This is Robbie Dilmore from the Christian Car Guy and Kingdom Pursuit, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build a kingdom. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds.
Enjoy it and share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is set for one flaw. Introducing first, from Lithuania, he weighs 123 kilos, the Russian nightmare, Nikita Kolob. Now, the Devil's Nightmare. Welcome back to another episode of It's Time to Man Up.
Welcome back to another episode of The Man Up Show with yours truly, Nikita Kolob. And are you a Southern gospel music fan? How about an Elvis fan? Are you a fan of Elvis? I have Elvis in the studio with me today. Don't go away. Well, I kind of have Elvis in the studio with me today.
Taylor Vaden, welcome to The Man Up Show. Thank you so much. Good to be here. Well, it's great to have you here and, you know, that introduction should pique the interest of all our listeners. And I introduce you that way because when I saw you in concert recently, you do some Elvis rendition. If I close my eyes, I might have thought Elvis was on the platform.
I thought it was just the sideburns that gave it away. Yeah, well, that too, that too. But let me just say, OK, since we're talking about that. So so I know you have been a fan of Elvis or but but you know, even your impersonation of Elvis is pretty amazing.
But talk about that for a minute. What what intrigue did you grow up just loving his songs and that inspired you to do what you do today or what? Yeah, it's kind of funny. So I was around six years old. My grandpa, he would pick me up from school in the afternoons from I was around. I was in second grade and we would go home and we'd listen to records on the record player, which was at his house. It was my mom's old record player that she left there when she lived there.
Old school vinyl record. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. There's some out there might have to Google that. Yeah, it's a real thing.
But yeah. And as we were playing or whatever in the afternoon we have on a record and I remember going through different ones. It was George Jones, Billy Crash Craddock, Oak Ridge Boys, Statler Brother, you know, the good stuff. Hank Williams Jr.
There was probably one in there for sure. Yeah. Chris Christoffersons.
Chris Christofferson. Come on, Willie Nelson. All right. Yeah. I see where you're going with that. Johnny Cash. All right.
I will stop. So the Aloha from Hawaii record by Elvis was in the stack, which I have, by the way. Yeah, that's that's that's the one that that clicked whenever we played that record.
And the Space Odyssey intro came on and he kicked into CC Ryder. It was like, wow, who is this guy? And like I said, I was six years old, but something just kind of hit me differently about that.
Yeah. You know, it was different from the rest of the music we had listened to. And so from that point, it was like, well, who is Elvis? Like, I want to know all about this guy. And, you know, my grandpa told me something about him, my grandma and my mom's two sisters, my two aunts. They had seen him live in Greensboro. They were huge fans.
My mom was she she don't remember a whole lot about him growing up, but they went to see him live. And they started buying me Elvis movies and Elvis T-shirts. And I had my room. You got bit by the Elvis bug.
Yeah. So every birthday and Christmas, it was Elvis stuff. And by the talent show in second grade, by that time I had a gold jacket made.
And well, let me back up. My mom had no idea that I was really into it as much as I was. So for show and tell, for second grade, my grandpa got got one of the records.
It was an Elvis movie record. And it was it was the it was the song Girls, Girls, Girls. Yeah.
Yeah. And so I got up in front of my second grade class and lip sync to Girls, Girls, Girls. OK. My mom had no idea.
This was something me and my grandpa had going on. So that afternoon, my mom called my second grade teacher at the time. Her name was Miss Miller. And she called the house and told my mom, wanted to speak to my mom and said, I just wanted you to know that Taylor did an excellent job this morning singing Elvis. And she had no idea what she was talking about. Wait, what?
So they had recorded it on the old, you know, old school. No way. Yeah. Yeah. I have that. You still have that.
Do you really? Yeah. Oh, my gosh.
Yeah. And so from there it went to the talent show. So my mom was like, OK, well, if this is what you're interested in, let's go for it.
So I had a she had a gold jacket made and I got him that hound dog in front of the whole student body. And that from that point, it was like, all right, this I'm into Elvis stuff. And, you know, I did three or four talent shows after that. And it went it lasted up until, I don't know, fourth, fifth grade.
And that's when I kind of started once I got into middle school, I kind of got out of it and just, you know, I got into sports, I got into basketball and thought I was going to go to the NBA. You kind of put music aside. Yeah. OK, I did. Yeah.
