Skip Happens Podcast - Every Boot Has a Story!

From Welding Sparks to Chart Marks: Tyler Nance on Viral Country, radio tour grit, and staying real "Keeps Me Sane"

• Skip Clark

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SPEAKER_00:

Hello everybody, and welcome, and welcome to Skip Happens. Of course, I'm Skip Clark, your host, and uh you know the deal. So we hang out, we talk life, we talk music, and we talk all the chaos that happens in between. And I'm sure we're gonna hear some of that tonight. Uh tonight I've got a rising star. I am just over the top about this guy. He's taking things up in country music. He's 22 years old, he's already got more streams than I've got on read emails. And I have a lot of unread emails. It's just I don't know. It's Miss Jury's own Tyler Nance and you've probably heard his viral hit. It's called It Keeps Me Sane. It's racked up over 20 million streams in a month. I know it's a lot more than that right now, landed on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and made the rest of us wonder what we've been doing with our lives. So Tyler's got that perfect blend of country, folk, bluegrass, and a little uh do what feels right energy. And probably all changes every once in a while, and he's here to talk about his journey, the song that blew up overnight, and what's next. Uh so if you're like me, we're just talking about this. Grab your coffee, your boots, maybe a snack, because we're diving into the story of this guy. It's making the country feel brand new again. And there he is, Tyler Nance. How are you, my friend? It's so good to see you.

SPEAKER_01:

Good. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_00:

I'm doing I'm doing well. By the way, I'm digging the stash. That's that that's cool. That's cool.

SPEAKER_01:

It's kind of been my uh signature through uh both my both of my careers that I uh I've been doing. My music and then my welding career. So okay. I was gonna ask you. People have know me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So I got um real quickly though, uh welding, you still do that.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh I don't anymore. Um I yeah, I I quit right out a year ago to pursue music full time.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh, I think you made the right decision. Yeah. I mean, you got something to fall back on, right? I mean, if something happens, god forbid, at least you got something to fall back on, and you make good money doing some welding.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. I made I made made some good change and uh it it was it was good. It was what I like to do. I like to travel and um oh dude. But I hit my I I turned I turned 21 and I I said, you know what, I'm gonna treat myself to a birthday present. So I quit my job to do music. So there you go.

SPEAKER_00:

Why not? I mean, you're young enough. Yeah, why not you go? It's your passion, it's your dream, so why not go for it? It's just like me doing the radio thing and doing the podcast thing, which I've been doing for quite a while now. So um, and Tyler, explain your sound to someone who's still trying to figure out the difference between Americana and America Been.

SPEAKER_01:

Um it just kind of is what it has, it's a blend of everything that I grew up on, like old country, bluegrass, uh, uh rock from like the 50s and 60s. Um it's kind of a blend of I guess all of that, you know. Um I don't I don't a hundred percent know what defines my sound or Americana, but you know, I I don't know if you need kind of made kind of made it my own.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, exactly. So I don't know if you really need like you know, it's this or that, it's all of that. Just kind of yeah, just kind of do it. Uh you're from Missouri, and um were you the kid with a guitar like at every bonfire? No, no, no, I uh you were getting yelled at for making too much noise on the porch. I mean, what it just I was I was never that guy.

SPEAKER_01:

I uh I just I kind of grew up on the outskirts of town and well farther than the outskirts of town. I was oh I was 30 minutes from from about everything. So I just I grew up farming and kind of doing the uh living in the country kid life and I didn't really I didn't discover guitar until fully until I was 19. I picked up a guitar during COVID whenever I was 16 and uh to impress a girlfriend and I touched it for about 20, 30 minutes and I put it in the corner till I uh started growing up and working on the road.

SPEAKER_00:

Did you impress her?

SPEAKER_01:

Not no. It was it was it was whenever it was actually it was whenever whenever we broke up is whenever I decided to pick it up because you know I guess I didn't I didn't have anything to do besides watch Netflix and sit around and sit around and mope.

SPEAKER_00:

So I hear you. Well, it's not good to sit around and mope, so you're doing the right thing now. Tell me a little bit about your hometown of Missouri. Tell me if I was uh Tyler, let me put it this way. If I was uh heading out to your hometown, I'm on the main drag going in, what would be the first thing I would see?

SPEAKER_01:

The first thing you'd see, you'd see uh a truck stop, and then you pull off on the exit, and then you'd see a McDonald's, and then you'd see a Taco Bell, and then you'd see a Sonic, and then you'd see a subway.

SPEAKER_00:

It's all the things we need.

SPEAKER_01:

All yeah, all the small town, all the small town food chains.

SPEAKER_00:

Do you have a Buckies?

SPEAKER_01:

No, uh they just they just finally put a Buckies in um Missouri, uh in Springfield, just not not too far from where I'm from.

SPEAKER_00:

But I hear that place is unbelievable.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I guess I guess you're from where are you from?

SPEAKER_00:

No, no, we're in upstate New York. We do not have a Bucky's, yeah. We do not, and that's uppercase. We do not, but um traveling, uh, there was a Buckeys in Virginia. We got picked up, I picked up uh a t-shirt there, and um I got Bucky the Beaver on it. So it's pretty cool. People see it right away and they know that that's a Bucky's t-shirt, even though we don't have a Buckeys around here.

