Taj Farrant bringing the blues to Byron
Taj Farrant is an internationally-acclaimed Australian guitarist and recording artist recognised for his explosive blues-rock style, technical mastery, and commanding stage presence. Emerging as a child prodigy, Taj has evolved into one of the most exciting young guitarists of his generation, blending fiery rock intensity with deep blues soul.
With global tours, major festival appearances, and collaborations with legendary artists, Taj Farrant continues to redefine modern blues-rock guitar. Farrant has shared the stage with and/or performed alongside Carlos Santana, Rob Thomas, ZZ Top, Buddie Guy, Kingfish, Eric Gales, Eric Johnson, and the list truly does go on. Farrant has also performed tributes honouring guitar legends Gary Moore and Stevie Ray Vaughan whose emotive blues phrasing remains a significant influence on Taj’s sound.
Speaking of the blues, Farrant is like dozens of other artists, preparing to hop on a plane when he heard the news that Bluesfest had been cancelled – having spent thousands on the tour to Australia, Farrant and his family have still come to Australia, and he will play three local shows this weekend.
Tell me about your disappointment about Bluesfest?
I mean, obviously it sucks to not get to come home and do like, Bluesfest, because it’s like, the one thing that we come home for, that I get excited for, but it feels like, just the music industry in general – in Australia, it has not been the best for a while. So, yeah, but honestly, I wasn’t overly surprised either …
You have a full time career as a muso, are you still in school?
Not anymore. I actually just finished. I did online schooling pretty much since year five, all the way up until last year. I would have been in year 11.
When you were quite young, there’s the story about how you saw Angus Young, and said, ‘That’s what I want to do when I grow up’. How has your reality matched the vision?
Honestly we went very far from that path. We changed genres and I just became myself. We went down a different rabbit hole after I learned how to play properly. Yeah, but yeah. I mean, I still pick up a [Gibson] SG every once in a while and play like AC/DC and stuff like that.
Have you met him?
No, not yet. He’s like a unicorn.
So do you have an earworm at the moment?
Not really, it’s just like, I’ve been focusing on my own music so much at the moment. I mean, I catch myself humming like, lyrics and stuff and like, melodies, just keeping them fresh as well.
What sort of things are inspiring you at the moment, with your music?
There’s this guy. His name is Eric Johnson. He’s pretty good. I just like watching other people play guitar, and then if I’m like, ‘Oh, that was cool’, then I try to do something along those lines, but in my own way.
Playing music is your profession, do you also do music for fun? Or do you have a hobby?
No, really, it’s just music. I do music and play with my dog. His name’s Gary. He’s the best. He’s in America at the moment and I’m very sad.
Taj, are you having enough fun?
Yeah, always, yeah yeah yeah, always. It’s good. This is what I want to do anyway, so it’s all fun for me.
You can catch Taj in a free show at the Byron Bowlo on Saturday – the event starts at 4pm with supports Marshall & The Fro and Wild Rocket.
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