And started playing basketball and, you know, got really interested in that visions in the for the NBA. Oh, yeah. Yes. What everybody thinks when they for every little kid, right?
Like I had visions for the NFL. Right. Yeah.
You die. So, yeah, I get it. Yeah. And so really, music was like you said, I was kind of put on the back burner for a little bit until around 12, 13 years old, I started learning to play guitar. And my cousin and I learned off of each other.
His name's Chris. And we he plays bass now. He ended up playing bass in my band for a long time. And but we started learning off of each other, playing guitar. And at the time I was I started going to like I was around 12 or 13 and I started going to church, which at the time was my great uncle's church in Kernersville, Kernersville Full Gospel Mission Pentecostal Church. And I would that this kind of church is where if you want to play an instrument, you just come up there and play and figure it out on the fly.
And if you play drums and nobody's playing that night, jump on and you don't go for it. Yeah. Wow.
Yeah. So I sat up there with my great uncle and he taught me some chords. You know, my stepdad, Jeff, had taught me a few chords and then my cousin and I learned off of each other. And then now here I was at the Pentecostal Church, just learning stuff on the fly and GC and D and trying to figure it out, you know, just three chords. And in country music, they call it three chords and the truth is all you need. Yeah. Truth.
OK. For a country. So and but yeah, that's really where I started learning to really play and play with people. And not long after that, I started writing my own music in college. And I just I got into got in the country music.
I really had a background in it, you know, growing up listening to those records and thanks to grandpa. Yeah. Yeah.
So, yeah, I really don't know. Like Elvis is really where it kicked it off for me. But that that grab grabbed you. And then from there, you had that help put you on this musical path. Yes, exactly.
Yeah, exactly. And being in the church, I've always had a foundation in church. But, you know, listening to Southern gospel music, I was a real big fan of the crab family at the time, which, by the way. So, you know, recently I emceed for a weekend there in Kernersville, North Carolina for a friend, Roy Jones, his men's conference, but also a concert which which you played for open up before Jason Krab, who, by the way, I haven't told him yet, but I have Southern gospel on my on my elect Alexa, is that what you call it, whatever, like daily now, thanks to him and you. But you but you it's you had almost kind of a so obviously Southern gospel, but if I recall, like kind of even kind of a bluegrass tone to some of your music, right?
Or Yeah, it's kind of hard to pinpoint. I have so many kind of a mixture. Yeah, I have so many different tastes in music. I mean, I love blues. I like bluegrass country. I mean, a little bit of rock on the edge of your stuff, but I mean, even contemporary Christian type.
You know, there's there's a blended style just because of my upbringing. I mean, I love one of my favorite genres of music is, is Motown in 60s. I love temptations. I love Stevie Wonder. Like, those guys, man. Yep. Nobody could sing with so much soul like some of those guys.
Al Green. Oh, man. Yeah, I'm with you. I have a stack of old vinyl records, not only of aloha from Hawaii, but Rick James and the pool and the gang.
And I can just go right down the list too. Yeah. Of course, obviously Prince being a Minneapolis guy, right?
And so there's a whole host of, of Motown that that I was sugar hill gang. Oh, yeah. They were popping in my head right now. People are like, wait, wait, wait, hold on. Yeah. The Russian nightmare and cool of the game. Yeah.
Somehow that doesn't mix. But anyway, yeah. So, so, so you, so, okay. So you're, you're starting to write. So at what age did you start writing songs?
And in, I would say I was probably 16, 17 years old. I was really writing. I don't know. I had, I was writing country songs. I was writing the breakup, you know, lonely heartbreak songs.
So, you know, left me in the, in the, in the dog die, whatever. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So it wasn't until, you know, it wasn't until, um, later on in college, I started really focusing on ministry and like my passion and church and my foundation and my, my walk with Christ that I started writing more Christian oriented songs. Right.
Right. Um, I put out a CD in 2000. Oh, let's see, 2013 called from the start. And that was kind of a, it was 10, 11 songs of ones that I'd written from college.
When I graduated college in 2011, um, from UNC Greensboro, it was around that time period through 2013. And I put these songs on a CD and just, you know, recorded it with some friends here in town and just say what I could do with it. All original, all original type stuff, which, which for, for you out there in the listening audience, he has his acoustic guitar in the studio. So you hang tight. Cause before we run out of time, we're going to have him, uh, play a little, sing a little sampling for, for us here. So, um, Oh, okay. So, so I don't want to, I want to also be sure and talk about, cause I know I met your beautiful family and, and in it, so I do want to tell us, tell our listeners about, you know, about your family as well. And, and of course you're fully engaged. Uh, you know, I know you play at your worship team there and you lead worship at your church. So, but just talk a little bit about your family too.
