Jayne County & Am Taylor

Soon the world will get its first full extended listen to Jayne County & Am Taylor, an exciting new musical collaboration between the two eponymous performers, spanning generations of music history and multitudes of styles, while also creating the first openly Trans musical duo. Following up an initial 2020 single, a new high-profile guest spot on a forthcoming Trans-focused covers compilation, plus an upcoming full-length debut, will serve as the burgeoning duo’s official introduction.

The collaboration—conceived at the outset of the pandemic and just finally realized now—marks the joining of two very unique, yet compatible talents. County, is considered the first Trans punk rocker, with an artistic pedigree that goes on for days; Taylor, her counterpart, represents the next generation of Trans artistry, and provides much of the required compositional, technical and recording know-how. It’s proving to be an ideal working relationship.

“I’ve always got tunes in my head; they’re always there,” explains County. “I just kind of picked them out of the sky. I started taking some of these songs out of my head and telling Am about them, and all of a sudden they were the songs that we were working on, after being stuck there for years.”

From the start, the creative spark was apparent. Every fateful union has a meeting place, and in this case the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club in Atlanta is where it all began, courtesy of mutual friend Jen Belgard, who introduced County to Taylor. County had recently done some secret shows there, which had left a lasting impression on Taylor.

“Those shows were crazy,” Taylor recalls. “She crawled down on her hands and knees and did, ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog,’ by The Stooges. She was crawling under people’s feet. It was insane.”

The two exchanged numbers and began writing music together soon thereafter. Energized by their new musical collaboration, County and Taylor officially launched their new musical project by releasing their first single, “I Don’t Fit in Anywhere” in 2020 on Cleopatra Records. The single debuted on Iggy Pop’s radio show, “Iggy Confidential,” on BBC Radio 6.

But the momentum, at least publicly, was soon paused, as the single dropped just on the heels of the pandemic, when much of the world suddenly came to a halt. Nonetheless, the duo continued to incubate their songwriting collaboration over that span, meeting at County’s home during the lockdown. The fruits of those efforts will now comprise their debut album, due out later in the year.

There’s a unique dynamic to County and Taylor’s songwriting collaboration that the pair have embraced: County typically hums a melody that comes to her in bursts of creativity, while Taylor picks out the notes to fully form an arrangement. Amid the process, Taylor’s sensibilities as a songwriter, producer and engineer meet with County’s colorful ideas and vast influences from ’60s music, inspiring a colorful sonic palette. Taylor, who’s also fluent in indie, dream pop and shoegaze, culls from a wide range of influences, including Ennio Morricone soundtracks and surf guitar, wrapping it all in a modern punk/garage rock package.

“Jayne has this punk rock/proto-punk thing going from her past, so we have that as the meat and potatoes,” explains Taylor. “But somehow there’s also surf rock and James Bond guitar.”

As a lyricist, County has a wealth of experience to draw from. Born in Dallas, GA, she moved to New York City and was both a regular at the Stonewall Inn and an active participant in the Stonewall Riots, as well as a protégé of Andy Warhol and inspiration to David Bowie, Patti Smith and Lou Reed, among others. The seminal proto-punk singer-songwriter and visual artist is best known as the vocalist in her bands Queen Elizabeth, Wayne County and the Backstreet Boys, and Wayne County and the Electric Chairs, releasing many records on several labels.

County was also a regular at Max’s Kansas City (where she was the house DJ) and CBGB’s in New York, making her a fixture of the early punk scene. At one point, her band Queen Elizabeth featured Marky Ramone on drums; she also cut a demo with Tommy Ramone, back in her days with Bowie’s Main Man Records label. Legends like Elvis Costello and The Police literally got their start opening for Jayne County when she toured in Europe.

Over the years, County shared the stage countless times with the likes of KISS, The Ramones, Iggy and the Stooges and Alice Cooper, as told in her autobiography, Man Enough to Be a Woman. And all the while, County’s work has always protested the societal norms, by which she has never been constrained.

“I’m always ahead of myself and doing things in my attitudes and songwriting that make me a pioneer,” County reflects. “As a Trans person, I went out and played regular, straight rock ‘n’ roll clubs, with a rock ‘n’ roll band, trying a lot of things on stage that upset a lot of people. I’ve had guns drawn on us while doing performances. In Rhode Island, somebody started shooting from the audience, because I was singing a song called, ‘Storm the Gates of Heaven.’”

Taylor, an established artist in her own right, brings a very different, yet stylistically connected, background to the collaboration. An Atlanta-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist for various bands, and former touring guitarist for Brother Grey, Taylor has performed alongside the Georgia Satellites, Fuel, Royal Bliss, Electric Six, Girl In A Coma, and Hunter Valentine, among many others.

Most recently, Taylor released a 7-inch record with singles, “Driving On The Edge of Night” and “Bright Yellow Sun,” both of which also debuted on Iggy Pop’s radio show, “Iggy Confidential,” on BBC Radio 6. Pop called Taylor, “Stylish, shrewd, and rockin’.” The release was featured in Alternative Press’ “Releases for Your Radar,” and “Bright Yellow Sun” was featured in Guitar World magazine. She draws from a dynamic songwriting repertoire. “I love ethereal soundscapes from music scores, especially the ’60s Spaghetti Westerns,” says Taylor. “The sounds in those freaking movies are so weird. There’s also a song where we’ve got a little bit of Queens of the Stone Age and really epic, weird jazzy guitar chord choices.”

Another new Jayne County & Am Taylor single, “Houston Is Hot Tonight,” (an Iggy Pop cover) is already out now, as featured on the Streetwalkin’ Mofos compilation created by film producer/director Danny Garcia. The duo’s full-length debut LP is well underway, due out soon.

From here, anything is possible, as long as the ideas keep flowing. And by the sound of things, that’s not likely to end anytime soon.

“I definitely want to get all the songs that are in my head out, and put them out as music, so the people can hear it,” says County. “Because basically, if an idea of a song is in my head for years and years and years, then I know it’s gonna make a good song. And it always does.”