SPEAKER_01:

So it's a it's a very iconic logo.

SPEAKER_00:

And the place, I guess, is super huge. It's like the biggest truck stop in the world. I mean, it's crazy. Plus the store and how they're branding it, and they've got everything from food to groceries to you want to sit down and eat, to uh, you know, if you're driving a truck, you need to take a shower. They have all that. They it's just huge, yeah, huge stuff. So yeah, that's cool. Do you remember the first song that you ever wrote?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, um, it's did it suck? Um, I mean, some may say it sucks, but um, it's a song I wrote. It's called it's called Breathing, and it's kind of about um being being that kid that's by himself and and super anxious, and um it's what actually got me to start posting on um social media because I it it talks about life on the road, like working and a uh helper I was working with, I showed him the song and he's like dude, you need to post that. And I was like, Yeah, I probably won't.

SPEAKER_05:

That's cool.

SPEAKER_01:

I was like, I I'm I'm definitely not going to, but one night I I had I had a few beers and um I just I recorded it, just a black screen, posted on TikTok, and I got I got 100 200 likes and I thought I was I thought I was the real deal.

SPEAKER_00:

Dude, that's cool though. That's cool. And the only reason I said or I asked, did it suck? But because every artist I talk to, and you know, it's just like, do you remember the first song that you wrote? And nine times out of ten, I think you're the only one that said it didn't. It's like, oh, you don't even want to hear it. It was terrible. Oh my god, I can't believe and you know they'll go on and on and on about it. So that's why I was expecting that answer, I guess. But here it's just the opposite. That's cool. That's cool.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, like I said, it it's kind of what got me started at all. I was I was uh I just got off uh a shift in Indiana and I was driving back to the campground, and I just had this melody kind of come to me, and I just I just wrote wrote it down and and just kind of helped me learn, get better at guitar, and like actually pay attention to like details and stuff, and yeah, it was it was it was the start of it all, really.

SPEAKER_00:

Do you realize what's happening with you? Do you realize? I mean, how often, for example, how often do you jump on your socials and look at the numbers? I mean, if I was in your shoes, I'd be doing that like every 10 minutes, going, holy crap, looks look what's going on.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's it's hard to ignore. Uh it's I I try not to let it, you know, consume my like the the music. But it it it is a good feeling. I will I will tell tell you that because it's just it's grown in such a quick time, and I've seen it, I've seen it grow super quick. I've been here every step of the way, and it's it's pretty insane.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Uh I see Diane Lochner's already on there. It says, Love Tyler. Love keeps me sane. Uh oh yeah, she is one of my reps with triple uh tigers, and I just absolutely love her. So yeah. A lot of people I talked to a lot of the different uh, of course, it's my job to talk to the different labels, but she is she's right up there, man. She's one of the best. So hey, um, you know, keep me keeps me sane. Uh that went absolutely crazy. That was nuts. Uh, in one month alone, you got 20 million streams, and we're higher than that now. I think we're in the mid-30s at least. Uh, Billboard debut, the whole deal. When did you realize that uh that song wasn't just blowing up, it was taking over?

SPEAKER_01:

Um, I saw I I don't know, it was it was the first week. It it was like dang, like we were we were saying the first day that it might get 50,000 streams, and then it it quadr it quadrupled that and it hit 200,000, and then every single day it just it just did the same the same number, if not more. And so it was it was kind of quick. I mean, everything about keeps me sane went really quick, you know. Um just from releasing it to teasing it. We teased it, produced it, released it, and then it was just all from there. It was just happened in two weeks' time, maybe. And um it yeah, it was it wasn't it wasn't long after we released it. It was like, yeah, this this song's doing doing the thing.

SPEAKER_00:

So when you um when you say we, I would imagine at this point, and because of the streams, the number of streams, and and obviously you're on the road because you're in a hotel right now. Um what uh yeah, you you have other people helping you with the with the socials now and everything. You used to do it by yourself in the beginning, but now it got to be so crazy.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I still I am the only one that post on my accounts. Um okay.

SPEAKER_00:

I try to know that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, right right now I'm I'm the only one that posts on my accounts, and um I just I say we because it's I feel like it's a collaborative, collaborative effort because you know, producers, the the players, you know, my management, the label, they were like everybody kind of came together super quickly and um just made it happen, you know, listen to listen to the fans and the people that love the song and the sound on social media. And um, we just so um that's why I say we, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I got you there. I got you now. Do you know where you are right now? Like you're in a hotel. What town are you in?

SPEAKER_01:

I'm in I'm in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, I'll Pittsburgh. I got you. All right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um I'm right. I think I can see the uh Steelers Stadium.

SPEAKER_00:

No, the Steelers, they're doing really good. Do you do you follow football?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh here recently, I have not.

SPEAKER_00:

I really don't have time.

SPEAKER_01:

I have not followed this season at all, but um I will one of these days.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, we're all about the Bills up here in the Northeast, yeah. So and they lost two in a row already, so it didn't. I don't know, that's not looking good. Do you watch the baseball playoffs?

SPEAKER_01:

I haven't watched that either.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, nothing. I get it. Nothing, yeah. No, I get it. I get it. So I mean, what do you do? I mean, you play music, you write songs, um, you take good care of yourself, I would assume. But uh, are you in? I mean, what do you watch? What do you do? I mean, uh talk talk to me.

