February 19, 2025 • 50 mins
What if the journey to sobriety could ignite a transformative artistic path? Join us as Blake Tyler, a rising star in country music, unveils the intimate and often tumultuous experiences that shape his sound. Blake opens up about his battle with addiction, inspired by a deep commitment to his family, and how this personal decision led to a poignant cover of "Pray All the Way Home." He shares heartfelt stories of his childhood, particularly the impact of his parents' separation and a challenging dynamic with his stepfather, both of which influenced his latest track, "Blood Ain't Thick."
Blake's path from a sales career to the bustling Nashville music scene is a testament to the power of connections. By teaming up with guitarist Joe Jordan and industry professionals like Matt McClure and Alex Kidd, he transformed his passion into a thriving career. Discover the backstage tales of collaboration, and how serendipitous encounters and strategic partnerships have paved the way for his artistic growth. Blake's candid reflections reveal the intricacies of writing songs and performing live, offering a glimpse into the dedication required to succeed in the music industry.
Performing live can be daunting, but Blake's insights on overcoming stage nerves and the importance of a supportive band are invaluable. With memorable anecdotes of encounters with stars like Chase Matthew and Bailey Zimmerman, Blake paints a vivid picture of the highs, lows, and humorous mishaps that come with the territory. As we explore the impact of social media, Blake emphasizes the importance of consistency and connection in building an audience of over 600,000 followers. His story is a compelling reminder of how perseverance, adaptability, and a genuine connection with fans can carve a successful path in today's competitive music world.
Links
- Jay Franze: https://JayFranze.com
- Blake Tyler: https://www.blaketylermusic.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tony Scott (00:05):
Welcome to The Jay Franze Show, a
behind-the-curtain look at theentertainment industry, with
insights you can't pay for andstories you've never heard.
Now here's your host, JayFranze.
Jay Franze (00:33):
Well, hello, hello, hello and welcome to the show.
I am Jay Franze and this isyour Backstage Pass to the Music
Industry.
This week we get to talk with acountry music recording artist.
We get to talk with Blake Tyler.
We'll talk to him about hiscover of Pray All the Way Home,
what it was like to sign withBowen Stern, and we'll discuss
(00:55):
how he got to start opening forsome of the greats.
Now, blake, he is not only anamazing talent, he is an amazing
person and I can't wait to talkwith him tonight.
So if you would like to join in,comment or fire off any
questions, please head over tojfranzycom.
Now let's get started, allright, buddy.
(01:16):
Well, let's just jump in.
I want to talk about a fewthings, but first I'd like to
start with the song that drew meto you in the first place, and
that's pray all the way home.
I know it's a cover, but thereason I liked it is you took a
different spin to it.
The original version of thesong has this kind of beat to it
, has kind of more of amodern-day feel to it.
You've taken it, you've slowedit down, you've made it your own
(01:39):
.
What can you tell me about thatprocess?
Blake Tyler (01:42):
Yeah.
So, first off, big Austin Snellfan, who was the original
artist on that song and had beena fan of him for a while.
And then I heard that song.
When I first heard it, I heardit differently.
Just listening to the words andthe message behind it, I felt
like there was going to be a wayfor me to slow it down and make
(02:03):
the listener feel the words alittle bit more.
Not that there was anythingwrong with Austin Snell's
version I love his version aswell but, yeah, the song had a
message that I related with andit was a message where I felt
like I was making some wrongdecisions in my life and I
remember nights where I would belaying in bed and talking to
(02:25):
God and wondering why I can'tquit this cycle of bad decisions
that I was making.
And, truth be told, about a yeara little bit over a year now I
decided that I was going to quitdrinking and get completely
sober, and part of it wasbecause of that song and I
realized that that was somethingthat I needed to do and I
(02:46):
needed to be a better examplefor my family.
And also I felt like I wasn'tgoing anywhere with this career.
I felt like I was kind of at astandstill and that song kind of
helped me get through thosetimes and I decided to go ahead
and put that cover out, beingthat it started doing very well
on social media and was gettinga really good response with it.
(03:07):
So I decided to put it out onall platforms and really glad
that I did Well.
Jay Franze (03:12):
you mentioned your family.
I assume you're married.
I don't know that for certain.
Blake Tyler (03:16):
I am engaged so long time girlfriend.
We've been together for nineyears.
We have two kids together.
We plan on getting married inthe next couple months.
Jay Franze (03:24):
Nice Well, tell her.
You know, I don't mind pushingthat along for you Absolutely
Appreciate you.
She would appreciate that.
So you, you have a family thatyou've been.
It's a longtime family at thispoint, no, you know nine years
with her.
You've got children, you get ason who's what?
Eight now.
Yep, Just turned eight, soyesterday yesterday actually.
Blake Tyler (03:44):
So there you go.
Happy birthday.
I got a daughter that's three.
Her name's noel.
Nice, he's the uh, she's thetough one of the group.
So dude.
Jay Franze (03:52):
I have a daughter who's just about to turn three
and she's wearing me out.
I'm telling you, way too old tobe having kids.
