When Molly Taylor opens the door of her Baton Rouge home, it’s tough to find where living space ends and woodworking begins.
Taylor has been a part of the local music scene for the past few years and is currently recording her newest album. Recently, she decided to embark on a new adventure — creating her own line of jewelry made from reclaimed wood called “Beneath the Bark.”
“This just happened,” Taylor said. “I was thinking of Christmas present ideas, and then I started making earrings that weren’t involved with wood at all. It was just little jewel things.”
Taylor said she uses wood as her prime material because she lives above a wood shop, which houses massive piles of reclaimed wood.
She partners with boyfriend Andrew Moran, a woodworker and furniture designer from Baton Rouge and owner of Midcity Handmade.
“[Moran] showed me how to use the tools even though I had an idea because I grew up in the country … so I’ve already used all the tools before,” Taylor said.
Born and raised in Bush, Louisiana, Taylor moved to Baton Rouge when she was 18 years old because she said she wanted to follow her older sister Angie, a Univeristy alumna. Taylor enrolled at the University but dropped out after two weeks.
While at the University, Taylor wanted to study fashion design, an area of interest she credits as the reason she makes jewelry. Another reason, she said, is her home state.
“It’s all reclaimed. It’s all local, all Louisiana,” she said. “So it has a … home feeling to it. You know what you got, you know what you are wearing and you know it is handmade with love.”
Taylor has a Native American background, which has a large influence on the shapes of her jewelry, varying between triangles, squares, circles and rectangles.
And while she’s dedicated to her line, she’s recently been shifting between making jewelry and recording her new album.
Taylor said she started playing music when she was 11 years old. Her parents enrolled her in a variety of sports and extracurricular activities when she was younger to see what she would like.
She started in band, but when the school found out she could sing, they added her to the choir.
She was placed in a talented music program in high school, and having only three general studies classes allowed Taylor to dedicate the rest of her day to music.
She recorded her first album when she was 16, and her second album a few years later. She said she’s finally recording her third album after a two year hiatus.
“I feel like it’s the perfect time in my life right now to focus on what I want to do,” Taylor said. “And that’s playing music and touring and making records and making jewelry.”
One of the reasons the record has taken so long to create is because Taylor is indecisive about what she wants on the record.
That’s one of the main reasons behind her shelving her last album.
“I wasn’t happy with it,” Taylor said. “I am who I am as a person, but my emotions, my feelings are different now than they were six months ago. They are different now than they were a year ago.”
But now, Taylor said she’s clear on the direction her new album is taking.
Until recently, Taylor had been playing solo, but her new album will feature lead guitar player Joshua Magee, who she met while bartending. She said Magee is a phenomenal musician, and she’s honored to be working with him.
Taylor recently started recording her new album in Mandeville with Darren Phipps of Louisiana Media Group. Her album will be released in fall 2015 followed by a U.S. tour shortly after.
“I’m really excited about it,” Taylor said. “It’s my roots. It’s who I am. It’s dirty. It’s got my rock and roll rebellion, but it also has my sweet southern bell roots. And it has a lot of old western.”
Her newest single, “Goodbye,” can be found on iTunes and ReverbNation.
Taylor also will feature her “Beneath the Bark” jewelry line on June 20 at the Elm Street Social in New Orleans. Her jewelry can be found on etsy.com/btbjewelry, her website beneaththebarkjewelry.com and at her upcoming shows.

Gallery • 5 Photos

Javier Fernández

Molly Taylor is recording her newest album while starting up "Beneath The Bark" her own wooden jewelry line.