Rookie tackle stars on the musical stage
JACKSONVILLE — Jaguars rookie offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor got in some work on Tuesday on a different stage than TIAA Bank Field.
Jawaan Taylor isn’t nervous about performing on the football field on behind a drum kit.
The Florida alum could have used a bit of advance notice on Tuesday night when he was asked to perform with the blues group “Robert Randolph and the Family Band,” at the historic Florida Theater.
Taylor, the Jaguars rookie right tackle, has played the drums since he was 6 at the House of God Church in Palm Bay, where his father Robert is an assistant pastor. He never had a lesson but had been beating on pots and pans with wooden spoons since he was old enough to grasp one.
Taylor quickly became a fixture in the church’s band.
“It just came natural to me,” he said on Wednesday at the Jaguars’ practice. “Over the years I kept getting better. It’s all about practice. You keep practicing and you get better over time.”
Randolph’s band has been nominated for Grammys in three categories: rock instrumental, rock gospel album and contemporary blues album. Taylor grew up with future band members at his church and when he found out they were coming to town, he made sure to be there.
Taylor got the star treatment from Randolph, hanging out on the tour bus and then watching the concert from backstage. But he had to pay a price: Randolph told him he could be calling him out on the stage at some point to play drums.
“I thought he was playing around, and then he actually did it,” said Taylor, who last played in public at his church in April. “I wasn’t really nervous … I’ve played in front of bigger crowds than that. But it caught me off-guard.”
Taylor couldn’t even use the excuse of not having his own sticks … the band’s regular drummer gladly turned them over.
“I haven’t played in public for so long I knew I was going to be a little rusty,” he said. “But I went up there anyway, and had fun.”
Taylor said all he needed to know was the beat of the song, and he just followed along.
Taylor said there are similarities between playing in a band and playing football.
“You’re working with a team in both cases,” he said. “You get up there, play for a few minutes and you get comfortable, just like in a football game.”
Taylor said his favorite drummers are Tony Royster Jr., and Calvin Rodgers, who have made impacts in jazz, gospel, fusion and blues.
While being called onstage at a concert isn’t likely to happen every day, he said he’ll join his church’s band any chance he gets.
“I’ll play anything, but mostly gospel,” he said. “I play with them every time I go back.”