Tara Craig was born in Salt Lake City, UT in the summer of 1980. Her mother went into labor while playing the saxophone. Whether it was her dad playing Miles Davis and Weather Report records or her mom singing and playing Joni Mitchell songs on the family’s upright piano, Craig’s home was always filled with music. At a very young age Craig was drawn to the piano. She would sit and pick out the melody lines of songs she knew. Her mother, noticing her daughter’s natural abilities, started teaching Tara more songs. She would pencil in the letter name of each note right on the keys. She would then write out a simple chart with the note letters for Tara to follow. Before long Tara could play Silent Night and several other simple melodies. Tara sang her first solo at the age of six during a church musical production.

At the age of thirteen Tara Craig became a songwriter. Needing an outlet to deal with the emotion of her parents divorce Craig’s first song simply poured out. Throughout Jr. High and High School Craig continued to write songs. She would often spend hours recording her songs on tapes and then over dubbing harmonies. She would then give the tapes to her friends.

 

A week after she turned eighteen Craig left Salt Lake City and moved to Southern California to attend college. Her freshman year a friend loaned her an old classical guitar and Craig fell in love with the instrument. The following year Craig, Meg Baier and another friend formed a band called Solomon Waiting. Solomon Waiting played a few shows, recorded a demo in Craig’s dorm bathroom and ultimately was more about learning then anything else. Baier and Craig worked together on two other projects, Midwinter and Green Like July, until both agreed to go solo.

Craig then took to the streets of downtown Laguna Beach, CA. With her guitar and sometimes a handful of friends, Craig drew quite a crowd, turning Forest Ave. into her stage. When not playing on the streets of Laguna, Craig spent most of her time in Whittier, with fellow singer songwriters Matthew Russell and Meg Baier. The trio played several shows together, unofficially referring to themselves as the Whittier All-Stars. In the company of these great musicians Craig began to flourish. She began to gig regularly at venues throughout Southern California.

After completing her BA in Sociology at California State University Fullerton, Tara Craig moved to Austin, TX, where she is currently working on her first album.