SPEAKER_01:

I watch, I mean, I watch Netflix, but a lot of I get this question a lot. It's like, what do you what do you do for a hobby? And it's like, well, I'm I'm doing my hobby now. It's because it's still fresh to me. It's doesn't like it's it's something I picked up for a hobby. I picked up guitar for a hobby, well, you know, wrote for a hobby, and it just kind of still feels like that in a way.

SPEAKER_00:

You need to keep it a hobby. Yeah, as long as you're doing this, it's gotta be a hobby because if you enjoy doing it, it'll continue to grow, and you'll just you know, just one fan at a time, and already you've got a following. So it's just it's just gonna keep going. When it doesn't become a hobby, then it's time to rethink what you're doing. Yeah, you know what I mean? When it becomes work. I imagine you get out there on that stage every night and it's gotta pump you up. Being such a new and younger artist, to see the fans, to see the people singing along to your songs, uh keeps me sane. Uh it's that's it's gotta be such a feeling on stage.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's it's kind of mind-blowing, really, in a way, but it makes me happy. I mean, it's it's something I never expected to happen. It's something I I I grew up listening to like people talking about the the Elvises and the Johnny Cashes and all those people, like they were so huge and they had everybody knew them, and it was kind of just uh it wasn't even a fantasy, it was just kind of like oh that's cool, and um and now having that call and response in in a crowd whenever I sing a song, it's like wow, like who who would have thought?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh let's talk about your writing a little bit. And um when you sit down to write, what comes first? Is it the lyric, the melody, or even the caffeine?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh I don't it's sometimes just melodies hit me, or sometimes I just kind of freestyle like I just start spitting stuff out and something lands, and I'm like, oh that sounds cool. So um it keeps me sane. I I pretty much freestyled the first verse, and I just was just playing like a chord progression on guitar sitting on my couch after after having a few beers, and I just started just saying stuff, and it kind of just it came to and then the next day I I mean it was late, so I was like, I better go to bed. So I had a write the next day in in town in Nashville, sorry, and um I I was like, hey what do you guys think of this? And they're like, Oh, it sounds really cool. And um we just we just kind of ran with it and I just yeah, how long ago did you sign with a label?

SPEAKER_00:

It's been oh and did they call you or did you pursue them?

SPEAKER_01:

It was it was June or July of last year. Okay, and um I just was posting on TikTok and they had I had left my my email in my bio and I had gotten a I had gotten an email from them.

SPEAKER_00:

So see, I'm glad you said that because there's so many people that about your age that are trying to do what you want to do, and they're posting, but you you never know, just keep going because eventually somebody's gonna see it, uh, or somebody's gonna go, this dude's good. We got to talk to this dude. I want to find out more about him, you know. So that that's cool. Good for you. And that hard work and you know being patient definitely paid off. Um so you're known for keeping your songs uh real and honest. How do you stay authentic without oversharing your grocery list, so to speak? How do you how do you do that? Yeah, how do you stay, you know, just real? Um you know, you know, Tyler, I'm gonna say this. This is what I love about you. I can tell it already that you're doing your own thinking. This is all you and nothing or nobody else. This is this is what you do, and you're doing it all your way. I can tell just by uh talking to you.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't I don't really know like oversharing. That's I don't I don't I don't really know if I overshare because like that's kinda I use I use music uh I use music to just vent, you know, so I just I kind of say what I want to say and and um if I mean if people don't like it, I mean it's like sorry. It's just like how it's just like how I'm like how I see this is what I love about you.

SPEAKER_00:

This and this is what others are gonna love about you that you do it your way, so to speak. You have a label and you've got an answer to some people, I I would assume, but still you're doing it your way.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Which is cool, which is cool. How long have you had that mustache?

SPEAKER_01:

Boy.

SPEAKER_00:

Because, dude, that takes a lot of work.

SPEAKER_01:

It really doesn't, I promise you. Like people, I promise you it does not, it does not take work.

SPEAKER_00:

It's it's kind of I love it because it's like a signature. I now I know if I see you, I would know exactly who you are.

SPEAKER_01:

So the story behind the mustache is I was a senior in high school and I was getting ready to work on the road, and I was getting ready to go to school to to weld, and I watched Tombstone.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know if you know that movie with Val Kilmer and um I had not seen it, but I know this, yes, yeah, Kurt Russell, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So um Val Kilmer has the signature mustache, and I'd watched that movie, and I was like, I I love the movie, and I don't know. I just my dad gave me good mustache jeans, so I was like, I wonder if I could do that. So I just started like pulling it out and and and then does your dad have a stash like that? Not like this. He just he has basically the same thing but without the curls, and yeah, oh I love it.

SPEAKER_00:

Um you have to wax it every day. Yes, yep, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I gotta wax it, and I don't know, it's really it really wasn't hard. It's just uh my but my uncle, he was like, he's like, you're not gonna be able to cut that whenever you go out on the road. I'm like, why not? He's like, well, that's how people what people are gonna know you for.

SPEAKER_00:

And it's got a good point.

