Young Australian guitar slinger Taj Farrant is being hailed as a Wunderkind player at 16-years-old; jamming with guitar greats such as Buddy Guy, Carlos Santana, ZZ Top, Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram, Eric Gales, Rob Thomas, Orianthi and more since he was in junior school.
We caught him in action in London on the third date of his debut UK tour to see if the claims are justified or hyperbole…
Taj Farrant cannot legally buy a beer at the bar of the 13 venues he is playing on his “Chapter One” debut UK tour or at any of the venues on his subsequent European trek either.
At 16, he has had more attention, since he first picked up a guitar as a child, than many musicians get in a career. But at just 16, this Aussie guitarist, singer and song writer takes it all in his stride and backs up the consistent praise on stage, as he did at The Garage in Islington, London on Sunday night.
As he did at a sold out Cheltenham jazz festival gig as his first show here and as he did in Nottingham.
There have been a slew of youngsters with a guitar strapped across their chest being hailed as the future of the blues or the next big thing in rock, over the last decade or so. Most make a splash and then disappear without trace after a couple of years when the novelty wears off and along comes the next one wanting to be Gary Moore or Joe Bonnamassa.
So is it going to be any different with this young Antiopdean axe man? If so why? Well, popping down the rabbit hole of YouTube and social media and the host of live videos of Taj, including holding his own on stage in fiery fretboard duels with some of the most famous guitarists there are, he had a lot to live up to for his London gig.
So seeing him do his thing in a 600 capacity room in London where you could almost smell the anticipation in the audience, and probably be of the same mind as everyone else there, thinking: ‘Oh, please be bloody great Taj, so one day we can say, I was there, when you are filling arenas and selling a gazillion albums’.
After solo support act Charlotte Carpenter, Taj takes to the stage with his young five-piece band of keyboards, played by his sister, bass, drums and two guitarists. His dad introduces his son and the band and they are off.
A bumper 90 minute set of covers and his own stuff. There’s rambunctious uptempo rocky numbers, groove-soaked material and laid back slow blues. Lots of guitar solos as you’d expect.
No set list. It’s in his head and the band pretty much react to what he calls out and decides is next. They are tight and there is palpable chemistry between them and Taj.
His main influence Mr Gary Moore is self evident in his style and some of his song choices, and in his own song writing. He covers Prince, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Elmore James, Eric Johnson and Steve Vai. He closes the set with Moore’s “Parisienne Walkways”.
The boy sure can shred and can almost start a fire on the fretboard with his amazingly fast fingers. But he can also lay back and slow it all down and play less notes, and make a much sweeter sound when your ears need a breather.
He has innate feel and a soulful way about his playing away from the bombastic rockin’ out like a mutha. And that feel is king attitude and less is more focus usually comes way down the line after many road miles and when the sun has gone around the earth a good few times, At 16, it is rare.
He has a bunch of his own songs and it is pretty decent stuff. “Cruz”, “Mumma Raised A Man”, and “Crossroads” which is not to be confused with what is probably the most famous and most covered blues song ever of the same title, by Robert Johnson.
His vocals are improving all the time when you hear him on videos across the years. He does not sing with fake American accent, thankfully. He is being himself methinks. His voice will of course change and get deeper as he gets older. At 16 he has already begun sporting a moustache to go with his flowing ‘dread’ locks. His black hat throws shadow over his face a fair bit until he throws his head back lost in the moment of his solos.
Like Mr Bonamassa, Taj says he aims to bring the blues to the mainstream. Mr B dons suit, slicks his hair back and wears shades. Master Tarrant shed his shoes and played in his socks on stage, as did his rhythm guitarist. Too cool for shoes! The set built and built in power and energy, so much so, both Taj and his 2nd guitarist bust strings towards the end of the set, but the show must go on and it did.
He invited a guest guitarist up on stage for two songs, a Hendrix cover and a Taj original. Fil Henley from the popular Wings of Pegasus YouTube channel. Fil has known Taj for about five years via the internet, since Fil introduced Taj to his YouTube audience, and has followed his career from then. This was the fist time they had met in person.
The tour is named after Taj’s self-released debut album “Chapter One” which was released in 2024, and for this show he delivered a good chunk of that album. Incredible he penned those songs when he was 13 and 14.
So was it all hype or is this kid the real deal? Well, there is a video of the full show on YouTube (nothing to do with me or this magazine by the way) you can watch and make up your own mind; along with stacks of vids tracing his playing from a very young age up to today. Including his jams with the big names.
Personally, I was most taken aback with his skills on his solos with the great Eric Gales on one video, when Taj was just 14. Astounding. Eric looks gob smacked and grins from ear to ear.
I’ll say this about Taj’s future prospects; place your bets now. The kid from down under is special. Major labels get your cheque books out and form an orderly queue! Jools Holland’s TV show booker, call his dad!
- UK shows left on the tour are: Edinburgh Tuesday 5th May, York 6th, Manchester 7th, Northampton 8th, Gillingham 9th, Bristol 10th, Exeter 12th, Cardiff 13th, Southampton 14th and Norwich 1th May. The European shows.
Photos by Fran Parry
Words: Steve Best
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