March 08, 2006 - (As told by Anne Haley) 
 
"I was a young upstart in the late 80s and had been selected to perform in a very elite festival called "Greensboro City Stage" for the second year in a row and that had not been previously done. 
 
"I had finished my show and knew that Livingston Taylor's show was coming up in minutes, so I raced to his stage and took a place in the audience. 
 
"He started his show and I was happy as a clam singing along to his songs and he stops everything, points at me and says, 'Do you know the song City Limits?' And I'm busy looking behind me to see who the lucky one was who just got invited to sing. LT says, 'You! Do you know City Limits?' And I realized he was talking to me! So I broke and ran through the audience, scaled the stage and into the microphone, said, 'Yes, I do. I know James's part because you sing your part.' 
 
"Everyone in the audience was sure it was a plant but it wasn't." 
 
That was the beginning of many, many performances Haley shared with Taylor. 
 
Said Haley, "I fully credit Livingston Taylor with my performance style ... which is being totally myself. I credit him with how I present a song. 
 
"I learned from LT that in order to engage my audience, I had to join my audience and make them feel like we were all friends, enjoying great music and laughter together. 
 
"More than anything, as my career started to progress and Nashville had become my home, I still had Livingston Taylor to thank. In one of our many talks, letters and discussions, he said to me, 'Anne, surround yourself with people who believe in what you do as much as you do.' I took that to heart and did just that. It made all the difference in both how my work has advanced both in this country and internationally, in my songwriting, and lucky for me, in my personal life as well."

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