By: Erin Thompson
Small-town Iowa isn’t exactly the music capital of the world, but that’s where the story starts for young singer-songwriter Tyler James. Growing up, James did everything from cleaning hog barns to running his own paper route to bagging groceries, but spent his free time taking piano lessons and learning as much about music as possible. When he discovered a cassette tape of The Free-wheelin’ Bob Dylan in his sister’s pickup truck, James’s dreams of music began to come alive, leading him from his Iowa home all the way to Nashville.
Inspired by musical greats such as Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, The Band, The Beatles, Neil Young, Randy Newman and old soul artists like Billy Preston, Shuggie Otis, Al Green and Bill Withers, James enrolled at Belmont and made the move to Nashville right after high school. For the first few years, James says he just kind of sat back and observed while figuring out how to get his fingerprint on the music scene. He spent most every Monday night hanging out at 12th & Porter, waiting anxiously for his chance to take the stage. “Eventually, I started playing bigger shows, and a couple of demos I did led to some folks taking me under their wing,” James says. “I did an EP in 2005 with Jason Lehning and hit the road from there.”
Most recently, James finished up the Ten Out of Tenn Tour with fellow creatives Trent Dabbs, Jeremy Lister, Butterfly Boucher, Griffin House, Andy Davis, Matthew Perryman Jones, Katie Herzig, k.s. Rhoads and Erin McCarley.
“Nashville has the best music scene in the world, and Ten Out of Tenn is an effort to get our community together to spread the Tennessee love,” James says.
While on tour, James was also busy recording his upcoming album, It Took The Fire, which will be released on February 2, 2010. The album features 12 soul-filled songs, all written by James himself.
“I know everyone is co-writing these days, but I still love wrestling with a song on my own,” he says. “I won’t always have the luxury of time, but for now I like waking up and messing with a song morning after morning until it feels good.” James co-produced his album with musician and producer Neilson Hubbard and says he couldn’t be more proud of it because he really took the time to portray the sounds he heard in his head.
“Having the right tunes and vocal conviction is king, but you can never underestimate the importance of good engineering,” James says. “I don’t like any fluff or effects, so we limited ourselves on what we could add after the fact, since overdubs can often hurt more than they help. I’m happy to say that, for the most part, the record sounds like five guys just playing music together.”
While it’s true that James’s career is taking off, he’s quick to say, “I’ve done enough bad jobs to never in a million years take for granted doing what I do now.” For him, the most difficult part about being a musician is uncertainty, but he says it’s also what keeps him driven. “Seeing my music connect with people will always feel good, but creating something out of nothing is what will keep me in it until the end,” he says.
With a successful major tour under his belt and a new CD due out soon, James has much to be excited about. Some of his new music has recently been featured on ABC’s hit TV show Brothers & Sisters, as well as on MTV’s popular drama The Hills. His song “Call My Name” was added to BBC’s Radio 1 and topped Billboard’s Heatseekers chart.
And while James continues to gain popularity in an age of Auto-Tune, he is staying faithful to the raw, unaltered style that caught his ear and his attention in a pickup truck years ago. ✪
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