Buffalo Music: Singer started in country before turning toward rock

By Chloe Kowalyk

(Above: Album cover for “Poster Child”).

Strong, female pop punk is taking over Buffalo next week as rising artist Taylor Acorn hits the stage at Rec Room on Monday (Nov. 10). 

Acorn is a self taught musician whose career is taking off as she gains prominence in scenes across the nation. 

“I’ve always really been super into music ever since I was a kid,” Acorn said in a recent interview. She took inspiration from the music tastes of her mother, father and brother as she grew up on rock music. 

Although her family loved the sound, Acorn was the only one who was really musically inclined. 

“I just started singing at a really young age, just for fun, and it was always something that I had kept to myself. I was kind of like a closeted singer. No one else really knew that I did it, except for my family,” Acorn said. 

“Over the years, I got really interested, when I was 15, in learning how to play guitar. I taught myself how to play by watching YouTube and things like that. I taught myself how to sing by listening to Evanescence and just different records, Sarah McLaughlin, artists like that, and I would just try to mimic them almost,” she added. 

As Acorn kept learning, she began to find a community of those who liked her music. A high school friend played guitar with her in school talent shows, but Acorn never really saw it as more of a hobby, and never expected it to become a career. 

Acorn later went to college in Kutztown, in Pennsylvania where she is from, and she played smaller shows here and there. She was paid through funds for the campus meal plan, “Bear Bucks.”

At the same time she performing her music, Acorn also ran track and field for the college.

However, things shifted as Acorn’s music began to take off. 

“I decided to withdraw from college because I started doing little YouTube videos where I would just prop my phone up, and I would sit in my college dorm room and just do covers of songs. I started getting a little traction that way, which was really cool,” she said. 

As Acorn’s following grew, she began getting inspired to have music be her career. 

Acorn attributes much of this early inspiration to her mom.

“She has always been so supportive, and she took me around to audition for American Idol and The Voice, and I never made it, ever,” Acordn said. “But she was really, really supportive of that.”

Acorn’s musical career accelerated further after she posted a video of a Taylor Swift cover. She was reached out to by someone around her age who was planning to move to Nashville and getting into artist development. 

“He reached out to me, and was like, ‘Hey, I see potential in you. Would you want to come to Nashville?,’” Acorn said. 

At the time (around 2015-2016), Acorn was working dead end odd jobs as she performed three-hour sets at local dive bars and delis in her town. She decided she was ready to take a chance and jump into the possibility of a musical career. 

“The first few songs I recorded were just songs that I had been writing, and I literally had recorded [them] on my phone just as voice memos, and that ended up being my very first project,” Acorn said. 

While Acorn now writes and records primarily pop punk music, she initially began her career as a country artist.

“Everything just kind of spiraled from there,” Acorn said. “I ended up getting a publishing deal out here in Nashville, and I was writing country music for like a year and a half, and then I decided that I really just wanted to pursue more pop rock, rock music, because that’s, what I what I love, what I’m really passionate about.” 

Acorn explained that she does love country music, and would do a feature with a country artist if the opportunity presented itself. 

“But I think for me, I always felt so much more connected to bands like Main Game Parade and All Time Low,” Acorn said.

She grew up listening to hard rock and ’90s rock music such as Matchbox 20, The Birth Pipe and Vertical Horizon.

“I think I just kind of got pushed down this lane of country, and I’m so grateful I did, because I built such an incredible fan base from that that has actually stuck with me through this transition,” she said, “which has been really, really odd, because some shows, people will show up and they’ll be like cowboy boots, but also Vans and emo hair.

“It’s really kind of fun; it’s bringing a bunch of people who maybe wouldn’t be in the same place together, which has been really neat.”

Acorn has continued doing covers on TikTok and has kept gaining traction. 

“I’ve just kind of been pinching myself this whole time. Like, how the heck did I get here?” Acorn said. 

She has performed in several countries so far, in places such as the UK, Australia and Europe. 

“That was a really cool moment, and something that I’m so proud of, because when we did that, I was an independent artist. I’ve been an independent artist for a really long time,” Acorn said.

Acorn signed her first record deal this past October.  

The above mentioned tour was built upon several festivals, which were some of the biggest shows Acorn had played. 

“I remember I went on stage, I got to sing with Simple Plan at Rock for People, and I walked out, and there were thousands and thousands of people,” she said. “Even for my show, so many people showed up, and it was my very first festival experience.

“I’m in a new country, and I’m looking out and seeing all of these beautiful mountains and terrain, like, it was just such a crazy, incredible experience.”

Acorn said she is proud of her whole career, including the little wins she had achieved across the years. 

“I mean, I feel like it could all go away tomorrow. Hopefully it doesn’t. But I mean all of it is so incredible,” she said. “You don’t really think that there’s anybody out there who’s listening to you. I feel like I’m always in such a small, little bubble when I’m at home. So when I go out and I play shows, and people are screaming the lyrics back and telling me their stories, it’s just a really amazing, incredible experience.”