SPEAKER_01:

I was like, I was like, all right. So I just I kept it and then I'd cut it and then I'd grow it back and then I'd cut it, and then I was doing music. I actually like started with the music career, and I just I just started I love it. I just started doing it again and don't change it. I figured why not, yeah. Maybe one day, maybe one day whenever like I get even even bigger, I'll just I'll cut it off and just scare people to death. You know what?

SPEAKER_00:

People won't, you know. I mean, besides of course they're gonna know your music, but it's your look too. It all goes together. This is you, and and the sound that you're putting out goes with that mustache. It's you, yeah, it's Tyler Nance. Yeah, and that is that is cool. Let's back it up a little bit. Uh keeps me sane. Tell me a little bit about that song. What's behind that?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh like I said, it was it was kind of just spitballing, like for and just like I was just thinking about like past experiences, and I just was kind of just throwing stuff out there, and I played I played in I just played this little slide thing on an E minor, and that was the start of it. I was like, it kind of sounds trippy, and I just kind of heard that with the like psilocybin, and like it just kind of felt like felt like that psychedelic, hallucinogic type of feel. So I I said Nick a Jack Silicon with the maple leaves.

SPEAKER_00:

I just like yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

It kind of related to I get it a a time in my life, and I just I was like, hey, like was it a bad time in your life?

SPEAKER_00:

Was it were you going through a lot of stuff? Were you into stuff you shouldn't have been into? What what was going on? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I was I was yeah you don't have to talk about if you don't want.

SPEAKER_00:

So I just I appreciate your honesty, and uh it's not uncommon. I talked to a lot of people that went through a lot and they've learned a lot from their mistakes, and it sounds like you've really learned a lot, and especially at a young age, you know what you need to do now. And that's what I was saying before was the fact that uh you're doing your own thinking, you're you're just being creative in your own way, yeah. And dude, that's gonna go far with you. That's gonna go really far.

SPEAKER_05:

So I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_00:

No, absolutely. If you could um steal one songwriter's brain for a day, whose would it be? But you've never been asked uh who? Oh, Ty Oh my god, dude. Definitely good stuff.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't that was that was a that was an easy, easy answer. Um yeah, I don't know. I just he he's like what kind of inspired me to start doing the raw, like what it say what I want to say.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01:

And um, he's just a phenomenal writer and just so creative and just a creative person and knows what he wants and knows just you know, it seems like he knows what he wants and the sounds he wants. And yeah, so I love that.

SPEAKER_00:

I like yeah, definitely good choice. Good choice. Have you had the opportunity to sit down with him or talk to him or just kind of pick his brain a little bit? No.

SPEAKER_01:

No, I haven't. I did uh I had a I had a friend come to Nashville, and they were like, hey, I got I got an extra Tyler Childers ticket if you uh want to come. And I'd never I've never seen him live, but um I was like, don't don't twist my arm. I was like, I was like, yeah, I'll I'll be I'll be right there. And so yeah, I watched him and it was it was it was like I I listened to some of his like first songs that he put out for the first time again, and that was really special. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

It sounds like you've already had a few pinch me moments, but um what's been the holy crap? This is real moment of your career so far.

SPEAKER_01:

I I toured the Opera. Um Okay. Like I went backstage at the Opry and Um and went there.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh Did they put you out on that stage yet?

SPEAKER_01:

I old Dominion was setting up, but I walked back there and I was gonna I was gonna walk up there, but I didn't wanna I didn't want to interfere. I I I figured I dude I'd have my I'd have my uh time whenever you will have your moment and I think that'll be pretty soon too.

SPEAKER_00:

You got the right people working with you, so that's cool. Yeah, but uh I just I I've been backstage at the Opera. It's pretty cool. It's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's it's special. There's so much uh so much history and um special stuff that's gone on there. I guess another thing was my uh manager. I guess I shouldn't say that because that's so uh the the RCA studio uh RCA studios where like Jerry Reed, Elvis, and oh yeah, that's that's all the highway movies.

SPEAKER_00:

Studio A or what is yeah, yeah, I've been there a couple of times. It's kind of creepy though.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I mean I in a good way. I should I I did some live performances in there and not the studio, not the studio A, but the studio uh the the big open one, not the one.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, okay, all right.

SPEAKER_01:

But like I I was there's still been like so many musician great musicians that have performed in there and or played and recorded in there, and that was kind of like breathtaking in a way, because it's like who would have who would have thought like I'd I know, I know.

SPEAKER_00:

We um I went there once, I don't know, I was doing the tourist thing a lot of years ago and we ended up going there, and uh to walk in to see the piano, to see the microphone, to see the tape decks and the different tracks, you know, that they they're still there. It's like they shut the lights off and left, they locked the door and left and left everything as it was. And you know, then you're thinking, all right, well, Elvis used that mic, or Jerry Lee Lewis was on that piano, or it's like holy crap. It's just you know, you could you could it's so quiet in there, you could hear a pin drop, and you're just thinking, wow. So and and to be an artist to walk into a place like that, it's gotta be like, wow, you know, it's just that feeling. Just that feeling.

SPEAKER_01:

It's like what I what I grew up listening to. Um my uh my grandma, she I I always joke and tell people she was kind of like my my dealer for music. I love it. And um, I was she she's what made me fall in love with like all the the old the the old guys, I guess.

