You may not have always known the name Tae, but if you’re a fan of the Birmingham music scene you’ve most likely heard his music. The humble yet confident creative has been a guitarist and producer on many of the best songs to come out of the city, but recently took a step forward into the spotlight with the release of his album, “Everything’s Bad”. Despite the title things are looking up for Tae since the record dropped, and the musician has no plans to slow down.
“It’s been really well. The release party was packed out at Good People - wall to wall. It’s been great,” Tae shares of the public’s reception to his latest release. “I’ve been in the Birmingham music scene actively for about 8 or 9 years at this point. For the most part, everyone knows me as the guitar guy. Like ‘Oh, he plays guitar for this person or that person’,” Tae shares of his inspiration, “I wanted to be more expressive and really try and do my own thing, so I wrote this album and that’s how we got here.”
“Everything’s Bad” was released by Mubary Records. The artist’s label was also behind Tae’s 2022 single “Is It Mine”, as well as the 2019 album ”Play House”. “That would be my first original work,” Tae shares of the 2019 record, “I’ve been a hidden Birmingham gem when it comes to production and songwriting for people. A lot of stuff is uncredited because I just liked the song.” Tae wasn’t looking for clout or money with these projects for others, just doing it for the craft and to “sharpen his sword.”
“Everything’s Bad” is a full album experience, with Tae guiding us on a journey through shared life experiences. “It was really kind of reluctant. I feel like a lot of people make singles - that’s kind of the wave right now. I’ve never really been able to give people one thing, I want to give you an experience,” Tae shares of his thought process on the latest record, “Whenever I looked in my collage of songs I have I was like ‘Wow, these all tie together really really well at this moment in my life.’ When you listen to the album it’s in the setting of a therapist session, but really you can take it as an internal monologue or an everyday walk through life.”
The first song was actually finished nearly four years before the album was released, and kicked off the inspiration for Tae to make a collection of songs of similar quality. Tae wrote every song and produced on every song, which isn’t unusual for the musician - but the challenge of keeping an album’s theme and narratives consistently tied together throughout each song was a new venture that he gladly undertook. The final outcome wasn’t just a great listening session, it was a healing process for Tae and many who listen. “This project saved my life pretty much, because I was super depressed making this album. It (shows) that there is a beauty in letting go - of things, people, ideas, habits. You have to make space for the new version of yourself if you really want that for your life.”
The 2022 release “Is It Mine” is the first single off of the album, with Tae letting fans determine what the next singles and videos will be due to popularity. “I love them all,” the creator shares of his songs, “These are all my babies. For me, my favorite song is ’Important!!!’. I could listen to it all day, it’s so pretty. Everyone seems to really like ’Morning’ a lot from what I hear.” ‘Important!!!’ features fellow Magic City all-star Richard Daniel who Tae couldn’t uplift more, sharing that “He’s out of this world. That guy is great.”
“I’m the kind of guitar player where if I have a guitar solo I don’t even want to step to the front of the stage. I serve the song in all facets and now that I’m the front person I’m having to acclimate to being the center of attention,” Tae shares on getting acclimated to the spotlight. While the transition takes some time to adjust to, Tae does hope that the increased attention to his writing will bring meaningful moments to those who listen. “I want people to experience that it’s okay to accept yourself for whoever you are. Sometimes you’re not the good guy, sometimes you’re not the bad guy. Finding that position in your life.” Simply taking the time to see where you are in life and doing what you choose with that information can make a big difference.
With more than a decade of experience working with Birmingham musicians, it means a lot to Tae to be representing the collaborative power found in the Magic City with his latest album. “I feel like being a Birmingham musician means you have to be a glue in the change you want to see in the city. I think people that aren’t musicians from Birmingham don’t necessarily understand it, but we’ve come a long way. We used to be very clique-ish and I think people are beginning to understand that we need to work together so we don’t keep sending all of our talent to Atlanta, California, where people feel like they have to leave for them to be heard. I think we’ve done a lot of growing and that’s what it means to me. To me it means unity - uniting and bonding.”
Yes, Birmingham has come a long way - and so has Tae. The artist recognizes he couldn’t do it alone. “I want to thank my mom. She was really instrumental in my navigating emotions as a young person. I want to thank my family in general, because they were really supportive and helpful for me to get through this. Shout out to my exes for being phenomenal inspiration and my terrible jobs that told me I would never accomplish anything, but now they send me messages about how great I am.”
We can only hope more exes, more loving family members, and more temporarily-hateful jobs lead to even more great music. (Just playing Tae, hope life is good!)
Cover image provided by Tae
