I sometimes used to look at the big acts in their stadiums and tell the crowd how special they are and how much they mattered. I wondered how people could be sincere and yet spill compliments to a crowd composed of individuals they've never met. So then, how is it that fans really matter to someone who wouldn't remember their name? As i have come to discover, they do indeed matter a whole lot. While you're minding your own business and you recieve an email, or a message or a comment (even a blog comment) where people are telling you how much your music matters to them, it's incredible. It's not the same as telling you, "I like what you've done with your hair" or "nice shoes". They're taking something which is a vulnerable expression of your soul (your songs) and telling you that it matters to them. I don't think fans begin to understand how much that matters. Sure we may say a simple thank you, or even a hearty thank you. But with the ink pad or type writer how can you possibly convey exactly how much it has meant, or begin to think of how to return the favour?

I'm not in a position where i look at hundreds of letters a day or  need to employ someone else to manage my pages 'full-time'. But the thanks-you's that i do get and the letters of appreciation go a long way. They let me know that i'm doing the right thing with my life and that others believe in me as i believe in myself and it's a, sometimes necessary, reminder for me.

Another more practical thing which fans do is get your music out there. Some of you may notice i sometimes end off a comment with "Spread the word." And the truth of the matter is, you're all i've got! Sure i've got a record deal and no doubt they do a lot for me. But i don't have major management, publishing or agents that can plug me into the main industry pipeline. All i have to spread my music around is you. I can't reach the world on my own. My most powerful weapon of marketing is the people who say, i like Justin Taylor's music, i'm going to tell someone else about it. If every person who likes my music tells one other person, my fan base doubles in a day! There's no way i can do that on my own. Now imagine each fan tells two or three people a week, and then those people go on to do the same (pay it forward). No myspace page, website, or youtube video can do that the way that you do it.

So what i'm saying is thank you for what you have done, and i guess you could say i'd like to encourage you to keep telling people about my music. The way i see it, managers and labels and all that are only going to take me on if they see that i can generate a following on my own, and the only way i can do that is through you all!

So help me if you will. Spread the word!