SPEAKER_00:

I was gonna ask you about that because you mentioned it in the beginning, but go ahead. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah. Um wow. She she uh would always send me home with uh a C D and like hey uh do you know this guy? And I was like just a little kid. I didn't I didn't know. So I was like, no. So she'd send she'd send me home with like the Everly brothers or or just Conway Twitty or just Elvis and I I had this little RCA CD player and I'd have it turned down to the the last uh the last little deal so I can hear it and then make my sisters mad playing it through the house. And and that's just what I'd fall asleep to, and I'd I'd I don't know, just that's that's that's another thing, like be going into that studio and I guess A and B and it that's what made it so special is it's so funny that you said you know, you would it's not really funny, but uh that you would listen to the you know these artists and turn it down so you don't, you know, only you could hear it and get into it.

SPEAKER_00:

It's like me and radio always wanted to be on the air, and uh I'd listen to radio stations at night and I'd turn it down all the way so nobody would know, but I'd be listening, I'd be laying in my bed with a little radio under my pillow listening. Yeah, because that it's almost the same thing, just kind of you know, you did it with music and I did it with radio, so you know, yeah. That's kind of cool. That's kind of it's really cool, as a matter of fact. Um, if you could put together, um Tyler Nance is who we're talking to tonight, and it's pretty cool. He's up and coming, he's gonna be all over your radio, he's gonna be all over your everything you do pretty soon. But uh, if you could put together your dream tour, any three artists living or dead, who's on the bill and who's buying the first round after the show? That's a toughie.

SPEAKER_01:

That I want to say Elvis would be pretty cool, Keith Whitley. Oh my gosh. Um and the last one, man, there's just so many. Uh I feel like can I say like the highwayman? Sure. Absolutely. Well, it's the whole thing. Yeah, no, no, totally.

SPEAKER_00:

Totally.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, that's kind of a cheat code, but I feel like no, no, that's okay.

SPEAKER_00:

I get it. Yeah, that would that would be a hell of a show, that's for sure. Yeah, yeah and uh wow. So uh when fans hear a Tyler Nan song for the first time, what do you hope they feel besides the urge to hit replay and play it over again?

SPEAKER_01:

Um you hope they feel kind of what I feel whenever I hear whenever I heard or still hear songs that like really like reach out to me and grab me. It's like that, just like getting that that chill, you know. I don't know if you know what I'm talking about, but like those cold chills, like wow, like I feel like if you can make somebody feel that, then that's well says something a lot.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, you're in the format. Well, let's if you want to call. Genres or whatever country. Um, if you can touch the heart of your fans or your listeners, then you know you're doing something right. If you can, I guess that would go along with like, you know, if you get a cold chill or something, that you know, that's like wow, okay. Yeah, that means something. Totally get that, totally get that. Um, so you're in Pittsburgh now. So is this a tour that you're on? What what's going on? What what are you doing?

SPEAKER_01:

Um I'm uh I'm with uh people at Triple Tigers in a condo. Um okay. And we're on radio tour. So uh yeah, so I'm I'm here in I'm here in Pittsburgh.

SPEAKER_00:

I love it. So you're gonna be hitting up the stations there. Have you hit Philly yet?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh no, no, no, we have not, no.

SPEAKER_00:

I got friends over at XTU. So that's yeah, yeah. I'm just just asking. So so um, yeah, I'm gonna have to put a word into uh Diane Lochner's ear. Oh no, no, wait a minute. It'd be um um Christina, right? Christina? Yeah, all right, yeah. Well, I'll say you have to come up north, Syracuse. Come on.

SPEAKER_01:

Hey, I'd love to. I would love to.

SPEAKER_00:

Have you um oh go ahead.

SPEAKER_01:

I I uh haven't I been to New York City one time, but I feel like that doesn't count. Like no, because that's a that's a whole that's a whole different uh animal. And I've never been to this part of the country, I've never been to, you know, uh Pennsylvania or anywhere it's more beautiful, so it is, and this is the time of the year.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, exactly. If you hit uh the PA turnpike, I think it's 476, and you're going up through the hills and the colors are changing, and it's just it's absolutely beautiful, absolutely beautiful. So yeah, are you on a bus or are you just kind of running fast?

SPEAKER_01:

Flying, you're flying city and then renting a car, and then going back to the airport and going to another place. It keeps life interesting. It does.

SPEAKER_00:

How do you like the early mornings? Because I would imagine, for example, you got to get up at the crack of dawn, you're gonna go in, you're gonna hang out on a morning show. And for what people don't realize is that artists like you, like Tyler, um, this is what they do. It's called a radio tour, and this is their way of meeting the programmers, seeing the radio stations, uh, establishing a relationship in hopes that you support them or they support you. So that's cool. That's cool. Yeah, absolutely, 100%.

SPEAKER_01:

The the early mornings, I mean, they they're not great, but you know, I I kind of I've done this before, but just not with music. And I guess my way of staying um I guess not grounded, but just not going crazy and yeah, yeah, is just you know, looking back to what I did do a year ago and what I'm doing what I'm doing now.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, this is what you're doing now, listen. Yeah, can you hear that?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. But just let us play just for just a little bit, just a little bit. Give it a listen. I hope you like it.

SPEAKER_01:

Mind if I get water what's next? You mind if I go get some more water with the window right now?

SPEAKER_03:

Take it up the bottom in the bike.

