You may have seen him in the orchestra pit at Spokane Civic Theatre or Lake City Playhouse.
If you’re traveling during the holidays, you might see him at Spokane International Airport.
Or, if you take the family to meet Santa at the Southside Community Center on Dec. 17, Santa will be there.
Taylor Belout is a popular drummer. The Rogers High School instrumentalist began playing percussion while attending Garry Middle School and has never put a drumstick out of tune since.
“From the moment I fell in love with music, I knew it would always be a part of my life,” he said.
Belote has enjoyed being in the orchestra pit for countless musical productions. He will be performing in Spokane Valley Summer Theatre’s “A Big Band Christmas” Dec. 16-18 and is currently performing in University High School’s “A Christmas Story.”
“What I love about theater is that every show is different,” Belote said.
Wanting to share the joy he found in music, he enrolled at Whitworth University, where he earned a Master’s in Education with a major in instrumental music, and after eight years of teaching in Deer Park, he returned to his alma mater.
He learned to play the steel drums in high school and now leads an after-school steel drum club in addition to his teaching duties.
“Fifteen years after graduating, I’m back in charge of the music program that helped me grow,” Belote said. “I’m here because I love music. I can’t imagine a day without music, and now I get to help kids love music, too.”
He met his wife, Amanda, in a percussion class at Rogers and the couple have three children; Amanda is the dance coach at the school.
“Rogers is a really great place,” Belote said, “and a lot of the teachers are alumni.”
He bought his first steel drum after graduating from high school.
“As a drummer, I’d played in a lot of different bands, but I was wondering what I could do as a solo artist.”
He found the answer in the steel pan, an instrument he enjoys most about the creative freedom it provides.
“It’s a melodic vehicle,” he says. “As a drummer, I’m not playing the melody.”
Although the music originated in Trinidad and Tobago, Belote said any genre of music can be performed.
“Calypso is common, but we can play anything from ABBA to AC/DC and, of course, Christmas tunes.”
Belote plans to perform the song during a gig at the airport in the rotunda next to a Starbucks during peak travel times, and said music can help make holiday travel less stressful.
It’s also no surprise that he will be playing Christmas music at Southside Santa Breakfast, having been the featured musician for several years.
“It’s a great event,” he said. “We’ll be playing sacred songs, secular songs and iconic Christmas carols.”
He’ll probably be grinning while he plays.
“The sound of the steel drums is so cheerful,” Belote says, “it makes everyone happy. It’s like riding a jet ski, you can’t ride it without smiling.”
Cindy Hval can be reached at dchval@juno.com.
