Chad Taylor's blog! Options

[Merica]

Not the ending I wished for

There have been tons of crazy rumors surrounding the hiatus of LIVE. I have read quite a few and laughed at the extremely creative imaginations of our fans. I’ve been reluctant to fan the flames but the rumors are getting further away from the truth and I will try to set the record straight from my standpoint.


First and foremost, Ed has every legal right to perform the songs he helped birth while being the front man for LIVE. The copyrights for these songs are owned by Chad Gracey, Patrick Dahlheimer, Ed Kowlalczyk and myself. Ed does not control the catalog but rather the bands publishing company, Black Coffee Publishing, Inc. Black Coffee is a majority rule corporation.


Yes, it is true, there was a hidden publishing contract singed in 2005. I personally discovered it via a communication breakdown. Ed is listed as the only signature. When I wrote him to find some resolution to the situation, he failed to respond. I have left these matters to our attorneys who will no doubt file a complaint. Honestly, I don’t care about the financial/legal outcome of these matters, the proof is on the page. Ed was able to stab his three best friends from middle school in the back. This act was far down the line from typical rock star ego. As you can imagine I am deeply hurt and wounded.


In light of these matter, I can’t ever see myself working with Ed, let alone ever being in the same room with him. LIVE was always about the band, when Ed lost sight of that in favor of his own ambitions and goals, our considerable fans base began to sigh a collective yawn.


As band mates and friends and despite the lack of fresh material we continued to support Ed with all of our integrity. The final blow was Ed’s request for a $100,000 “lead singer bonus” to perform as surprise guests at this years Pink Pop Festival. I was informed of his request by our management and politely told them to “fuck off.”


Ed will no longer be the vocalist for the band LIVE. At this point in time, we have made no official plans to replace him but it is clear that he is no friend of mine or the lifelong fans of LIVE.


I have focused my energy on creating new music with The Gracious Few. I look forward to seeing many LIVE fans in the audience at our shows. Patrick, Chad and I have made a pledge to honor our long shared history with the fans of LIVE. You will always be graciously welcome in our house.


Love


Chad Taylor

Ho... lee.... shit.

[+Ed+]

I somehow think he will not reply.

Try reading Twitts directed at him> Half of them say: I do not beleive the BS CT is spreading.

We'll see.

[Pokey]

I somehow think he will not reply.

Try reading Twitts directed at him> Half of them say: I do not beleive the BS CT is spreading.

We'll see.

where are you seeing these tweets?


Yeah I doubt he'll respond either .. he's distancing himself and has been since the break up. But like Wam said, I'd really be interested to hear him state his case too. But in doing so might start the mudslinging and it would just be sad if the whole thing turned into public fighting.

[+Ed+]

where are you seeing these tweets?

Someone has posted a link on this forum as far as I can remember.

[SJN1279]

All I know is that dividing the fanbase is counterproductive not only for Ed, but The Gracious Few as well.. The letter was a bad move.

[thefunkyredcaboose]

All I know is that dividing the fanbase is counterproductive not only for Ed, but The Gracious Few as well.. The letter was a bad move.

I bet if Ed had done it you would be applauding it... just a hunch.

[Jon P]

I bet if Ed had done it you would be applauding it... just a hunch.

From what I know the band tried for months and months to resolve the issue with Ed and he ignored them. He would communicate withe them he would speak to them.

Obviously there were many rumors floating around. What Chad Taylor did was stop any rumor and he let the fans know the truth. You cant blame him for that.

As for everyone wanting to hear from Ed. What happens if Ed says the band is not telling the truth. Then some of the people on here will believe him.
My gut feeling is Ed will not respond until he has to and I am sure he has his people trying to spin it so it doesnt look so bad for him.
Like I said, a good friend of mine knows someone very close to the WHOLE band...all four of them...and what Chad Taylor said was the exact truth. He didnt add to the story or take away from it.
I commend them for letting the fans know what was going on instead of all the speculation.

Not too many artist take the time to write a letter to their fans.

[PurdueSteve]

I had refrained from posting after I saw Ed's solo show in Atlanta earlier this year. After the show Ed did his quick meet-n-greet thing where he signed autographs at which point I overheard him talking to a crew member and being very concerned about the amount of "merch moved". It struck me as a little weird because I always thought he was into it for the passion, particularly these little acoustic shows that he couldn't be making that much from the show or the merch since it was relatively small attendance numbers compared to a full on Live show. This was my first glimpse of "commercialized-Ed". Then came the coffee and now the pendant. The guy seems hard up for cash.

What's impressive is that, for an uneducated man(to the best of my knowledge), is that he knows how to market himself. The whole obsession with coffee tweets leading up to the release of "EK Coffee" and such forth. I would be willing to wager that he has no firm doing this marketing for him, generating these ideas, these are all projects he's managing from his home office. I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't the one editing his own bootleg videos either. I say most of this because of what I witnessed from him in person regarding his involvement with the movement of merchandise. I didn't think band members were typically that worried about how much merch is moved that they ask crew about it right in front of fans.

This really sucks because of how Ed's acoustic approach to music influenced me. It inspired me to pick up an acoustic guitar and now, well, I feel like I'd be a hypocrite if I even play some of the songs now. They seem tainted and bit a dirty. I know it's silly and I'm sure the feeling will pass. For now, it's cut the number of songs I know how to play in half (I really know alot of Live songs).

I wish CT, CG and PD the best in TGF. I'm sure it's going to be kick-ass and I know I'm buying whatever they put out. For me though, I'm not convinced I'll like it as much as I did early Live. Despite Ed being the douche' (and with all evidence and observation out there I'm labeling him as such before he has a chance to publicly respond) the 1-2 combination of Ed's originality and creativity mixed with the others' rock ways created something unique. The riff to Lakinis Juice, however cool, doesn't impact me as much without the lines:

"I rushed the lady's room
took the water from the toilet
washed her feet and blessed her name
more peace
is such a dirty habit"

Ed contributed the mentally stimulating portion of Live and I credit him mostly for that. Therefor, without Ed, Live is not Live. So I'm reluctant about TGF's ability to move me as much. Maybe I'm wrong, I hope I'm wrong.....