SPEAKER_00:

Dude, that's me. Right there. I'm listening to that, and I already knew that, but it's like, wow. It's one of those songs that if I'm driving, I'm gonna be cranking. It's one of those songs. If the weather's warm enough, the windows are gonna be down. It doesn't get that warmer on here now, but the windows would be down. And yeah, I would have that baby. I'd have that sucker cranked. That'd be going, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I love to hear that. I love to hear that.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. So you were uh you were a welder. When did you start welding? Were you an apprentice, or how did all that work for you? That's that's hard work.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, it really it is hot work. Uh I started at a pretty young age. Um I think I was four thirteen, fourteen maybe, and I I welded pipe fence back in Missouri, and I just I I did that for my grandparents, and I was like, oh, this is fun, and it kind of just like it makes a good bunny. So my you know, I'm I guess I'm uh I'm a third generation weld pipe welder because um my grandpa, my uncle, yeah. So I was like I was like, I guess it's it's in in my blood and it's meant to be. So I uh I just I did it, I did it in classes in high school.

SPEAKER_00:

Was it like shop class? Remember, we used to have shop. I know even when I was going, I don't know if you have it when you went to school, but we had shop class. Yeah. And we learned different things like that.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, not only were we um building bird houses and doing ceramics with ashtrays and stuff like that, but it's just you know this this class, it was uh it was strictly welding, and it was my junior and senior year, and by my junior year, I was like, I'm gonna I'm gonna graduate my senior year early and go to school for it. And I don't know why, I don't know why, but I was just I was super excited just to become an adult. And and that's what I that's what I did. I I graduated early at at 18 and I just I started I started just get it. Yeah, I get it.

SPEAKER_00:

I get it. And that's you know, doing what you had to do, and you fell in love with the music. So you had to make a choice. How did the family feel when they said, oh, okay, he's not gonna be a well, they're he's gonna go and play a guitar?

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, my family's always been supportive of everything I've done. But um my whenever the the deal came, like the the AR from Sony, his his name's he has a name, his name's Adam Lero. I'm still still still work with him and the guys over there. And um he he sent me an email saying he wanted to, you know, like talk and whatever, and I told my mom, and she was like, Yeah, absolutely not. This is fake, and blah blah blah. And I was like, but what if it's not? So I you know, I kind of went against what mom was saying, and um, and I just like you know, any any young man would do, I guess.

SPEAKER_00:

No, no, no, you're right, you're right.

SPEAKER_01:

And um you know what you want, so yeah. I said I I and then next thing you know, I was like, I I signed, you know, I signed this deal, and they're like, You did what? And I was like, Yeah, you know, and they were kind of surprised by it, but they they were always supportive of it.

SPEAKER_05:

That's cool.

SPEAKER_01:

Which is I wouldn't be anywhere near where I am now without my family.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, absolutely. Tell me about your family a little bit. You said you had sisters.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I have I have three sisters, three older sisters, and um I'm the youngest son out of four kids. Yeah, okay. Yeah, and um it's almost my dad. Yeah, I know. My mom and family my three sisters.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so um do they uh get to come out and see you?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, my uh my mom and dad had came out to Nashville. Nice. My dad was not a fan because he's like a country boy to uh his core, so um he uh yeah, I mean I'm uh I I would bet he's a fan in his heart. And oh he's he's a huge fan. Like you know what I mean. You know, my my dad's like my dad's a really quiet guy, but like now he he hears he hears my song on the radio. He like he every single time never fails. He always sends me sends me a picture of it, and he's just a very keep keep to himself guy, and he uh he had yeah, now it's kind of like with with this growing success, it's kind of like bringing us closer. And I feel I mean, even though we're like I'm in Nashville, they're in Missouri, it just feels like you know it's like how long how long ago did you move to Nashville?

SPEAKER_00:

Um I mean you're only 22 now, so it was like how old were you like 18 right out of high school, right when you said I'm not gonna weld anymore? I'm gonna go to Nashville because I signed this contract.

SPEAKER_01:

It was I was I was 21. Okay. Um and I just moved to Nashville um in March or April. So Oh, okay. Um, so pretty recent.

SPEAKER_00:

What part of town are you in? You don't have to tell me where exactly, but are you like in Franklin or Hermitage or where are you?

SPEAKER_01:

I'm in uh Brentwood and Brentwood.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep, okay, very cool.

SPEAKER_01:

I guess brinnyock is what they call it.

SPEAKER_00:

So yep, yep, yep, I've heard of it. I I just I can never pronounce the roads there. Um, isn't it like Demembrion? I call used to call it Demon Borough or something like that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's that's that's what I did too. It's yeah, Demunbrian.

SPEAKER_00:

What the hell's the name of this road? Demon Demon Burrough and the guy's like, no, it's uh Demembrion. And I'm like, oh okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01:

I didn't I didn't know that until not very long ago. I was like, what? Hey, you know and what do you do something new every day?

SPEAKER_00:

What do you do for fun in Nashville? I mean, now that you've been there a few months, uh or a little bit more than that, but uh what uh what do you do for fun? Do you go out and just uh where do you you do you go to Broadway at all? I guess I would ask.

SPEAKER_01:

No, I'm not a Broadway guy.

