Pat Gwinn

GWINN: When did you join The Holiday Band?

TAYLOR: January 1992…The Holiday Band formed in 1991. Mike Neese is the only original member remaining in the group.

GWINN: Tell me about your musical training, background.

TAYLOR: A BS, Elon College, Music Education 1978.

GWINN: What is the highlight of your career so far with THB?

TAYLOR: One of the more memorable events was performing at The Lincoln Center in New York 2002

GWINN: What has been the lowest point of your career?

TAYLOR: Pat, the lowest would have to be the eight months of not being able to sing following the surgery on my vocals. That was a long and slow healing process but THB got through it with me.

GWINN: If you had the chance to go back from day one of THB, what would you do differently?

TAYLOR: I think I would have pushed The Holiday Band to do more original material earlier in our career and to be more serious about our work early by not becoming full time faster. We were essentially a part time band in some respects and some time I think was wasted.

GWINN: Transitions of new members – easy adjustments?

TAYLOR: We make it easy by not holding auditions. We always tend to play with friends we have known for years and have worked with in the past.

GWINN: The loss of long time member Alan Brantley, what impact did his departure have upon the group?

TAYLOR: Alan was the founding member of the group. Alan was a huge part of the success of The Holiday Band for many years. Alan was the engine that pulled the band. He ran the business side of The Holiday Band, found songs for us. When Alan decided to move on, the biggest part of the adjustment was to keep the band working. I took over those duties and continue to hold the old job of singing. Alan is missed!

GWINN: When you went to the doctor…and he said Mike we need to operate on your vocal cord…what was the first thing that went through your mind?

TAYLOR: Will I ever sing again? I had no guarantees that I would sing again. The surgery came with no guarantees. It could have gone several ways, but the surgery was the only option I had if I were to continue singing. It was definitely a scary thing. Mike Neese knew it was coming. Others in the group and friends in the industry knew it was coming. The therapy wasn’t working . . . Added work on Mike [Neese] and Chase Givens, but they got through it while I worked through the recovery.

GWINN: What happened? What was the cause? Special exercises to bring your voice back to record and performance status?

TAYLOR: Mainly, it was the wear and tear on the vocals. That was primarily the reason. I underwent special lessons again to recapture the quality. It was like going to college again to make sure I was doing it right . . . to not cause damage again.

GWINN: Do you recall your thoughts as you underwent prep for the surgery?

TAYLOR: At that point I was relieved and ready to get the surgery over with . . .

GWINN: What is your outlook / forecast for beach music?

TAYLOR: Providing that we bring in some young people, the outlook will be good. The reception we get with college kids is positive. We need to focus on getting the music to college-age kids. General Johnson is the master at getting in front of college kids and makes it work. Beach Music owes a lot to General Johnson.

GWINN: Are compilations…good or bad for beach music? Why buy your CD when I am able to buy your hit and five or seven others on one disc?

TAYLOR: Compilations are a mixed bag. Compilations are hurting band album sales . . . but good for the consumer. The only way you are going to sell albums to fans is at the venues where compilations are not known about. Another thing I don’t like about compilations, you have bands that spend a lot of time and money spending to produce great, quality works, and other less-quality pieces of works get on the compilation and hurt the overall quality of the CD.

GWINN: The world of beach music and music in general is changing. MP3s are now sent in place of demos. Downloads are less expensive. What is your take on the technological impact with regard to THB?

TAYLOR: Not adjusting too good. . .feel like we are dinosaurs. . we wrestle with what to do with the technology. Lots of the people who were buying beach music choose not to download and prefer albums. But to attract new and younger listeners, we must embrace the technology and hope to gain our royalties.

GWINN: Do you see a resurgence in beach music?

TAYLOR: Geographically, beach music is strong in some places. North Myrtle Beach has more live music than it has in decades. North Myrtle is a fertile performance area. Inland areas are suffering. We compete against so many more things than we used to. If a band is playing you couldn’t wait to see you went . . now [there are] more choices to compete with, week in and week out.

GWINN: Are the DJs too close to the artists? Removing objectivity?

TAYLOR: It certainly can be. It is sort of the nature of the business. Beach music fans, bands and DJs . . . all part of the same family. That has a lot of good things about it and yet it can help and hurt. Often removes objectivity.

GWINN: THB had a banner year with multiple Cammy Awards a few years back. Did you notice a change in bookings?

TAYLOR: The Cammy Awards were nice the year we had the multiple wins. It was nice to notice the recognition from the fans. I think it is all directly associated with the people. Had we not had the bookings we wouldn’t have had the fan support. I think it helped us with sponsorships more than bookings.