She's been challenged in ways she never believed possible.

In 2021 the acclaimed Tasmanian singer-songwriter and her husband received the earth-shattering news that their then 14-month-old son, Van, had been diagnosed with Angelman syndrome.

The rare genetic disorder causes delayed development and often results in seizures and insomnia. Most sufferers never learn to talk or walk.

Besides having to accept the frightening reality that she'd likely never hear Van's voice or watch him run around with other children, Taylor stared down the prospect that her music career was over.

"When I first found out about my son's diagnosis, I did actually think I would have to give music away because I can't see how I'm going to be a full-time carer and try and tour and play shows with the high needs of my son," Taylor says.

However, in time Taylor found a way forward. Music provided her with strength.

"I came to realise I need music more than ever as a form of therapy to get through the hard times," she says.

"I realised too that giving it away has come to represent the giving away of my innocence in some ways.

"When someone has a child diagnosed with a major disability you come to realise the world isn't sunshine and rainbows all the time."

Taylor's third album Giving It Away was written in the aftermath of Van's diagnosis.

Songs like the opener Swallowing Stones (How do we pick the pieces up and carry on?/ When sometimes life feels like swallowing stones) and the haunting title track, (There's a part of me that's broken now/ Since we found out the news) directly addresses Taylor's grief after the diagnosis.

Others like Keep on Truckin' and If You Should See Sunshine are alive with resilience and Taylor's fiery determination.

"There's still an emotion there from my own personal story of having to find some positive mantra of hope, throughout what was a pretty dark time," she says.

"That idea of Keep On Truckin' through all the hard news, it became a very important mantra for myself."

Touring remains difficult for Taylor due to Van's high needs and insomnia, but with support of the music community, she is determined to persevere with live shows.

"Being a parent is challenging, it doesn't matter if you have a child with extra needs or not, but it certainly makes things more complex," she says.

"As a family we're doing this tour now and it's been a hectic tour.

"We've had so many shows and we have a heap to go, but there's a sense of; if we don't do it now, maybe we won't be able to when he's bigger.

"While we can still carry him, we'll do it, as we don't know if he'll learn to walk."

Hunter audiences first experienced Taylor's firebrand style of folk-blues at PigSty In July at Dashville in 2016, shortly after the release of her debut album Elemental.

With a powerhouse voice that's been compared to Janis Joplin and Mia Dyson, Taylor has quickly become a Dashville favourite.

She's toured with Hunter Valley's William Crighton and played the Gum Ball and Dashville Skyline.

"I really love the crew there and the feeling in that space, which is so beautiful," she says of Dashville.

"Being such a family-run festival, I've always been supported to come back and play shows there."

Claire Anne Taylor returns to Dashville at Lower Belford for the Gum Ball from April 26 to 28.