SPEAKER_00:

Um I thought you would say that.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know. I I I go to Midtown here and there, but I mean up to the Gulf. I I've been there one one time, you know, like for uh dinner one time, but cool. Um I don't know, I stay pretty busy whenever I'm whenever I'm I guess home, you know. Um I just I'm I'm usually writing and writing sessions or um I'm I I'm always doing something. I'm al like I stay pretty busy, so that's cool. Um if I'm not you know doing that, then I'm out of town and I'm I'm you know playing shows or I'm I'm doing radio tour. Um so I I stay pretty busy. So right like uh right now I'm I'm just I guess working, I guess quote unquote working. It's working. Yeah, yeah. It's working, it's working.

SPEAKER_00:

It just you know it's it's a lot of work and you don't realize it though. It's a lot of work. The early hours, radio station to radio station to radio station, plane to plane to plane, hotel, hotel, hotel. You know, it's and then you know, you probably had a there'll come a point where I just want to go home for now.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So do you um have any pets?

SPEAKER_01:

I do not. I want a dog though. I I was just telling Christina that I was like, man, I want a dog so bad. I don't know why, but I just I just need Did you have a dog growing up? Yeah, uh just like the just outside dogs and like on the farm and um uh just kind of that, you know. Uh so you can't not like a person not like a personal dog, but I don't know. I feel like I don't I don't have the time to have a dog and give it what it needs and stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm glad you said that because it does take a lot of uh oh, I think we just lost him. But it does take Yeah, I'm here. Alright, I got a little nervous. I got uh oh the screen went black. Uh oh. Hello. I'm waving. Can you see me? I don't know what what happened here. So here we are. So, anyways, uh but anyways. I'm glad. Can you hear me now? But he said uh he doesn't have the time for a dog, and I wish other people would think along those lines as well. Can you hear me? I don't know. We'll wait and see if he comes back. But this is Skip Happens, and if you're watching this, uh, you know what? You can find us on YouTube, uh Skip Happens. You subscribe. We do this uh at least once a week. I get an artist out. Can you hear me? Hello there. Can you hear me? I don't know. But anyways, if you go to YouTube and uh subscribe to Skip Happens, uh, you know, great artists like Tyler and other ones too, and the independence of the well-established artists, and then sometimes we get kind of get out of that and talk about other things with other people, so it's always good. But uh, I'm hoping he's gonna come back here in a little bit. Uh, look him up online, and uh, I think he's coming back in now. Let's see what we get, and we're gonna go like this. And now, can you hear me? Hey, there we go. Hey, I was talking to you. I had a whole conversation going here.

SPEAKER_01:

So I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_00:

So it's it's cool. It's cool. Did you plug it in?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh yeah, I don't I don't know what happened. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

I have my phone over here.

SPEAKER_01:

I have my phone on, do not disturb. I maybe someone tried calling me and maybe maybe mom, maybe your sisters. I I don't know. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know. Well, Tyler, it's been a great conversation. You know what? You you've got so much potential, you've got so much going on. Um, I know your record is uh your music is out there to country radio, and I think you have an official ad date that's coming up here pretty quick.

SPEAKER_01:

Um Monday, yeah, October 20th, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, see, I was wondering if you would remember. Yeah, so I just kind of threw it.

SPEAKER_01:

I know it's October 20th. I don't know what day that exactly falls on. I know it's coming up quick, so yeah, that would be probably Monday.

SPEAKER_00:

Would that be Monday? I don't have a calendar in front of me. I should have a calendar.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't, but anyways, man, if I got both of those right, that'd be impressive.

SPEAKER_00:

You do good, dude. You do good, you know, and I think you're gonna have a great ad date, so to speak, which is pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_01:

So man, I I really hope so. And I'm I'm just really excited for everything that's to come. And um I'm really excited for this song to be on radio, you know, like that's just insane to for this to happen, just be happening so quickly, and getting the the privilege to you know come go to these stations and absolutely absolutely meet all these people.

SPEAKER_00:

So you know, yeah one thing you gotta remember, and I say it from the other side of things, being a radio programmer and on the air here in our market of Syracuse is the fact that it's a two-way street. We play music that you give us that is good music. That is what makes us who we are. And in turn, of course, if we you know, we make you, I shouldn't say we make you, but you know, if it wasn't for radio, you wouldn't be able to you know, and there's all different forms, of course. We know some people think Spotify is radio, uh, you know, but we do have, you know, we have satellite radio, got terrestrial radio, it all it all it all matters, it all matters. So it's a two-way stream, it all matters.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it takes many pieces to finish, finish the puzzle.

SPEAKER_00:

When uh when Billboard said you were the guy, how how did how was that? Man, that was huge.

SPEAKER_01:

That was that was insane. Um never would have pictured in a million years, if I'm being honest. And and you know, that happened, and it's like wow, like so cool.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so cool.

