Barry Taylor

Barry Taylor (born 1947 in Birmingham) sings bass with and manages the Birmingham Sunlights and works as a plumbing, gas and mechanical inspector for the City of Birmingham. He is also campaigning as a candidate for the 2007 Birmingham mayoral election.

Taylor is the son of Everette Taylor, Sr, who sang in the gospel quarter Four Blue Eagles. Barry and his brothers, James and Steve formed the Sunlights in 1978 with two other members. Reginald Speights and Wayne Williams joined the following year, and a fourth Taylor brother, Everette Jr joined in 1985. Bill Graves joined in 1996. With the Sunlights, Taylor has performed at the Smithsonian Institution and on tour in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and Australia. They also shared the Alabama Theatre stage with Garrison Keillor during a Blizzard of 1993 broadcast of "A Prairie Home Companion".

Taylor, who holds bachelor's and master's degrees in education, is also a master plumber and pipefitter. He has been an inspector for Birmingham since 1983. He announced his candidacy for Mayor of Birmingham on August 8, 2007, pledging to restore fairness to City Hall by hiring more qualified department heads and overhauling the process of awarding contracts. He also supports raises for firefighters and police officers, and instituting a "living minimum wage". Taylor lives in the Powderly neighborhood.

References

• Grauberger, Steve (December 7, 2005) "The Birmingham Sunlights." Program Notes for "Homegrown 2005" sponsored by the American Folklife Center and the Library of Congress.
• Bryant, Joseph D. (August 9, 2007) "City inspector running for mayor." Birmingham News.