Gileah Taylor

Holding hands with her husband, Chris, Gileah Taylor awaited their turn to take the microphone. The couple was performing for friends at a house party. As they began to sing, Gileah at the piano and Chris with his guitar, the audience fell silent, captivated by their love song. The melody was simple, like a hymn, and the lyrics romantic. The energy was potent.

Their song exemplifies singer/songwriter Gileah Taylor’s journey of faith, family and music.

She was born in Fort Walton Beach into a family strongly tied to music. Her father, Bill Cain, a preacher at Sovereign Grace Church of Valparaiso and teacher at Rocky Bayou Christian School, was a songwriter and musician. It’s no wonder that as a child, she wrote Christian-themed songs to the simple chords of a hymn.

As a teenager, the whirlwind of adolescence gripped her — notions of romance, rebellion and spiritual questions. She fell in love with classic literature.

“Louisa May Alcott, Flannery O’Connor, Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy. I read all of it. I’d steal a feeling I was reading about and write a song,” she said.

She began listening to bands like 10,000 Maniacs, The Cranberries and The Innocence Mission. She formed her own band. In 2000, she recorded her first CD, “Songs for Late at Night.”

After she married in 2003, she continued to pursue her music independently, though she and her husband remained closely involved in each other’s art. In 2005, he produced her album “The Golden Planes.”

Her musical journey began to change course in February 2006 upon the arrival of her first child, Clara.

“When you have kids, everything changes. I realized this is the kind of love God has for me, and I put all of me into His hands,” she said.

The experience fills the songs on her next record “Gileah and The Ghost Train,” released in 2007. It culminates with the tenth track, titled “The Spirit,” which Taylor calls her “conversion song.” Lyrically, the CD reflects her journey in sanctification, while stylistically it remains youthful and contemporary but hymn-like, with clear alternative influences.

In the years that followed, she continued to write songs from her perspective as homemaker/artist. They appear on two EPs, “What Kind of Fool” and “A Crooked Line,” released in 2010. However, her musical aspirations had changed shape.

Her husband had been signed to a Christian sub-label of EMI Records and left for a concert tour in 2008. Shortly thereafter, Taylor learned she was pregnant with their second daughter. When Mercie, arrived early, he returned permanently.

“We learned that our family is our priority. We don’t ever want to be apart,” Gileah Taylor said.


Photos by HBB Photography
Today, when her husband isn’t working at his family’s business, Ocean Reef Resorts, and Taylor isn’t busy home schooling Clara and Mercie, they write songs together. While the resulting sound remains true to Taylor’s signature style, it takes on a wholeness unique to a heaven-sent romance.

“Marriage and having kids takes you out of yourself. That’s what I like about it,” she said.

Their third child is due in September. Though her appearance with her husband at her friends’ party in May was the last for a while, it was a family tradition.

“I always perform when I’m pregnant. It’s something I like to say we did together. Who knows? Maybe we’ll start a family band,” she said.


All my life I’ve been looking for the truth
Sang the sweet old hymns but still a skeptic in the pew
Then you called my name from beyond time
I gave to you all that was mine
And the spirit came down like a dove

Excerpt from
“The Spirit”
on the Album
“Gileah and
The Ghost Train,” by Gileah Taylor. Her music is available at Central Square Records in Seaside and on iTunes. Updates and future shows will be posted on gileahtaylor.net and gileah.com. - Emerald Coast Magazine

I have the best job in the world even though it is not a job. I don't get paid. On the other hand, I write only about what I like (at least, music-wise) and you cannot imagine the thrill of finding music which makes you compelled to write--- music which almost drags you to the computer and tells you to write. And sometimes, when things work out, tells you what to write. It doesn't happen that often, trust me, but when it does.....

Chris and Gileah's new album, named appropriately enough Chris and Gileah has done just that. Dragged me to the computer. Swear to God. Ten seconds into the opening track, "The Gathered Storm", and my mind started cranking, phrases and comparisons bumping into each other in the ol' cranium, words trying to find one another in the anxiety, hoping to find just the right way to turn such beautiful music into mere words. Words are the bane of the writing process, in case you didn't know, much in the same way as lyrics are to the songwriter. One word out of place or maybe a single sentence can destroy the flow or the intent of a song or a review. I struggle with words daily. I lose sleep over leaving a word out here or writing too many there. I sweat buckets knowing that my words could not possibly match the magnificence of some songs or even entire albums. And contrary to the popular thought that the best albums are the easiest to review, they are not. They are the hardest. So picture me at the computer, the songs of Chris and Gileah challenging me at every turn, words coming fast and furious and me knowing that no matter what I write, you can't hear the music.

What I want to do is rave and beg you, for your own sakes, to head to the website, chrisandgileah.com, and listen to the one track they have posted for streaming. Track One on the album, in fact. "The Gathered Storm." But I run the risk of raving too much and God knows the last thing readers want is someone tossing pom-poms in their faces. I shall attempt to curb my enthusiasm for your sakes, but know that it isn't easy.

I fell in love with Gileah's songwriting back in 2006 when she released The Golden Planes, so I have a jump on you. I have listened to her music so much it has become part of my DNA, but I have never heard her offset as well as she is on this album. Her writing is stellar, her voice beautiful and the way she works with Chris is magic.

Favorites have to be "The Gathered Storm," which echoes one of my favorite songs of the past number of years, Fisher's "Water Burial"; "Miracles" for its early Gileah feel and totally separate (and perfectly haunting and inspirational--- it brings tears to my eyes) ending; and the just-short-of-Americana "Curious". Don't get me wrong. The songs are all outstanding and work very well within the context of the album, but these drive stakes through my heart.

Lucky for you, you don't have to take my word for it. In addition to visiting their website for the sampling mentioned above, they have produced a video to promote the album. I give you a preview of Chris and Gileah, scheduled for release May 27th. You're welcome. - No Depression