SPEAKER_01:

Another one of those pinch me moments. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So and I'm sure you're gonna have a lot of those, dude. You're gonna be on the road, you're gonna be hitting up the big shows. You're gonna be uh I I could see you on some of these big shows coming up next summer. I know we're rolling into the the off season, so to speak, yes and no, but still, you know, when summer rolls around again and all the big shows are out and people are looking for openers and labels are gonna try to get their artists with certain artists. That's all I I have the feeling I'm gonna see you. And I'm gonna go, dude, I had you on my podcast. That's what we're gonna be doing. So that's cool. And that that's the other thing, you know. I've had so many, um, of course, this is not about me, this is about you, but I do want to say that there's been so many people like Nate Smith, for example. I talked to him like I'm talking to you now before a lot of what happened happened. And now I go back, and and I just saw him a few months ago here in in town. And it's like, dude, that podcast we did two years ago, and it's like, that is so freaking cool. And it's it's before you were anybody. Well, you're always somebody, if that makes sense, but you you know you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Yeah, well, I'm like it's kind of I feel like that's kind of a flex on your part to to uh be like, hey, I had that guy whenever like he was he was just going to radio, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

Laney Wilson is another one. Yeah, it's like, wow, all right. I talked to Laney one day and I said, What's going on? She goes, Oh, I just got back in the town, I'm in my apartment, uh, blah, blah. And we talked about her camper, we talked about all sorts of stuff. When, you know, now I look at her, it's like, holy crap, you know, that's good. And I love her. As a matter of fact, I um I have Skip Happens coffee mugs, and I'll make sure you get one. But um please. I absolutely um I gave her she was in town, and I wasn't, I was waiting for a shipment of mugs to come in, but they came in. She came to town for a show, and I had four mugs, and I took them. That was a few years ago. And uh, was it last year or the year before? She was at our New York State fair, and she goes, I still I have your mugs on my bus. Oh my, she knew right away. She goes, I use them every time. That's they stay on my bus. That's it. We have our coffee every day in those mugs. I said, That's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01:

So that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. You know, just Tyler. Um, one final question. Your song is called Keeps Me Sane. So, what actually keeps you sane when life gets crazy? And please tell me it's not TikTok. Not TikTok.

SPEAKER_01:

Not TikTok. Uh, you know, being being with nature and just uh being surrounded, being being with my family and like my my circle, you know, and uh just writing music and playing guitar.

SPEAKER_00:

So you keep your circle pretty tight.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I mean you kinda got to. Your bubble. It's yeah, it's it's really if you don't, it's really easy to get caught up in the wrong the wrong things, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

So I'm glad you see that and understand that. That's cool. Um five years down the road, where do you want to be? Be honest, just lay down there.

SPEAKER_01:

Five years. I probably would like to be not living directly in Nashville, you know. Um maybe commute, you know. Uh I'm not I'm not a I'm not a huge like city city life guy, so I don't see that. I get you. Um where else, man? I'd I'd like to I'd I really want to be on on on the stage and just performing and CMA awards, baby.

SPEAKER_00:

By that time you should have a couple of those awards on your shelf. That would be nice. Yeah, that's cool. You are you, and I appreciate that. That's cool.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00:

Now, if somebody wanted to go online, find out more about you, uh, where would they go?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh TikTok and Instagram and uh Facebook. It's Tyler Nance Music. And um yeah, um it's Tyler Nance Music or yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know how you keep track of all that. You're doing it all yourself.

SPEAKER_01:

Um I mean I I still I mean I have I have help and you know, like, hey, why don't we do this and guidance and stuff, and but no, I I make I make all the posts and it's I love it. I feel like it keeps me uh connected with my audience and keeps it special, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

So well, don't change, brother. Yeah, and it's such an honor to talk to you and and to get to know you a little bit, and uh just I am very, very impressed. Not that that my it doesn't matter what I think. I'm just saying, just somebody that does love the music, and it's like wow, and of course, keeps me sane. It's gonna be like my new jam, I think. I think that's gonna be it. I loved it. I love to hear that. Yeah, yeah. I'm thinking I think that's gonna be it. And of course, uh, we'll see what happens uh next week, maybe. And uh you might get some good news going, Tyler. Look at this, you could be the most added.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that'd be that crazy. Yeah, that'd be that'd be huge.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, yeah. Well, I appreciate you, and I want to thank you for taking the time uh to hang out and chat a little bit on Skip Happens. I'm so glad that Christina uh or my friend Diane got a hold of Christina and said, Hey, you know, have uh maybe Tyler would want to be on Skip Happens.

SPEAKER_01:

So dude, it's a pleasure, and thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_00:

And absolutely yeah, it's great chatting with you. Right back at you. It's Tyler Nance, everybody. Uh, make sure you follow him. Um listen for the song because I know you're gonna hear it. You're gonna hear it a lot, and that's a good thing. It's gonna be one of those he's gonna be a household name, and that song's gonna be like flying, flying. Yeah, just saying that's good. Just keep you keep your shit together. Don't, you know, because this is gonna be good for you. It's gonna be good. So I gotcha. Tyler Nance. Uh, of course, your label, thank you so much. And uh Christina, of course, I'll be reaching out to her. Uh, but thanks for hanging on. Thanks for watching, everybody. Thanks for listening. Uh go online, subscribe to Skip Happens on YouTube. And Tyler, you've you're right there on YouTube as well, right? So you can subscribe to Tyler. He's got a lot more friends than I have. But um, yeah, you can go on there. You can do that. Just subscribe to uh Tyler on YouTube as well. So thank you for watching, everybody. And Tyler, you stay there. We're gonna say goodnight. See you guys. Thank you. Uh on behalf of Skip Happens. Thanks for watching.

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