Roderick Taylor is a multifaceted artist with a wide range of notable accomplishments in literature, music, film, and television. He holds a Master of Arts degree from Stanford University, where he was a Stegner Fellow in poetry and later taught creative writing.
Taylor is a renowned poet, having received the American Academy of Poets Prize, and his first collection, Florida East Coast Champion, was published by Rolling Stone Press to widespread critical acclaim. Thom Gunn, a renowned English poet and critic, praised Taylor's work, stating, "Rod Taylor is simply the best poet to turn up in the last fifteen years...". Publisher's Weekly proclaimed, "This is a man who writes like an angel." James Dickey, a National Book Award-winning poet, novelist, and critic, enthusiastically endorsed Taylor's work, commenting that "Taylor is going to be the salvation of all of us in American Poetry. I will read anything he writes with that growing excitement one is privileged to feel only in the presence of genuine talent."
Taylor has given readings of his work at numerous universities and colleges, including Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, San Francisco State, Harvard, NYU, University of Florida, University of Missouri, and University of Texas, among many others.
In addition to his literary accomplishments, Taylor has also had a successful music career, moonlighting as a singer in a rock band and becoming a prolific songwriter. He was the object of a bidding war between Columbia's Clive Davis and David Geffen, ultimately signing his first record contract with Geffen and releasing seven albums under the name Roderick Falconer.
Taylor has collaborated with some of the top talent in the world of rock and has had many of his songs covered by other artists, including Tricia Yearwood, Jose Feliciano, and Linda Ronstadt. In recent years, much of Taylor's musical contribution has been in the area of film and television, as both a composer and recording artist. He has performed his music on the soundtrack of the Warner Brothers television series, Witchblade, and his recordings are currently available on iTunes and other leading internet music sites.
Taylor has also written and produced in a wide array of genres in television and film, creating network series and writing both independent and studio feature films and television movies. He has developed series pilots and movies for various networks, including Fox, Universal, Warner Brothers, Spelling Entertainment, Viacom, CBS, NBC, ABC, UPN, HBO, Showtime, MTV, and VH1.