When he was 10, Rick Taylor was given a set of drums at Christmas. He began playing acid rock and started a garage band called The Insex. When his drums fell apart, he taught himself to play guitar. In 1971, he made his performing debut at the Mariposa Folk Festival, and was just 18 when Leonard Cohen saw him perform and took him to New York, to spend a year as an instrumentalist for the Off-Broadway show The Sisters of Mercy. He has opened for Bruce Cockburn and Gordon Lightfooot, and played with Willie P. Bennett, Stan Rogers and Colleen Peterson. After 23 years in Vancouver, he moved back to Southern Ontario in 2007. Released in 2010, his CD Lucky Room showcases his gravelly vocals and signature finger style technique on the guitar.