PLATTSBURGH — Award-winning singer-songwriter Taylor LaValley’s double glow will shine when she takes the stage 3 p.m. Sunday at the Plattsburgh Memorial Chapel.
“I will be performing ‘Still in Love,’ and they will get to hear the new song before its released played acoustically,” she said.
“Then, I have a whole catalog of songs that I’ve written that I haven’t released yet, but will be on an upcoming project that I will be playing. and then there’s just some stuff that’s already been released. So I’ll be playing a lot of stuff that people know and a lot of new things that are going to be coming soon, and my favorite covers. Just a couple of those thrown in there too.”
Taylor’s new song, “Heavy on the Pourin’,” will hit country radio on April 29.
“It’s just your typical country, heartbreak song, but it’s about somebody who is in a relationship with somebody who drinks every time they think about their ex. She’s noticing the signs. It’s kind of a little play on words there,” she said.
Taylor annually attends the Josie Music Awards held for independent artists at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
“The past October I went down,” she said.
“I was there for the weekend. I attended the awards show as a nominee, six times. I came home with two awards. One of them was for Song of the Year, ‘Still in Love,’ which is out everywhere and plays on WOKO (Big Country 98.9 FM).”
“My husband (Troy Trombley) came with me,” she said.
“We got to have a little weekend to ourselves, which was really nice. It was just fun to play some gigs down there and let him experience it as well because he didn’t get to experience it until that weekend with me. How it was when I go down and play shows and stuff like that.”
Taylor wrote the award-winning song a little over a year ago and released it for radio play and submission to the JMAs.
“That song, again, is like another kind of breakup song,” she said.
“I kind of love to play in that melancholy space, but it’s an upbeat, uplifting kind of way.”
LaValley was also the recipient of the Emerging Artist award.
“It was very unexpected, and I blacked out on stage,” she said.
“It’s all genres that they include for the awards show, everywhere from hip-hop to rock and country. The Emerging Artist is actually overall. Like over all genres. So that was a really big one for me. What they do is they have the same kind of panel that would do like the CMA awards or AMA awards. They have a panel that basically goes through each artist and sees what their bodies of work are, what they’ve been up to, and they decide who best fit the Emerging Artist spot. That’s not fan voted. That’s from their academy. They are voting on that. Like I said, I was very shocked. I was just happy to be there. Like to even be nominated. I was just there for the experience and to say I went. To actually come home with something was really big.”
MUSIC CITY BABE
Taylor was born in Nashville to Elisa and the late Doug LaValley, who was also a musician who performed all over the country.
Taylor stepped into her father’s boot print at age 9, and her styles range from country to classic rock, pop, and crossover hits.
“He produced music down there and played at the Opry before he passed away,” she said.
“So, I have my award next to his urn in our hutch at the house. It’s kind of like a full-circle moment, you know. He was a country-western singer-songwriter from this area. But back in the day like in the ‘70s and ‘80s, he was making a name for himself around here like I did, but, he took it to Nashville and played at the Opry and got to play with really big names. He got pretty up there in his career.”
Of eight siblings, Taylor is the only one with “Music City” cred.
“I’m the only one that does music to this extent,” she said.
“I feel like everybody in my family, they’re very musically talented. I’m the only one that’s taken it to this step and really trying to go for it, but they’re all very supportive.”
ANTICIPATION
Ryan Hayden engineers her tracks.
“He travels here with all his stuff,” she said.
“We recorded at my house. Something new that we’re trying. I just record my vocals from home. I got my own little set-up. I send my vocals to him, and he just kind of masters and does everything else from his home. It makes it easier.”
Her 2025 goals:
“We’re expecting our second child,” the mother of a 4-year-old daughter said.
“I’m due in September, Labor Day weekend. I still plan on playing shows. Going to the JMAs as long as I’m nominated. I’ve been in talks with people who live in Nashville, so hopefully going down and doing some more writers’ nights. Yeah, I’m just plugging away.”