Bill Taft is an American rock musician living in Atlanta, Georgia.

Biography

Taft is the son of former Ohio state Senator William W. Taft, and a distant cousin of former United States President William Howard Taft. In 1982, Taft moved from Ohio to Atlanta to attend Emory University. His first band of note was The Chowder Shouters, whose instruments included garbage cans. They released a six-song vinyl record. After the demise of the Chowder Shouters, Taft joined The Opal Foxx Quartet, a group consisting of anywhere from 2 to 14 members at a time. They broke up in 1992 after the deaths of several members. They released a posthumous CD, which was largely produced by Michael Stipe. Around 1988, Taft started An Evening with the Garbageman, a spoken-word open-mic variety show, which he hosted and that eventually morphed into The Jody Grind. The Jody Grind released two CDs before disbanding following the deaths of half their members. Drummer Robert Clayton and bassist Robert Hayes died in a horrific traffic accident which also claimed the life of performer Deacon Lunchbox. The accident occurred as the band was returning to Atlanta after performing in Montgomery, AL. After The Jody Grind broke up in 1992, Taft formed Kick Me, with Allen Page (of Opal Foxx Quartet) and Kelly Hogan (of The Jody Grind). They recorded several songs that eventually came out on a compilation album called Hidden Tracks, released by Daemon Records. Kick Me broke up after Allen Page died of a drug overdose. . Smoke recorded two full-length CDs and several compilation tracks, playing until 1999 when lead singer Benjamin died of hepatitis C. A year after Benjamin died, Taft started Hubcap City. He has also started Another Evening with the Garbageman, an open-mic spoken word project similar to An Evening with the Garbageman. Around 2017, Taft, along with Brian Halloran (cello) and Will Fratesi (drums) (of Smoke) started the band W8ing4UFOs. They released the album "Don't Let the Asshats Burn You" during the Coronavirus Pandemic in the fall of 2020.

Bands and Instruments

Discography

The Chowder Shouters

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Opal Foxx Quartet

Track 1 written by Tracy Snow. Track 2 written by Grady Cousins. Track 4 written by Debbey Richardson. Track 5 is Deacon Lunchbox sleeping in the back of a truck. Track 7 is The Mary Tyler Moore Show Theme Song, "Love is All Around." Track 10 is a medley of the song from Jesus Christ Superstar and the Billie Holiday song. Track 11 written and performed by Deacon Lunchbox.

The Jody Grind

Smoke

Hubcap City

Tracks 1-8 recorded at WREK radio on 11/13/01. Tracks 9 and 12 recorded outside at Railroad Earth Studios 5/19/01. Track 10 recorded at Eyedrum 3/10/01. Track 11 recorded 12/30/01 at The Earl. Tracks 13-17 recorded 8/02/02 at Earthshaking Music. .

Hubcap City (from Belgium)

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Compilation appearances

with Kelly Hogan

Cake

Side a: Side b: NOTE: Bill played banjo for Cake on this record.

Solo

Side 1 Side 2

Smoke

The lineup on this song was Benjamin, Bill Taft, Brian Halloran, and Todd Butler. This CD was a benefit compilation.

Guest appearances

Indigo Girls - Shaming of the Sun CD (1997, Daemon Records) 12. Hey Kind Friend Taft played cornet on this song, written about his friend Benjamin. The Rock - The Rock (January 23, 1996) 13. Arm in Arm in the Golden Twilight We Loitered On Taft played cornet on this track. Greg Connors - Full Moon Flashlight CD (2009, Scared Records) 4. Two Women and A Flood (Sweet Distraction) 9. September Baby, a cover of a song written by Joseph Arthur Taft played cornet on both these tracks. Adventure Time "Blue Magic", written by Jack Pendarvis, sung by Kelly Hogan, with guitar performance by Bill Taft.