Taylor Hall is used to eyes being on her.<\/p>\n
More than 115 million viewers caught her at Super Bowl LVII in a blink-and-you\u2019ll miss it appearance in a McDonald\u2019s commercial<\/a>. More than 10,000 Hoosiers followed her and other organizers of June 2020 Black Lives Matter protests at the Indiana State Capitol<\/a> as they put together one of the largest demonstrations Indianapolis had seen in 30 years.<\/p>\n And from 2014 to 2018, students at Crispus Attucks High School could hardly go a day without seeing her face or hearing her voice. As an Attucks student, <\/strong>Hall was a talent show regular, host of the morning announcements, student council member, basketball player and member of the school\u2019s band and choir, i<\/strong>n addition a handful of after-school clubs.<\/p>\n \u201cI was all over the place,\u201d Hall said. \u201cAnything you can be in, I was in.\u201d<\/p>\n Hall, 25, is a singer, songwriter and activist with a few modeling and acting credits under her belt. Born and raised in Indianapolis, she spent three years in Los Angeles before returning to her hometown last May for the birth of her son Elias in August 2024. And, earlier this year, Hall celebrated another life milestone \u2014 the release of her debut EP.<\/p>\n Taylor Hall, an “artivist,” speaks during the “Crossroads of Democracy: Day of Action” event at the Indiana Statehouse, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. The event aims to empower young activists fighting for equity, equality, social and economic justice, and generational change in politics. Artivism, Indiana Nasty Women, and Indiana Black Legislative Caucus are hosting the event.<\/p>\n During her three years in California, Hall picked up those extra gigs while cutting the \u201cCheaper than Therapy\u201d EP. Now she\u2019s back in town, performing tracks from her album at local mainstays like the Chreece hip-hop festival<\/a> and the Butter Fine Art Fair<\/a>. She’ll showcase a set full of the new material at Broad Ripple\u2019s Mellow Yellow Festival Sept. 13.<\/p>\n A natural performer, music has followed Hall her entire life. Her father \u2014 fellow musician Eddie Hall \u2014 had a studio in their family’s Pike Township house, and by the time she officially picked up the guitar at 12 years old, she was already intimately familiar with writing, recording and performing.<\/p>\n Hall sang, strummed and wrote songs casually throughout high school, but it was that June 2020 protest the summer after her sophomore year at Ball State University that turned a hobby into a life goal. She performed \u201cI Can\u2019t Breathe\u201d \u2014 a song written by her father in response to the police killing of George Floyd \u2014 on the steps of the Indiana State Capitol, and she began to understand music as a powerful conduit for activism and community organizing<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a huge turning point,\u201d Hall said. \u201cI was like, \u2018I can really do this. I can really be a full-time artist and advocate.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n Music surrounded Hall from an early age. Her father, Eddie Hall, installed a recording studio in the family’s Pike Township Home, and she began playing guitar when she was 12 years old.<\/p>\n Hall launched herself into her art after that, graduating Ball State a year early and moved to Los Angeles in 2021 to pursue music more seriously. She quickly formed partnerships with producer Trey Kams and cowriter Jean Marc, and they began recording a batch of songs that she\u2019d eventually trim to the seven tracks on \u201cCheaper than Therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n Inspired by her post-college efforts to make inroads in the entertainment industry, “Cheaper than Therapy\u201d chronicles Hall\u2019s move from Indianapolis to Los Angeles and career pursuits. Music became a refuge as she struggled to find her footing in a new environment, Hall said.<\/p>\n \u201cI was going through the realities of life, living in LA, being a fresh 21-year-old trying to pay my rent,\u201d Hall said. \u201cIt was cheaper than therapy to go to the studio and work.\u201d<\/p>\n Hall cites artists like Lauryn Hill, Corinne Bailey Rae and Joni Mitchell as top influences to her singer-songwriter style. Her acoustic, guitar-forward musical backdrops are the canvases for confessional, autobiographical lyrics, of which \u201cCheaper than Therapy\u201d is chock full.<\/p>\n The EP predominantly sees Hall set her own pace, making peace with the progress she\u2019s made while still chasing her career ambitions. Songs like \u201cMy Way,\u201d the first song Hall wrote for the project, and standout single \u201cWhat I Choose\u201d highlight hope in the uncertainty and gratitude in the discomfort \u2014 \u201cfinding the good in the bad moments even when it seems impossible.\u201d <\/p>\n Four months after the release of the EP and a year into motherhood, Hall faces a fork in the road. She\u2019s back in Indianapolis and intends to stick around for a while, but Los Angeles still entices her.<\/p>\n Here she has a strong community, Hall said. The music scene has embraced her as she releases more music. Friends and family help her care for her son. Engagements like Chreece, Butter and Mellow Yellow are putting \u201cCheaper than Therapy\u201d in front of audiences, and her live performances of her upcoming single \u201cM.I.A\u201d are generating buzz for the song\u2019s eventual release.<\/p>\n But just as undeniable were the strides she made in Los Angeles \u2014 the Super Bowl commercial, an advertising campaign with beauty brand SheaMoisture, her song \u201cTaking Notes\u201d in Mary J. Blige\u2019s Hallmark film \u201cFamily Affair.\u201d The successes gave tangible proof that Hall could make her entertainment career happen.<\/p>\n For now, Hall is making the most of her hometown stay. But she’s not sure how long she’ll stay.<\/p>\n \u201cIt always has been and always will be home,\u201d Hall said. \u201cBut I think most people here leave to become an artist.\u201d<\/p>\n Contact IndyStar Pop Culture Reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@gannett.com<\/a>. Follow her on X @hmb_1013.<\/p>\nIndy to LA and back<\/h2>\n
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‘Cheaper than Therapy’ EP<\/h2>\n
Looking forward<\/h2>\n