In addition to her touring successes, Acorn just released a new album titled “Poster Child” on Oct. 24. 

For Acorn, this project was an outlet. 

“There were a handful of things that had happened in my personal life that I don’t think I really got the opportunity to process until I was home off of the road. And so in January, I sat and I really just thought about everything that I’ve been going on, how I was feeling, just trying to check in with myself,” she said. 

This new album gave Acorn the opportunity to write her own work again, as she had been collaborating with other groups for her past projects. 

She started writing the song “People Pleaser” with the first verse, and found that her sounds changed over her songwriting process.

Acorn explained that the first memo of “Poster Child” sounded completely different as she listened back to the original voice memos. 

For “Hangman,” she worked with her collaborators, taking time to really reflect on the piece.

Acorn said she felt much more confident working on this new project due to her experience touring, writing and producing her music. 

“I’ve had a lot of time to really grow and learn and adapt my confidence levels. When I listen to it, I sound so much more confident than I did in my previous records, which I think is really cool and something that I’m so proud of,” Acorn said.

 “When I listen to this record, I think it’s perfect. I think it’s so me, and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I took the time for myself to really hone in on what I wanted to say and what I was feeling. I’m just very thankful that I had other writers who were just as stoked about the stuff that I had started as I was,” she added. 

Acorn described the new album as “a diary of my life the last few years.”

“There’s a lot of songs that are very empowering. That’s really always the message that I want to spread is that no matter what you’re going through could be your toughest day, it could be a breakup, it could be a friendship loss, it could be, you know, death, or whatever, you can get through it and it’s going to be okay,” Acorn said. 

For instance, “People Pleaser” embodies Acorn’s experiences with online bullying and what it’s like to put yourself out there as an artist. 

Other aspects of the album nod to her father’s death when she was only eight years old, and healing her inner child with things like home videos. 

“There’s a lot of life lessons within this entire record … I feel like there’s also a nostalgia to it that reminds me a lot of those bands that I used to listen to back in the day,” Acorn said. “And so I really hope that people take that away from it as well. Like it just makes them feel good, and it makes them feel empowered and it helps them get through whatever they need to get through.” 

Acorn said that the piece she is most excited for people to hear changes on the daily. At the time of the interview, her favorite song was “Cheap Dopamine.” 

As for the name of the album itself, “Poster Child,” Acorn was inspired to select the name as her experience being the middle child between two other siblings. 

“I’ve always kind of felt like the black sheep of the kids in my family,” she said. 

Her older brother is six years older than Acorn, working in the business world with a home and a family. Acorn’s sister is close to her age, has a family and works as a nurse. 

Acorn’s career path has been a bit different. 

“I’ve always kind of felt like the one in the middle that never really fully knew what I wanted to do, and I’ve always kind of felt like I was the one getting myself in trouble unintentionally,” she said. “I think what’s so funny is that I may not have a family or whatever, but I have such an amazing fan base and people that look to me every day for guidance and to help them get through the day.”

Acorn looks at the young girls who show up to the shows with red in the front of their hair the same as hers, explaining how Acorn has helped them through many situations in their own lives. 

“I think it’s just a funny little way of being like, ‘Hey, I’m the poster child.’ It’s quite literally messing everything up. But we’re here and we’re all connected,” Acorn said. 

For those who have never seen Acorn live, she said new guests can “expect a lot of energy,” especially since she connects so deeply with all of the songs. 

“I feel like it’s going to be a very emotional journey for me and hopefully for the fans that come out to see the shows. But definitely a lot of energy, just a safe space for everybody to feel connected,” Acorn said. 

Acorn also said that there will be some surprises for fans to get involved in the shows as well. 

“So every night is going to be a little bit different, but I think it’s going to be really, really fun and lots of energy and probably a lot of tears from my end,” she said. 

The upcoming Buffalo show will feature the new album, as well as some of Acorn’s older music that fans know and love. 

Acorn performed in Buffalo a while back on a U.S. tour with The Home Team and Real Friends. She said she can’t wait to come back. 

“I’m really excited. It was so fun. The last time we played out there … it was a blast. So I’m super excited to come back,” Acorn said. 

“I’m just so excited to play these new songs, and I’m so excited to see everyone again, and just to be able to get back out on the road,” she said. “Getting to create and make music is my favorite thing to do. So I’m just very thankful that I have so many incredible people who trust me enough to be able to do this.” 

Tickets for her upcoming Monday show at the Rec Room are on sale here. 

You can stay up to date with Acorn on Instagram @tayloracornmusic.

Here is a full Taylor Acorn set from a show in Philadelphia last summer:

https://youtu.be/TqaV0QX_rzE?si=DbykIKXhRYRIshAI