Meet Nashville’s Rising Stars: Tyler Rich
… Oh, man. I’m a very open book. Very much an open book. I feel like at least for the people that follow me. That they have a good idea of who I am. That’s a great question. I’m a massive, massive horror movie fan. Horror is my favorite genre, horror, or thriller. Any of that kind of stuff. I just loved ghost stories and stuff when I was a little kid and would watch Stephen King movies. nothing too crazy, but enough that I realized my favorite type of movie gave me adrenaline. Over the years I just became a huge horror movie junky. I love it all. I love the cheesy, the campy…yeah…
I had the pleasure to talk to Tyler Rich. Raised in Northern California, Tyler Rich found his love of music gathered around a Christmas tree alongside family singing holiday classics and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Fast forward to graduating college with a degree in Economics, Tyler moved to LA to pursue a different game of numbers — music — exploring various genres with songwriting and bands before taking the leap as a solo artist. His fanbase has grown organically from Sacramento to Nashville where in 2017 he signed a record deal with The Valory Music Co. and a publishing agreement with Big Machine Music. While introducing his amplified sound and infectious energy coast to coast, the 2018 CMT Listen Up and 2019 Pandora Artist has toured with Brett Young, Justin Moore, LANCO, and Dustin Lynch, plus shared bills alongside Sam Hunt, Brett Eldredge, Cole Swindell, Dan + Shay and more.
Enlisting Tyler as one of their “10 New Country Artists You Need to Know, Rolling Stone touts him as “the newest member of country music’s radio-minded incoming class, with a homecoming king’s swagger and a valedictorian’s songwriting smarts.” SiriusXM chart-toppers GOLD-certified single “The Difference” and “Leave Her Wild” set the tone for his debut album TWO THOUSAND MILES, a reference to the distance between Los Angeles and Nashville as both he and his wife, actress Sabina Gadecki chased their dreams and embraced a bi-coastal relationship before officially settling in Tennessee. While inspiration has been specific, the collection reflects feelings all people have in common — the need for acceptance, devotion, and places to call their own. Tyler connected virtually, recording the aptly-titled “Feels Like Home,” from a makeshift home studio as musicians added parts from their respective spaces and finding an overwhelming response of 3 million+ views on TikTok with a demo of “Better Than You’re Used To.”
His latest single has now amassed over 28M+ global streams to date and reminds others to remember your value. His empathetic spirit extends to animals too with Rich Rescues, an initiative he began while on tour to raise awareness for pet adoption. In addition to joining Chris Lane on the road, Tyler brought his own TWO THOUSAND (MORE) MILES TOUR nationwide. Visit TylerRich.com for dates or follow on Instagram and TikTok.
Hey Tyler! So you’re back in Nashville now. How long were you on the road?
Yeah, We have been. We’re kind of always out. We just wrapped my headlining tour that started in September and so that was primarily all on the west coast and we had rebooked that thing quite a few times because of COVID and everything.
Really. Oh wow
Yeah, so it finally happened.
Awesome. Yeah, there was a lot of that happening.
Yeah. but we did it like that pretty much through the year and then we started this year by doing part two of the tour, but going to the Midwest and the east and a little bit in the south and then that was intermixed with a tour with Chris Lane.
And that tour had also been re-booked a couple of times. Where I met you was the first show that wasn’t a part of that tour since September. That started basically, the summer of what we call one-off shows and fairs and festivals and whatnot.
I see. So you’ve had a lot going on. You’re probably glad to be home. Is it nice to be back?
Yeah. It kind of goes both ways. The good thing about Country is you usually go home every week for a couple of days.
Other genres are usually out for pretty much the whole time.
I had no idea. That’s awesome though, for you guys?
Yeah, yeah. Especially now that we have a bus and all that. The bus will leave like on a Wednesday night and we’ll wake up at the first show and we’ll go to sleep on Saturday night and we’ll wake up at home on Sunday. So it’s been nice since we’ve had the bus. That’s new for us since September.
It’s a nice bus. I saw it.
Thank you. Yeah, we love it. I mean, it’s just a game-changer. It’s great for the morale of the team and the band and everybody. Being on the road can get kind of grueling, It’s nice to have that constant where it’s all of our stuff in there. It’s our house that’s always out with us and kind of makes you feel like you’re always at home even when you’re not.
Yeah, that’s true, and I know that you take your dogs on the bus. How does that work?
So I was touring with my senior dog, Abby for quite a while. We gave her the last ride in November. She’s so old, so she’s just hanging out at home where she’s not stressed and constantly around a bunch of people. Then I adopted a new puppy in December. His first ride with us was in March and he is super. I mean, he’s great. Especially for his age. He’s just freaking awesome. He loves people. He’s very socialized. He’s very, very sweet. There have been a couple of moments where he’s eaten and chewed up stuff he’s not supposed to. Other than that, it’s been great and the guys love it because it kind of goes back to just anything to make that bus feel more like home.
