Meanwhile, in May of 2000 at one of his shows with Sara Hickman (Caravan of Dreams in Fort Worth) the opening act was (solo-acoustic) Barbara K. Barbara and Sara had been co-writing together at that time and co-billing. Upon seeing them play that night for the first time, Barbara was quite excited by Will and Sara’s collaboration. Coincidentally that week, Barbara K had been personally invited by KGSR Radio Austin’s Program Director, Jody Denberg, to perform at a Bob Dylan tribute concert presented by KGSR. Like a light switch going off, Barbara thought it would be brilliant if Will accompanied her at that concert.

They worked up two songs: “Another Grain of Sand” and “Tangled Up In Blue,” -- their performance that night was riveting! Will describes it as “one stop shopping” for the birth of Strings Attached as we now know it, because In the audience that night were Jimmy LaFave, Eliza Gilkyson, Ray Wiley Hubbard, Slaid Cleaves, Darden Smith, and Patty Griffin... practically the heart of the Austin singer-songwriting community (did I mention that it was a Bob Dylan tribute?) Of the many guest artists covering Dylan that night, in the words of Darden Smith (to Taylor after the show) “You won!” Beyond bowled over, many of what came to be their Strings Attached collaboration shows were pre-booked that night.

Returning to the structure of his “Community Alive” concert series seven years prior, Will decided to return to performing once a month in churches in Austin -- not for religious reasons but for the reverent atmosphere and the rich acoustics. The ‘all-ages’ ‘no drinking’ and ‘no smoking’ music venue idea, although not a priority, offered a benefit to those who might enjoy it. The first show was at 1st English Lutheran and was immediately moved to Hyde Park Methodist. As his audiences outgrew the capacity of Hyde Park Methodist, David Stevens from historic St. David’s Episcopal Church offered their facilities for hosting the concerts, which is where they are today. Moving to St. Davids brought the added benefit of a large free parking garage and bringing these shows to the heart of downtown (on 7th, just one block from the famous Austin 6th Street Club scene).