Press Pass: Tyler Boone

Caitlin Billard
Mar 20, 2017
3 min read

Tyler Boone

stands before you: denim on denim, black tee, signature hair floop, Taylor guitar (and most likely a beer) in hand.

Despite a subtle Nashville flavor to his look, he’s just like the rest of us: He wakes up hungover. He fanboys over Blink 182. You can catch him on the regs at the Royal American or AC’s.

Boone moved to Nashville in October of 2015 and recorded his latest EP, True Experience, which he released on Matt Zutell’s Charleston-based label, Coast Records, in July of 2016.

Recording True Experience in Nashville was unlike Boone’s previous Charleston recording sessions. Rather than laying down a scratch-track and recording individual instruments, this 5 song EP was recorded live to a click and nearly finished in about 5 hours.

However, Nashville and Charleston differ not only in recording processes (and size, obviously), but the cities, and their music communities, have distinct personalities. While Nashville is that cowboy hat wearin’, floor thumpin’ guy at the bar shooting Jack, Charleston’s in shorts, right in front of the stage, and already 6 PBRs deep.

Tyler shares how a musician needs to find his “niche” in Nashville and how “for a minute you get a little lost.” In Charleston, there are only a couple of venues but an abundance of local support. Boone gushes that Charleston is a “good place to get your base, get your craft going, and figure it out.” He goes on to say that it is a great community to come home to after establishing a network in the big ol’ music capital of Nashville.

Tyler is back home in Charleston for the time being but will return to Nashville March 25th to headline Coast Records’ Showcase at The High Watt.

Debuting at Firefly Music Festival last June was a highlight for Boone. He comments, “The vibes are different. At venues a lot of the time people are screaming and doing fucking shots, but it’s a different environment at a festival. People are there for the music, they’re listening.”

On June 24th, Boone will be playing at the first annual Yonderville Music & Arts Festival in Rixeyville, Virginia with Charleston-based See Water and Charlotte-based Swim in the Wild. May 13th, he will take part in Artisphere, a music festival in Greenville, SC.

Each year on his birthday (and, coincidentally Matt Zutell’s birthday), Boone puts on Coast Records’ Winter Jam, a benefit show. This past January, the show benefitted Nourish International, American Cancer Society, and American Diabetes Association.

Tyler Boone’s most recent release, True Experience, captures its listeners with a complex fusion of blues-induced rock and country. Boone isn’t into predictable chord progressions, and he doesn’t sacrifice the quality of his art to fit a certain mold or follow a generic “capo on the 5th, then a G, a C, and a D” formula.

Don’t Let me Down and When I Was Young, our favorite tracks, have a bluesy, rock ‘n’ roll feel. They’re not cluttered by complex vocals; they’re guitar-driven and forward moving.

Give Me A Sign and Paper Wings (which has a music video coming out March 31st) have a lighter, country feel, featuring slide guitar and harmonies with female vocalist Spencer Bartoletti.

Waiting, the final song on the EP, goes in a different direction. “We had extra time, I was like ‘can we do a fifth?’ They were like ‘we’ve got two hours, let’s get weird with this one.’” It’s an emotional tune with a lot of delay and echoey, distorted vocals.

Tyler Boone is currently working on another 5 song EP and recently landed a deal with Taylor Guitars, who loaned him a beautiful 814 CE model.

When he’s not writing, recording, or performing, Boone manages local band, See Water. Guitarist JR Spencer says, “Tyler’s a good person; he hustles and is great at networking… more than anything he’s our friend and we love having him around. I would recommend him to anyone.”

We’ll leave you with Boone’s sage words of advice: “Work your ass off. If you expect someone to do things for you, they’re never going to happen. Always hustle. Be nice as hell. Don’t think you’re too cool for school. Pay your band.” He also echoes the words Mark Bryan of Hootie & the Blowfish told him when Boone was in college: “Stick to your guns.”