An older brother gave her a guitar when she was twelve and at age 15 she left home, hitchhiking and busking her way around the United States.
She started writing and performing her own songs, playing on street corners or wherever she could and eventually settled in Texas, near the Gulf of Mexico, at the age of 20.
Her song "Blue Norther" chronicled her experiences working as a waitress in a cantina there, and her encounters with the local fishermen.
In 1992, she released her first album, Looking for Rivers, a collection of ten originals with a folk and blues slant.
Taylor credits Ray Bonneville and Chris Smither for helping her to expand her fingerpicking style.