Tyler Bryant: Profile of a Prodigy

Music is fueled by passion, by the passion of those who create it and of those who simply listen. Up-and-coming guitarist Tyler Bryant bleeds out this passion every night, on stage and off. Fresh off of a life-changing tour with guitar-god Jeff Beck, 20 year-old Bryant is making his name known in the nation’s music scene.

Bryant’s romance with music began when he was a young boy living in the tiny town of Honey Grove, Texas. Upon entering a local music store, Bryant noticed an old man sitting in the corner playing blues guitar. That man was Roosevelt Twitty. The old Lightning Hopkins songs flowing from Twitty’s fingertips captured Bryant; thus beginning the unlikely friendship of an 11 year old kid and a 63-year-old blues man. Bryant began spending time with Twitty, listening to his songs and learning the instrument he would soon master.

Roosevelt Twitty wasn’t the first musical role model Tyler Bryant found for himself. Years earlier, after seeing a video of Elvis in his first grade class, Bryant resolved to become The King himself. He went all-out, dawning a gold jacket and leather pants, and even signing his school papers “Elvis Presley.” After a parent-teacher conference about his identity crisis, Bryant had to give up the façade. Looking back on his role-play, he says, “It was really sad to find out I was actually Tyler, so I spent the rest of my life trying to make him cool.” So far, that plan is working.

Bryant has shared the stage with Aerosmith, Heart, Joe Bonamassa, REO Speedwagon, Paul Simon, Styx, Pat Benatar and B.B. King to name a few. He has played for crowds as large as 18,000. He has worked with producers Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden) and Jed Leiber (Jeff Beck). He won the prestigious Robert Johnson Blues Foundation’s New Generation Award at age 15.

In 2009, Bryant was featured in the film Rock Prophecies as one of the main artists alongside rock legends Slash, Jeff Beck, Santana and more. Back in 2007, while performing at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival in Chicago, the famed rock photographer Robert Knight approached Bryant. Knight offered the young guitarist/ singer/songwriter a role in the documentary to represent the next generation of rock royalty. Camera crews arrived at Bryant’s family home in Honey Grove shortly after. Reflecting on the bit of Hollywood coming to his small hometown, Bryant says, “It was weird. It definitely turned people’s heads in Honey Grove.”

At 17, Bryant graduated early from high school and moved to Nashville to pursue music full time. It was in Nashville that Tyler met the other members of his band, drummer Caleb Crosby and bassist Calvin Webster. Not long after, guitarist Graham Whitford (son of Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford) joined the mix.

Shortly after his move to Tennessee, Bryant was approached at a show by John Huey of the Creative Artists Agency and was signed on the spot. Bryant speaks of Huey, saying, “It’s great to have a booking agent who’s really passionate about the music.”

While playing a show at The Mint in Los Angeles, Tyler Bryant’s talent and showmanship was met with serendipity. During a song, Bryant walked off the stage, jumped on a table, and continued his fervent performance, giving some lucky patrons a close-up of his intricate stringwork. “I was delivering a guitar solo to some random stranger’s face,” Bryant said, “and it happened to be a guy who runs Guitar Hero. The rest is history.” People all over the world can now play Bryant’s song Who I Am on Guitar Hero 5.

But, can Tyler Bryant himself get a perfect score on the videogame version of his song? “I can’t even pass it on easy!” he says, “All my friends are like, ‘Come on, I’ll beat you at your own song!’ So I just wanna pull out a real guitar and be like ‘Yeah, let’s see about this.’”

Passion for music (and a little luck) is what got Tyler Bryant where he is today. He says, “People tell me that it’s special, but to me it’s just a way of life.” According to Bryant, he never excelled at other things, like sports. He played basketball during high school. “The coach’s advice would be ‘Just pass the ball,’” he says, “But there was always this thing, and that was the guitar. That was where I would go and where I can actually express myself. So I guess I did know I was special. It was sort of like a natural instinct, kind of like breathing.”

Bryant and his aptly named band, The Tyler Bryant Band, released their first EP, My Radio, in March. The band recorded the four-song collection old-school style, on two-inch recording tape. Not a surprising choice for the kid who is bringing back classic rock with his original 1960 Fender Stratocaster and infinite talent reminiscent of music icons like Stevie Ray Vaughan.

The story of Tyler Bryant’s Stratocaster involves another circumstance of killer guitar solos and incidental fortune. A chance meeting, a slip of a business card, and a phone call later, Bryant received a package in the mail. That package enclosed a classic 1960 Fender Stratocaster, easily valued at over $20,000; this was Bryant’s dream guitar. Fender, who sponsors Bryant, created a custom Cadillac-pink clone of the valuable original to make travel less of a risk. The Elvis-inspired, perfectly worn instrument accompanies Bryant just about everywhere.

The Tyler Bryant Band is in the pre-production stages for a full-length album, which they are working on with producer Jay Joyce (The Wallflowers, Cage The Elephant). Bryant says, “We’ve been putting a lot of focus on the full-length record, just wanting to make it dead on right.” He plans to release the album in July before he heads out on his summer tour. Bryant will be heading to many of the same places he played at with Jeff Beck for his tour in July, including three dates in Florida. When we asked Bryant what the album name is going to be, he replied, “I’m kind of leaning towards ‘Wild and Free’. The Wild and Free Tour.”

“Wild and Free” describes this young musician well. What does Tyler Bryant do on his nights off? Recently, he and his band set up generators and a PA in the middle of a street in downtown Nashville, plugged in, and jammed. Passerby who had seen him playing with Jeff Beck at the historical Ryman Auditorium the previous night asked him what he was doing out there, playing for a group of homeless people. Bryant’s response? “Because I love it.”

For tour dates and a free song download off Bryant’s EP, “My Radio,” visit Tyler Bryant’s website at tylerbryantmusic.com.

Tyler will be performing at the Local 662 in St. Petersburg on July 29th. Be sure to check out this young guitar prodigy!