Taylor said she decided to apply for head music director because she always had a passion for music and showing people things.

She later became a music director before being promoted to head music director in fall 2022.Īs head music director, Taylor oversees the music KZUU airs, works with the music directors, communicates with artists and manages KZUU’s website. Taylor joined KZUU as a DJ in fall 2021, her first semester at WSU, and has worked at KZUU ever since. “She’s always been finding new music and stuff like that for as long as I can remember,” they said. Taylor’s brother said Taylor introduced them to artists like Frank Ocean, Tyler the Creator and Mac DeMarco - artists he still really likes now. Her grandmother also gave a few of her records to Taylor’s brother Calvin (he/they), who now collects records too. “So, sharing her collection with me really inspired me to want to collect more but I’ve always really loved music, and listening to it, and that just grew into me collecting it.” “I think music is a love language in a lot of ways, and sharing things,” Taylor said. Taylor’s grandmother also introduced her to psychedelic rock and other musical staples of the ‘70s, before eventually passing her record collection down to Taylor. Taylor said she was going through a phase where she was “big into” electronic music, and her grandmother told her she would have loved the ‘70s and began to share stories from her time during the decade. Taylor’s maternal grandmother Susan Lee, who gave Taylor her first records, introduced her to Jimi Hendrix when she was in elementary school.

Taylor, her brother, her parents and her grandparents on both sides of the family all have their own tastes in music, ranging from country to ‘80s pop, she said. She said she grew up around music her great-grandfather was a musician, and so is her uncle, who plays in heavy metal bands. Music runs in four generations of Taylor’s family. “Getting into their music in that way was really the spiral for me,” Taylor said. Taylor said receiving the records allowed her to appreciate musicians before her and their music, as well as the evolution of music in general. She also runs a music blog she made called Fourth Fret. Senior anthropology major Taylor is the head music director of student-run radio station KZUU 90.7 FM and an organizer for the local music community union Palouse Music Community. Six years later, Taylor’s collection has grown to over 300 records, with some of her favorites being Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” and Childish Gambino’s “Awaken, My Love!” They were in the form of about 20 vinyl records, some of which were original pressings from each record’s initial release in the ‘60s and ‘70s. When she was 15 years old, Ashlyn Taylor’s grandmother gave her Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix - the greatest artists of her grandmother’s generation. GABRIELLE FELICIANO, Evergreen life editor

Running Into You by Taylor Love