Yeah. And it's funny because when we talk about, um, Leanne, my wife, Leanne, we met on Facebook in 2014 is when we started talking. It'll be 10 years ago this August, which is crazy. But, um, we met through Facebook through our mutual love of Elvis music. So she's a huge Elvis fan too. Wow.
And so it's, it's funny. Like we were just, I mean, I don't know. I can't remember. I think she added me as a friend cause she saw, I did the Elvis shows and different things. And, um, she's originally from North Carolina at the time we met, she lived in Nashville, Tennessee. And so one day music town by the way. Yeah. Oh yeah.
That's, that's the place to be. But, um, one day to strike conversation, we had one mutual friend on Facebook. You know, a lot of people say nothing really good comes out of social media nowadays, but this is one for you. So we had one mutual friend on Facebook and it was a guy that I graduated high school with in 2006. So a friend of mine, his name was Danny and he had moved to Nashville. Well, come to find out they had met out there at some point and added each other on Facebook. So I had no better pickup line than to ask her one day on Facebook, Hey, how do you know Danny?
That was my, that was my go-to. I was like, how do I start conversation with this girl? And she responded and said something along the lines, you know, we met out here in Nashville one time at a concert or something. And that was the end of the conversation.
And I was like, well, I just blew that, you know, like there was my chance. So here's some Elvis guy from North Carolina asking me how I know our one mutual friend. Well, a few days later, she messaged me back.
Okay. And said, aren't you the guy in North Carolina does some Elvis shows and whatnot. And I said, yeah, I've been doing it a while. And once I found out she was from North Carolina, she's from out in snow Hill, out toward the coast. And, um, she had, we had talked for a while and she said, I really want to move back home and, uh, or closer to home back in North Carolina. And so from there, it was like, okay, you know, maybe there's something to this and could be something there, long story short, you know, after, after the long distance, uh, relationship and traveling back and forth to see each other and really get to know each other. I always tell like younger people, Leanne and I, our first few months, well, our first six months of, of being in different States, we had to learn to talk to each other.
Nowadays, I feel like so much as through a cell phone, right? Text, you don't really, you don't really communicate with the person that you're dating or whoever. Me and her had no other option. We had to talk.
We couldn't see each other in person. So the first, you know, six, eight months of our relationship was built on communication and built a friendship. Yeah.
Which communication is the foundation of any relationship. Right? Exactly.
Yeah. You're listening to the truth network and truth network.com. Nikita Kolof here and I am excited. Did you hear the huge announcement, the big announcement?
Well, maybe it's a minor announcement. Anyway, Facebook, go look up my new fan page, Nikita Kolof fans and like it and follow today. Many people often ask me, is Nikita Kolof your real name?
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You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Which I always like to throw that out there because it really made a huge difference for me because I needed that in my life more than I realized. And then you fast forward through our time together now and we've got Paisley.
She'll be two years old, April 1st. She's just a blessing, man. We're so blessed.
That's amazing. Well, and now is she, refresh my memory, so she's involved, is she part of the worship team or was she? Leanne, no. She won't sing in front of me. Okay. I should tell you that.
She only sings in front of Paisley. Gotcha. I gotcha. Well, that's pretty amazing. And I got to tell you this because it was like one last Elvis story on my part. So Elvis came to Minneapolis in spring of 77 and it's my senior in high school. And for whatever reason, I don't know, maybe the tickets cost too much, but I didn't go to the concert but Seth kicked myself for not going. I'm like, man, next time he's in town, I don't care what it costs. I'm going.
And then two months later, he passes away. I'm like, no, no. I've heard so many stories about people that didn't go when he came to Greensboro last time. Yeah. But all that to say, I've been to Graceland three different times.
In fact, the very first trip was very memorable because the American dream death to road. Oh yeah. The tower power. We had for whatever, we had a day off in Memphis and man, he and I tooled over to Graceland. Y'all went to Graceland again.
