they’d be in a secondary studio.

“But we got there and I was so surprised and blown away,” he said. “We were in Studio A, the historic studio where Steve Gaines recorded, where the Allman Brothers did so much work and where so much phenomenal music was made. Like I said: hard to believe.”

Taylor said there were numerous takes but their song was recorded live with all playing at once, adding just a few overdubs. He said the band picked his song “Trouble” because of its “live” quality.

To keep facts clear, you may have heard of others recording tracks and doing things at Capricorn such as Betty Cantrell, Warner Robins native and Miss America 2016 who now lives in Nashville, and the Mercer chorus recording a 2019 virtual Christmas card, but the Hughes Taylor Band is the first working band to record and mix a song in the working studio.

Evans confirmed as much. Aside from being chief engineer, Evans is director of the studio, a musician himself, a producer and co-owner of Creek Media which operates The Creek: 100.9-FM, 100.5-FM: The X, and the music and entertainment site www.soundandsoulonline.com.

“They were the first band since we remodeled and got back in business,” he said. “It was kind of a guinea pig session so they got to record and help pave the way for a lot of good music to come. We used the session to fine-tune and make sure everything was working. There were tech issues like headphone problems but everything got worked out. Hughes is a great guy and they’re a really good, professional band. Part of my role here is to encourage young people and new talent and to help them get their music out for people to hear.”

Taylor said he’s just happy the session was booked and completed before the coronavirus pandemic shut down tours, shows and the studio. He said the band also manage to complete a successful U.K. tour in January but that April was to be the best-booked month the group has seen - now canceled.

“But I’ve been doing online concerts like the Quarantine Concert Series and I’ve started my own virtual concert series on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. on my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/thehughestaylor. So we’re doing what we can like everybody. But I really hope people like ‘Trouble.’ It’s a bluesy rock song that people have responded to at our shows. It’s a new song that sounds old.”

One last thing. If you’re a friend or relative of Taylor’s you might recall him better by his real, full name including actual last name: Hughes Taylor Kitchens. He uses his first and middle as a stage name.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.

This story was originally published April 10, 2020 at 7:00 AM.