“I don’t set out to write a good song, what I set out to do is find that moment that gives me the shivers,” she said. 

“There’s little moments when you’re writing something or singing a song and you get lost in it and have a shiver that comes over your body.” 

“That’s the moment you go ‘oh, I might be onto something here, maybe it will have an effect on someone else’.”  

What you first notice about the Tasmanian-born musician when listening to her songs is her unique, husky and mesmerising vocals, set to music written about profound moments in human existence such as the nitty-gritty parts of grief.  

But it took Taylor some time to warm to her voice, as she was initially quite shy.

“As a kid I remember I got a little bit teased as I had a funny sounding voice when I spoke,” the now 28-year-old said. 

“There’s always been a husky kind of quality to my voice even when I was a kid. 

“But when I was 16 I started singing even more, did my first performance at school and thought ‘maybe I do have something to offer’, from all the feedback I got from my classmates. 

“So it did take a while to find my voice and figure it wasn’t something to be ashamed of.” 

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She cites one of the major inspirations on her music as her early years growing up on her parents’ 50acres at the edge of the Tarkine, the wilderness in the north-west corner of Tasmania. 

Born in her family’s barn, she was raised in a bush cottage with her five siblings where they had many unique experiences, such as having pet Tasmanian devils that moved in underneath the house which they would feed roadkill to. 

“I’ve realised over the years, the more I’m home and surrounded by that environment the more I feel I’m in a creative head space. It just seems to light my creative fires, so to speak,” Taylor said. 

A life of playing music has taught her how special it is to have a role that allows her to connect with strangers.

“There aren’t many professions that allow you to give so much to complete strangers and have them receive it,” she said.

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“At a lot of my shows people end up crying, I think because people connect with it in a deep way. I think crying is good, it’s healing for people. 

“It’s taught me the incredible power of music to bring joy, to give release - and to be able to do that for people is a huge honour.” 

Taylor is the double headliner for a show at the Candelo Town Hall, Candelo on February 15, along with Luke Plumb and Kate Burke who share a love for 1970s Irish folk revival music. 

Doors at 7.30pm, tickets are $25.