We went to Graceland. Could you see that? The Russian nightmare? That's what I'm sitting here thinking about. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know what was more of an attraction, Graceland or the superpowers walking through Graceland. Yeah.
That would be really cool. Needless to say, well, he more than me, perhaps, but we were recognized at Graceland. So anyway, well, Hey, listen. Okay.
I don't want to run out of time. So, so grab your guitar. Let's grab the guitar and let's, uh, uh, let's give our listeners. I told them we give them a sampling here.
Yeah. I'll do a little bit. So this one I'll do is off of the new season EP that I put out and it'll be five years old this November.
How many, how many, so how many see? Cause I've got your newest one. This is your newest one, right?
Taylor Vaden new season. That's your newest one, right? Which I listened to by the way.
And it's amazing. And I want to encourage you, uh, um, to, uh, to get a copy. I know you've got a website here, Taylor Vaden, V A D E N Taylor Vaden.com. Uh, are there other places that they'll be able to, they can get your music besides your website?
Yeah, they can, all the digital platforms, Spotify, Apple music. Okay. And how many total, uh, CDs have you produced now?
Roughly? Uh, I, I've got two like full album, two full album from the star and a new season and lots of original stuff. And yeah, it's all original. Um, I've been very fortunate to be able to write and, and do a little bit, you know, I look at that CD and can't believe it's going to be, it's my newest, but it's five years old. So I got to get to work on some new music. So give our listeners a sampling. All right. This one, uh, this one's called he broke my chain. This is on the new season. If you like blues music and you've never heard a blues song that's happy.
This will hopefully be the first one. Love it. I've got a love so deep inside. I've got a love.
I just can't hide. I've got a friend. Oh, friend indeed. He's always there when I'm in need. You know, he's been so good to me. He broke my chains and set me free. I've got this piece so deep inside.
Now I've got this piece I can't describe. And I've been washed by the blood of the lamb and I've been touched by the great I am. You know, he's been so good to me. He broke my chains and set me free. Well, I hear those chains are falling, falling to the ground. Well, I hear those chains are falling.
Oh, they're falling to the ground. Well, I hear those chains are falling, falling to the ground. And I hear my Savior calling and he's turning me around. Because I've been washed by the blood of the lamb and I've been touched by the great I am. You know, he's been so good to me. He broke my chains and set me free. Set me free. You know, he's been so good to me. He broke my chains and he set me free. Come on, Taylor Vaden.
Man, I want to stand up and like, like, cheer, clap or something. And now, wait, don't put that, don't put that away yet. I've got to, I've got to ask one more thing here before you put that away.
And so, but New Season is the newest CD that you can get at taylorvaden.com. Okay. So, so can you give like a 60 second Elvis sampling? We've been talking about it and I know people out there like, wait, he's not going to do that. Come on.
So give a quick sample. There will be peace in the valley for me someday. There will be peace in the valley for me. Oh Lord, I pray. There'll be no sadness, no sorrow, no trouble. Trouble I see.
There will be peace in the valley for me. Oh yes. Come on. That's awesome, Taylor. That's awesome. My goodness. My goodness. Thank you for, for doing that.
And I, yeah, I think that's the first for the man up show, uh, by the way, live music on the man up show. Um, but, uh, you made more history. You made more, more history. So, okay. So we got just a few minutes left. So, so I know you were in concert, which by the way, I want to say this, I'm going to put a, mentioned the crab family and Jason crab and, and, uh, man, if you folks out there aren't familiar with the crab family and more specifically Jason crab, please go, go YouTube Jason crab.
In fact, he has an amazing brand new song out that, uh, God can use a broken man. I think it's the title of it. Right. And you guys been friends for many, many years, right?
Yeah. That was kind of a full circle moment that night. Um, you know, I'd done some things with Jason in the past, some different events and festivals, but, um, that's the first time I really officially opened for him. So that was, that was huge for me because of my background.
Like I said earlier, when I was 12 or 13, there was a crab family record that, that caught my attention and, you know, all of their old, old stuff that was, you know, through the fire and please forgive me and holding on like this, all the stuff that his dad Gerald wrote was so, you know, touched me at a really young age and getting to know him over, I don't know the past really got to know him over the past five or six years and, um, maybe longer. And, um, I've been very fortunate. He's always been like a, somebody I've looked up to in ministry in music ministry specifically because of he's just always been Jason. Like it's just a real deal. Like you, you're the real deal. Anyone spends any time around you, Taylor, we'll find out pretty quick. You're, you're, you're the real deal.
