Page 8 - Marysville Tulalip Life Magazine Fall 2017

Featured Firefighter
Photo credit: Seattle Seahawks 2017.
8 Fall 2017 Marysville Tulalip Life
If you’re a Seahawks or Mariners fan, you may not know his name but you’ve probably heard his voice. After more than a decade singing the National Anthem at Seattle pro sports games, Marysville Fire District Battalion Chief Keith Taylor is getting accustomed to the spotlight. His resume of performances touches nearly every major sports team in Western Washington, including gigs for the Seahawks, Mariners, Sounders, AquaSox, Thunderbirds, Silvertips, UW Huskies and more.
Taylor’s vocal gift first attracted major league attention in 2006. The Mariners were searching for a uniformed representative to sing the National Anthem on the five-year anniversary of September 11th. A Marysville Fire District Captain suggested Taylor send in a demo.
Photo credit: Seattle Seahawks 2017.
“I was selected to sing and have been invited back three or four times a year ever since,” Taylor said.
As word of Taylor’s talent spread, his calendar filled with many more singing gigs and even bigger crowds- hard to fathom for someone who got his start with karaoke.
“My buddies and I would go to Turners in Everett on Tuesday nights (karaoke night),” Taylor said. It was 1994 and Taylor had just returned home after four- and-a-half years of active duty in the U.S. Air Force, serving in the Persian Gulf War.
“I finally got the nerve to get up and sing with my good friend Ron Chapin, who is currently a teacher for the Marysville School District at Getchell High School,” Taylor said. “We got a really good response.”
Taylor ended up in a couple of local bands, performing for small crowds at bars and festivals. More than 20 years later, his audience size can reach the tens of thousands. In Taylor’s most memorable performance, he sang for 69,000 people at the Seahawks home opener on September 11, 2016.
“I’ve been a diehard Seahawks fan since their inception in 1976 and it was extra special having 35 other Marysville Fire District members there holding the flag on the field as I sang the Anthem,” Taylor said.
Taylor performed while surrounded by the firefighters he considers to be his brothers and sisters. He has served alongside them for more than two decades of his 27-year firefighting career, a calling he stumbled upon while attending Highline Community College.
“My father’s best friend from high school was a Firefighter/Paramedic in Bellevue,” Taylor said. “He believed that he had the best job in the world and now I know why he did. I liked what I heard from him about making a difference in the community, being part of a team and doing something that you loved to do. Besides asking my wife to marry me, it was the best decision I’ve ever made.”
It’s a decision now leading Taylor to another calling, one that allows him to serve our community not only with his valor, but also with his voice.
The Marysville Fire District is dedicated to providing quality emergency response and prevention services to the community with integrity, compassion and accountability. We are proud to serve the communities of the City of Marysville, Tulalip Tribes, Quil Ceda Village, Seven Lakes, and Fire District 12. To learn more about the services we offer, visit www.marysvillefiredistrict.org.