I would love to hear more about the rescue you set up.
Yeah, my whole thing started as… I just wish I could adopt all the animals! I mean, I would, I would be that video online where the guy opens the gate and 700 dogs run out of his backyard. Like that will be me…If I could do that, that’d be awesome. My whole thing was just trying to figure out what I could do with my platform and on the road. If I’m not home enough to adopt more animals or volunteer as much as I would like to and do that kind of stuff. So maybe I can use my resources somewhere else. I was just thinking about it a couple of years ago and my social media is obviously heightened by people in specific cities where people are wondering if myself and the band are going to their favorite restaurants or their favorite parks etc.. And so I thought if I visit one to two shelters a week or whatever our schedule allows, then while they’re checking my Instagram and stuff, to see what we’re doing before the show, they’re also gonna be fed videos and pictures of these animals that need homes in their areas. Every success story that we’ve had so far has started the exact same way. It’s been people that have been at the shows and then see on Instagram, “ Oh my God, honey, look at this dog. We must get this dog. “
That’s such a great idea. You see a cute dog and you just, you just wanna go and see it. I get it as I’m the same way. It works.
Yeah, it’s called Rich Rescues and it’s been cool. It’s been just a whole new way to connect with different fans and a deeper connection if they adopt one of these animals that I’ve promoted. I feel a connection to that animal too and they’ll send me updated videos and pictures and that kind of stuff and it’s been really sweet.
So you do it in the city that you’re in, that’s smart. Then it’s local and people can get to the dog easily.
Yeah, exactly. And then when I do post it, I say, if you’re seeing this and you’re not from here and you know people from the area please tag or share, etc, etc..and yeah, it’s been awesome.
That’s really cool. So switching gears a little bit to music, Where do you find your inspiration?
My inspiration comes a lot from my wife. I found the perfect muse. She gives me all sorts of stuff. Then a lot, you know, it just, it just comes from life. It comes from listening. A lot of my ideas and stuff come from just listening to people talk and listening to what other people are going through. I always joke with my wife. I say I wish we would break up every once in a while. Because…
You need new material.
Yeah. Since we’ve met, we’ve been together for six years now and we’ve never been on a break. We’ve never been in a fight where we didn’t talk for a day. There’s never even mentioned not being together. So there’s never really been a time to write about heartbreak. We write so many songs every year that never come out but so we’re constantly writing, constantly needing material. It’s not like, oh here’s the 10 songs I’m gonna write for this year that I get to put out. It’s more like, here are the hundred songs I’m gonna write this year and I might put out 10 over two years. So it’s constantly needing material and sometimes I just dig far back into my past as far as I can go to try to rehash and remember. Rehash drama, or just listen to friends talk about the problems. Just reading poetry, inspirational quotes, that kind of stuff. I mean if you pay attention, there are always ideas. There are melodies, there are concepts around you everywhere. You just have to open your ears or eyes to them.
Yeah, I love that. I agree. I feel that as a producer, I’ll be in the most mundane places and I’ll get really inspired. Diners or something, just seeing and hearing people. It reminds me of characters or whatever and it’s really crazy how things in everyday life can really spark something sometimes.
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Well, because then if you think about it, you know, like the people watching the movies and the people listening to my music are the people in every day, regular life. So we’re just pulling from things that are relatable to everybody.
Everyone. Yeah, I agree. So what do you think people would be surprised to hear about you?
Oh, man. I’m a very open book. Very much an open book. I feel like at least for the people that follow me. That they have a good idea of who I am. That’s a great question. I’m a massive, massive horror movie fan. Horror is my favorite genre, horror, or thriller. Any of that kind of stuff. I just loved ghost stories and stuff when I was a little kid and would watch Stephen King movies. nothing too crazy, but enough that I realized my favorite type of movie gave me adrenaline. Over the years I just became a huge horror movie junky. I love it all. I love the cheesy, the campy…yeah…
So what’s up next for you? What do you have going on this summer?
Yeah. just doing festivals and fairs and stuff all summer. We’re about to release a new song, a duet from a pop artist in Quebec. I sang one version that is 52%, French. I basically learned how to sing it in French.
And yeah, Summer’s just awesome. We do all these festivals and it’s getting to the point now where we’re getting some of these festivals and doing it for the second time. So it’s just cool to get to go back and all of a sudden you’re playing to bigger crowds and you kind of get to see, see in real life, like in real-time, your growth.
Well, this was really fun getting to know you a little bit more. Can’t wait to go to another show sometime.
Absolutely. Let me know.
I will. Thanks so much. Have a great summer
Thanks Karina.
