Jacob Tolliver came upon my radar at the end of last year when I featured his high-octane version of "Here Comes Santa Claus" in my 2025 Country Christmas Roundup. I hadn't heard anyone bang a piano like that since Jerry Lee Lewis. Turns out, Lewis was a major influence on young Tolliver.
Tolliver's dad is a drummer, but other than that, there wasn't a lot of direct musical influence growing up. However, on his mother's side, his great-grandmother was a Wagner and was related to composer Richard Wagner. On his dad's side, Sir Bartholomew Taliaferro (the anglicized form of Taliaferro is Tolliver) was a shopkeeper and musician for Queen Elizabeth I in 16th-century Venice. Sir Taliaferro was also pals with William Shakespeare, and his "Merchant of Venice" is loosely based on him.
Tolliver took music lessons at age 8, but was very bored with his teacher and often ended up playing by ear, which got him in trouble because he was supposed to be reading music. He would jazz up songs like "Mary Had a Little Lamb." After about nine months, his teacher was exasperated, and she told his parents, "Look, he's got a great talent, but I can't teach it. He's playing by ear."
At that point, he put his keyboard up and didn't drag it back out until he was 14, when he discovered it cleaning under his bed.
He started fiddling around with his left hand, and his dad said, "Was that you?" and Tolliver said, "Yeah." And his dad said, "Don't stop that." For three months, he fooled around on his keyboard, and his dad said, "You've got to hear Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard."
Eventually, his dad called the local radio station and had them play "Great Balls of Fire."
Tolliver confessed, "My mind was blown. I mean, I could see everything. I could hear and see everything he was doing. It was really a game-changer for me, but I was already doing it. It was just the weirdest thing. It was just a gift I have."
When Tolliver graduated from high school in Portsmouth, Ohio, he was several weeks away from attending Ohio State University. He was working a summer job and had a YouTube video of him covering "Boogie Woogie Country Man" at a hardware store, of all places. A casting director saw it and asked him to audition for "Million Dollar Quartet," a Tony Award-winning show they wanted to produce in Las Vegas.
It was right before he turned 18, so he had to get his parents' permission. He went to Vegas, auditioned, and flew home. The next week, Tolliver turned 18 and got the part. It was a six-month contract if he wanted it.
"College will always be there," he thought.
Six months turned into four years. Then Tolliver moved to Los Angeles for another four years. It was during his stint in Vegas that he met Jerry Lee Lewis, and with Lewis' wry humor, the two hit it off instantly. Tolliver stated, "He wanted to see how awkward he could make a situation. A lot of people didn't get his humor, but we just clicked."
Because of his high-octane piano skills and dynamic stage presence, Tolliver was a standout in Vegas. Soon after "Million Dollar Quartet," Jerry Lee Lewis and his wife offered him the chance to be the opening act for the last three years of Lewis' touring career, where the prodigy further honed his craft and deepened his connection to the roots of rock 'n' roll.
Once, when he was in California, he and his friend, Jeff Franklin (producer of the Full House series), went to Disneyland. A ragtime pianist was tearing up the keyboard.
The Ohioan recalled, “That was my first time at a Disney park. We were walking past the ragtime guy, and Jeff made a beeline over to him and said, “Hey, you need to get this guy up there and play piano with you.’ And I'm like, ‘Jeff, I don't want to do this. I'm at Disneyland. I just want to have fun.’”
Eventually, Tolliver conceded, and what transpired was an impromptu dueling piano showdown like you’ve never seen before.
Not very long after that, he met Randy Travis and his wife, Mary. They wanted him to cover one of Travis' songs, which initially proved challenging given the style of music Tolliver's usual musical style. But he listened to all of his songs and was drawn to "Honky Tonk Side of Town," which had never been released as a single. As you can see from the video, Randy Travis loved it. Travis' producer, Kyle Lehning, produced the song.
When COVID hit, Tolliver moved to Nashville and currently splits his time between there and his home in Ohio. He has teamed up with Lehning to produce other energetic country-learning songs, like the aforementioned "Here Comes Santa Claus," and his newest cover and single, Bobby Bare's "Tequila Sheila," co-written by poet/author Shel Silverstein and Mac Davis.
But lest you think Tolliver plays only covers, you would be wrong. He penned the super-country-sounding "If The Phone Ain't Ringing, It's Me." It earned him a spot on the Dirt Road Country and Country Evolutions Artists To Watch list in 2026. The song made me realize how much boogie-woogie and honky-tonk music have in common.
But Tolliver refuses to be pigeon-holed into one genre. "I don't know if that's a problem or a good thing," he shared. His original songs, "Sunset Cemetery," "Never Made It To Moon," and "Cinderella," are about as far removed from honky-tonk music as you can get.
He explained further, "It just depends on the day I wake up and what melody's coming out of me. Sometimes I wake up, and I have a honky-tonk country melody come out, and some days I wake up, and it's a gospel song. Some days it's an indie pop song or commercial jingles."
He is working on an indie pop album that blends the raw energy of rock with contemporary influences, creating a sound that is both nostalgic and forward-thinking. A gospel album is also in the works.
So far, Toliver has opened for Ricky Skaggs, Bobby Bare, and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. He performed alongside The Beach Boys, Jackson Browne, and Tom Jones on various stages and events.
As he continues to evolve as an artist, Tolliver is set to make a significant impact with his fresh take on classic sounds, carving out a unique place in the modern music scene.
With several new projects in the works, you will want to follow Jacob Tolliver on his website, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and all streaming platforms.
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Bethany Bowman is a freelance entertainment writer. You can follow her blog, Instagram, and TikTok.