Dudley Taft

Fire Horse

Independent

Dudley Taft, born July 4, 1966, in Washington, D.C., grew up in the American Midwest, where he learned the values of friendship, roots blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and a good ear of corn. With a background that includes the Berklee College of Music, as well as years touring with the rock bands Sweet Water and Second Coming, Taft is a thinking man’s blues rocker. There’s plenty of swagger here, but also the sensitivity of a thoughtful songwriter. In his music you’ll hear Delta roots mingling with Seattle grunge, a southern twang with a high-octane crunch. Taft was nominated for Best Guitarist by the European Blues Awards in 2017.

Singer-songwriter Taft is dedicated to the art of the electric guitar. Taft started his own band in 2007. His debut solo CD, Left for Dead, was released in 2010; he is songwriter, producer, guitarist, and vocalist. More recent albums include 2020’s Cosmic Radio, 2023’s Guitar Kingdom, and 2025’s The Speed of Life. Taft has written music for at least six films and numerous television shows, including E! True Hollywood Story and Big Brother.

The band lineup includes Dudley on guitars and vocals; Bennett Holland, keyboards; Dave Marks, bass, additional keyboards, and percussion; Nick Owsianka, drums; and Ashley Charmae, backing vocals. The album is co-produced by Taft and Marks. All songs are written by Taft, except for one co-written with Marks.

Taft opens with “The Warmup Song,” as he sings, “I hope I didn’t make you wait too long, for my next song to hit you? Well, I’ve been strummin along, to find the best way to play for you. This is our warmup song, and I want you all to sing along, warmup song, warmup song. Don’t play too long, don’t play too long. Warmup song, Yeah! Warmup song.”

On “The Fire Inside,” Taft chimes, “I caught the first wave and it took me higher than I’ve ever been, What can I say? It’s bette if you know what you really want, yeah. Keep the fire burning, keep that young man alive, when the drive is strong, let him ride free, to be the man he needs to be, yeah. When the sun sets at night, I’m watching colors fade in the distance, yeah. Let’s go for a ride, Bodhisattva’s spirit is our guide. when I first met you, I knew very soon that you’d be mine, yeah. Keep the fire burning…keep it alive, Fire inside.”

“Wasted Land” features Taft as he chants, “Above the clouds, where the sun is always shining, there are cold winds blowing. Deep underground, where darkness lies unchallenged. There’s a boiling heat. Just you and me, chasing our dreams, find a place in between, just you and me, chasing our dreams. In between, in between. I live in a wasted land, I’ve got a reason…I’ve got a reason. Might be a wasted man, but I’ve got a reason…I’ve got a reason.”

On the topical “Sleeping at the Wheel,” Taft groans, “Get up out of your seat! Don’t take this lying down, your voice needs to be heard! Don’t let them speak for you, they have no idea about your truth. What you need and what you can give. We’ve been sleeping at the wheel, lost our way between, the champagne and streaming. Get up on your feet! It’s time to meet them head-to-head. We’ve got a long, long road ahead.”

“She Loves Me” features Taft as he moans, “She can burn like a wildfire, but she loves me, she loves me. She can howl like a hurricane, but she loves me, she loves me. I am the ocean, and she is floating, she is the wind, and we can fly. Together, Together, Together, Together. And she can crash like a tidal wave, but she loves me, she loves me. She can shine like a comet’s tail, and she loves me, she loves me.”

On “I Raise a Glass to the Brave,” Taft wails, “So good the smell of roses, like I imagined I thought they would, Like starring in an old classic movie, that I watched when I was young. And here she is beside me, out of a poster on my wall, and the music in my head, I can’t wait ti share with you all! I raise a glass to the brave, oh, keep fighting on, into the wind you’ll fly, under a flag of your own.”

“One by One” is a tribute to Taft’s fallen musical heroes, as he declares, “One by one we watch them fall, platinum records hanging on the wall. Day by day, and night by night, bringing all their songs to life. We gotta keep on rockin’ it’s the best we can do. Cuz rock ‘n’ roll is soul food. People we’ve never met, feel like they’re your friends, the music never ends, and it speaks to you. Dead not gone, and the music lives on. In our ears, minds and in our hearts, yeah.”

On “It Speaks to Me,” Taft cries out, “In the sir you breathe, in the water you drink, in the hours you sleep, in the souls you keep, and it fills your dreams, and it builds your scene, and you feel it in your veins. You line it’s nest and feed it’s head, and draw them towards you instead. The voices echo in the shifting breeze, and baby don’t you see? It speaks to me! It speaks to me!, It speaks to me! Well, it speaks to me!”

“So Empty” features Taft as he belts, “Flying through the air, not enough to breathe, sailing the seas, not enough to drink, get it while you can. Get it while you can! Everything you want is so out of reach, nothing you do is what they preach. Get it while you can, Get it while you can! Kings go marching down to the sea, their pockets full of gold. Curiously empty, so empty! So empty, so empty, so empty.”

On “Stolen Days,” Taft croons, “Right away I felt like I knew you for a long time, day by day, arm in arm we walk in the sunshine. Flowers in the room, we’re playing favorite tunes. It’s fading way too soon into a memory. So few times a year we get to disappear, won’t you disappear with me? Sunny days to clear the haze and warm a cold heart, stolen days, we ride the waves, escape, escape, escape.” The closer is an instrumental co-written by Taft and Marks that runs just under six minutes.

According to the Chinese zodiac, 2026 is the year of the fire horse, which occurs only every sixty years. Blues rocker Dudley Taft just happens to have been born during the last fire horse year, 1966. After learning about his fire horse origins last year, he decided to celebrate that fact with his next musical conception. So this year another fire horse was born: Fire Horse, his tenth studio album. It blends Dudley Taft’s cool blues-rock swagger with the warmth of his perceptive lyricism, capturing the hope and positive energy of its mythical namesake. Climb on and enjoy a ride on the real deal!

Richard Ludmerer

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