Playing at the Full Circle Fair will fulfill a lifelong dream for Dulcie Taylor, a South Carolina native.
“I’ve never been to Maine,” said Taylor from a tour stop in Columbus, Ohio. “I’m so excited, you just don’t know. Growing up in the south, I’d look at a map and see Maine sticking out there, and I’d wonder what it was like there.”
Maine may be new territory for Taylor, who will be the headliner at the Folk Stage of the WERU-FM fund-raiser, being held this weekend at the Blue Hill Fairgrounds. But she’s making a name for herself in other parts of the country, especially Washington, D.C., where she now lives. Her music has earned a Washington Area Music Assocation “WAMMIE,” five awards from the 2000 Mid-Atlantic songwriting contest and a finalist spot in the Chris Austin songwriting contest at Merlefest 2001.
Taylor just released her latest album, “Diamond & Glass,” as the first artist signed to the new Blue Iris singer-songwriter label. Producer George Nauful, also president of Blue Iris’ parent label Mesa-Bluemoon, was able to line up a crack group of musicians for the session, including guitarists Michael Landau and Jeff Golub, pianist Brian Culbertson, saxophonist Steve Cole and percussionist Scott Breadman.
Taylor knew Naufel from their days together on the Los Angeles music scene in the early 1990s.
“He’s a good singer, writer and player himself, so he brings something added to the table,” she said.
Having a familiar producer in the studio leads to better results in the end, she added.
“When people are comfortable about each other, you don’t feel strange about throwing out ideas,” Taylor said. “You’re comfortable enough to let yourself be vulnerable. If you aren’t willing to be vulnerable, you don’t get the good stuff, I don’t think.”
Taylor grew up in a musical family, and began taking formal lessons early on.
Her career took a turn when she was 10. On a trip to Myrtle Beach, a drunken boy wandered up onto the porch of the house where she was staying, and sat on her ukelele, destroying it.
“The drunk boy did smash it good, and that was heartbreaking at the time,” she said. “But my mother did get me a guitar that Christmas.”
Taylor has been praised by critics for her eye for everyday life.
“That comes from being raised in a small town, and in the Baptist church,” she said. “Everyone is really close. You see people’s faces a lot in a small town, and really get to know them, their quirks and their personalities. I’ve always been fascinated by human behavior.”
Saturday
. Main stage, 5-5:45 p.m., Antigravity; 6-6:45, Reach; 7-7:45, Shambles; 8-10, WERU Family Dance Party Music Jamboree.
Sunday
. Main stage, 11 a.m., Nat Hussey Band; noon, Coming Grass; 1 p.m., Dulce de Leche; 2, Derrick Semler Band; 3, Rantic; 4, Stream; 5, Doug Crate.
. Folk stage, 11 a.m., Jennifer Armstrong; noon, Ricky Baker Band; 1 p.m. Mike & Susie Fay Duo; 2, Lissa Schneckenburger with Bill Cote of Wake the Neighbors; 3, Tree By Leaf; 4, Aztec Two-Step; 5, Dulcie Taylor.
Full Circle Fair hours are 4-10 p.m. today and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday.
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