Gustafer Yellowgold is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 created by American songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 and illustrator

Illustrator

An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

, Morgan Taylor. Gustafer is the main character in a series of minimally animated music videos brought to life in both live concerts and its DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

/CD series.

The illustrated music video collection chronicles the exploits of Gustafer, a friendly yellow alien

Extraterrestrial life

Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...

 who has come to Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

 from the Sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

 to live out an explorer's life in a slightly psychedelic version of the Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 woods. The live concerts feature Morgan Taylor performing the song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

s next to a large video screen containing his moving illustrations.

The property is marketed and categorized as children's family entertainment

Entertainment

Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...

, but unlike other kid's fare, it has an unusual cross-over success, as Taylor's live show has opened for popular alternative music acts such as Wilco

Wilco

Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup has changed frequently, with only singer Jeff Tweedy and bassist John...

 and The Polyphonic Spree

The Polyphonic Spree

The Polyphonic Spree is a choral symphonic pop rock band from Dallas, Texas that was formed in 2000 by Tim DeLaughter. The band's sound relies on a variety of vocal and instrumental color by featuring a choir, flute, trumpet, trombone, violin, viola, cello, percussion, piano, guitars, bass, drums,...

. The Gustafer Yellowgold Show has performed over 400 live concerts since its conception to an ever-growing cult following across the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

History

The project began in late 2003 as a series of small, illustrated picture books. The illustrations for the books were soon animated and released as a DVD entitled Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World in Summer 2005 by Apple-Eye Productions, a company started by Taylor and his wife Rachel Loshak. Taylor began performing the concerts that same summer in small venues in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

's Lower East Side

Lower East Side

The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....

. By 2008, Taylor was listed as "Best Kids' Performer" by New York Magazine. In March 2008 "Gustafer Yellowgold's Mellow Sensation" began its 22 week Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

 run at Daryl Roth's DR2 theater in Manhattan.
Morgan Taylor also played bass for The Autumn Defense

The Autumn Defense

The Autumn Defense is an indie band composed of multi-instrumentalists John Stirratt and Pat Sansone.-History:The Autumn Defense began as a side project for John Stirratt, best known for his work as bassist for alt-country bands Wilco and Uncle Tupelo...

 on their 2004 tour.

In 2008, Morgan Taylor received the Grand Prize in the Children's Music category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest

John Lennon Songwriting Contest

The John Lennon Songwriting Contest, named for the former member of The Beatles, is a songwriting competition for songwriters, open to amateurs and professionals. The contest accepts instrumental pieces as well as songs with a vocal component. Though all entries must include a CD, cassette, or...

 for the Gustafer Yellowgold tune "Mint Green Bee". In the same year "The Bluebird Tree", another Gustafer Yellowgold song, was a Session 1 finalist.

2011 is shaping up to be a busy year for Morgan Taylor and Gustafer Yellowgold. The brand new DVD/CD set "Gustafer Yellowgold's Infinity Sock" will be released on March 1st and Morgan will be debut the live-version of "Gustafer Yellowgold's Infinity Sock" at a 6-week Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

limited run at Manhattan's DR2 Theatre

Discography

• Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World (2005) original pressing, now out of print
• Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World (2007) re-packaged, re-released with additional songs - "A Cooler World" and "Rocket Shoes"
• Gustafer Yellowgold's 'Have You Never Been Yellow'? (2007)
• Gustafer Yellowgold's Mellow Fever (2009)
• "Gustafer Yellowgold's Infinity Sock" (March 1, 2011)