And I would just say for the record, you know, I lived in the national area for a couple of years and was around a lot of quote, Christian artists and especially like younger ones, upcoming ones, man, I challenged them all the time. Why are you doing this? What's the real reason you're doing this? You're trying to jump over to the secular route. You just use this as a stepping stone on a platform or you really have a love and heart for God, you know?
And that's evidence spend any time around you and Jason as well. So are you, so, so are you traveling at all? Are you like, uh, you doing any festivals or just mainly, uh, the worship at church?
Uh, right now it's a, it's a mix. Um, I do worship at my church with the team there, which is a living word ministry, living word ministry. You've got amazing church, by the way, you were kind enough to open the door for me to preach there not long ago and, uh, just love your pastor and the whole, their whole family and just the atmosphere you have created there in the church. We've been so blessed, blessed there for sure. Um, so you're doing a mixture.
Yeah, it's a mixture of that. And I do other, you know, I go around to other churches and speak and worship and share my testimony that I've been given. And, um, I do the Elvis thing still, you know, I have a band, we do some shows around town, uh, a few times a year. Memphis thunder is what we're called. And Memphis, we do the young Elvis, the rockabilly Elvis. Come on.
I love it. And so if somebody wanted a church, a pastor, somebody's out there listening, wants to, wants to get into, they can just go to taylorvayden.com and connect with email, shoot your email, email, they can do that or email directly booking at taylorvayden.com booking at taylorvayden.com. And, uh, man, it's exciting. So, so have I inspired you today to, to get back to work, to write, write some new songs? You have, you have, I've, I've gotten, you know, several melodies on the guitar that I still haven't done anything with. And, you know, Paisley's brought a lot of inspiration too. There's, there's one I'm working on for her that, um, I feel like God will really do something with. Um, it's, it's funny because I haven't shared this with anybody, but I started them writing the melody for this song that I have for her in 2020.
And it was April of 2020 during the, when the pandemic had just started, right. I was, I was sitting at home and I started this melody and I started writing the lyrics to this song was going to be called our little girl. We had no idea about Paisley at that time. Oh, wow.
Paisley was born two years later. You were prophetically writing a song. So I'm just throwing that out there. I've never told anybody that, but there's, um, a lot, a lot in store for that song, I think. And I've just got to, I've got to finish it.
Come on. Yes, yes, you do it for no other reason for Paisley. But for all those out there, I assure you, I'm going to get some great response, uh, from when this show airs, we're going to get some great response and I'm trusting and believing that you're going to open, it's going to open some doors for you to, to be able to share your gifts and talents with, with the world, uh, on a broader, on a broader basis than you have so far.
So, yeah. So that's what I'm trusting and believing in Jesus name, that, uh, that, that this show is going to just brought broaden your, your reach and, and expand your, your voice, your territory. I'm in agreement with that and appreciate you having me on this has been fun. Well, it's been great to have you here.
And, and again, I want to encourage, I want to encourage all of you out there. Can't say this now. Hopefully you were blessed by even just a sampling of his songs today. He broke my chains is the sample of what you just played for us today.
Right. But he's got a half a, half a dozen songs on this new CD, new season. And maybe for you out there, uh, it's a new season for you. God's moving you into a new season, or maybe, maybe you don't even, you haven't even connected with God yet. And, and today would be your day of salvation that you would just surrender your heart. You stumbled across this, this show and, uh, and God directed your path here, uh, to surrender your heart and life to Jesus today. Um, and it'd be great to, to know that and hear that and just message me and, or, or Taylor's music has inspired you to use your gifts and talents to do something greater than what you've been doing. So, uh, thank you for tuning in today and thank you again, Taylor, for being in the studio with me today. Thank you. Go out today and live a God-filled God bless day.
Until next time. This podcast is made possible by the grace of God and your faithful prayers, support, and generous gifts. May God bless you for your continual contributions. Go to colov.net and donate today. If you are enjoying the man up show, would you help us spread the word? Tell your family, tell your friends, tell your neighbors to download, subscribe, and leave a comment. I, Nikita Kolov, be sure to check out the man up show now available on television, broadcast, and podcast. Go to morningstartv.com or the Truth Radio Network, check out your local listings, or better yet, download the Truth Network app today. Nikita Kolov here.
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