Blake Tyler (03:59):
It is uh, it's uh.
It's been an experience to havea daughter, for sure, but she's
been a blessing.
I have three.
You have three daughters, threedaughters.
Oh my goodness, how few for you, brother.
Jay Franze (04:09):
A 14, a 10, and a 2.
The 2 and 14 are about to go upone.
They're both March babies.
Very cool, but, yes, definitelya handful.
But you, with your sonspecifically, you're trying to
be a role model for him, so Ican understand how a change like
this would would be importantto not just you but to him.
(04:31):
So talk about your own personalbackground.
Did you grow up in a home thatexperienced some of these things
that you sing about?
Blake Tyler (04:39):
yeah.
So, um, I wouldn't say like froman alcoholic standpoint, we had
that much in our family, but,um, I wrote a song that I just
put out recently called BloodAin't Thick, and it's a little
bit of a story of mine growingup and my parents split when I
was really young about two andthen I had a stepdad that came
(05:00):
in pretty quickly after they hadsplit and it was tough.
I'm sure it was tough for him,being that I was his step kid.
You know I don't have step kids, I'm not sure what that's like,
but he was rough and that songreally details some of the
things that I went throughgrowing up and I feel like we
(05:22):
have a little bit of a betterrelationship now that I'm older
and he's looked back and seenthat he did some things that
were wrong, but uh, it's it'sthings that I went through and
that's kind of where my musiccomes from.
Is is just from a personalplace and uh, there's no hard
feelings or anything like that.
It's just more along the linesof that's how I get these
(05:42):
emotions out.
Jay Franze (05:44):
I'll tell you, as father myself, that was a tough
song to listen to.
Blake Tyler (05:49):
It's definitely triggered some people and gotten
a response from people thathave gone through similar things
.
So it's definitely a tough song, but it's a song that, like I
said, a lot of people have gonethrough.
Jay Franze (06:02):
I grew up in Boston and people give Boston a rap of
being a tough city to grow up in.
I was in a suburb.
It was just like any othersuburb and I grew up in a normal
household.
I had two parents, two brothersand nothing out of the ordinary
.
My father was tough, but hewasn't out of control or wasn't
anything too rough.
But there was one or two timeswhere I pushed the limits and I
(06:27):
I felt the wrath of it.
But that song, you know, bringsthat type of stuff back and I
mean it.
It was tough to listen to.
It was really tough to thinkthat somebody has to go through
things like that.
Yeah, man.
Blake Tyler (06:37):
Well, I mean, it's uh.
It was tough growing up but Ihad siblings that that kind of
went through some similar things.
Uh as well, I was the oldest soI kind of got the brunt of it,
but it's something that kind ofsticks with you, you know from.
I mean, I'm 30, 34, be 34 inMay, you know.
So it's still something that Ideal with from time to time and
that's why I wrote that song andput it out, and uh was kind of
(07:01):
one of those things that I'mtrying to let go of and move
forward.
Jay Franze (07:05):
Is that the song, the video where you talk about
picking up the guitar?
Blake Tyler (07:09):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (07:10):
So is that a true statement?
Did you pick up the guitar likethat?
Blake Tyler (07:14):
It is, yeah.
So I mean, I started playingguitar when I was about 12 or 13
.
I'm still not a great guitarist, but I can do enough to get by,
and it was just kind of one ofthose things that was a release
for me, trying to learn as ayoung kid, and I was really shy
when it came to singing.
Growing up, I wouldn't evensing in front of my family and I
(07:35):
definitely wouldn't sing infront of strangers back then.
So, yeah, it was this.
This last few years has been, uhhas been wild, an experience
that I never thought that Iwould try to pursue.
Long story short, I was insales for about 10 years and I
realized that that wasn't thelife that I wanted to live.
(07:55):
At 30 years old, I was likewhat can I do?
What do I love?
I used to be an athlete.
You can only be an athlete forso long, you know.
And so I just got a job.
You know, and that's what mostpeople do after high school and
college is they just go get ajob and I thought that that's
what I was supposed to do and Ijust stopped pursuing the things
(08:16):
that I loved and kind of had alittle bit of a midlife crisis
at 30 and was like I got to dosomething different.
And I went and got a couplegigs at a local bar and I
decided to start posting TikToksand seeing what I could do.
And it's all just happenedreally fast and I'm very blessed
that I made this decision topursue this career.
Jay Franze (08:37):
Well, let's talk about that for a minute, because
you mentioned the guitar andbeing able to hold your own not
being a guitarist but do you usethat as a tool to write songs?
Blake Tyler (08:46):
I do, yes, and it's one of those things that the
guitar is the first part of thesongwriting process for me.
Just trying to find somethingthat's unique and something
that's never been done is kindof impossible to do nowadays,
you know, but that's reallywhere the songwriting process
(09:07):
for me starts.
I also have some really goodguitar player friends that I can
get in the room with and we cancome up with ideas that way as
well.
So, yeah, I think definitelylearning the guitar has helped
me become a better songwriterfor sure Now we're not talking
that long ago, so you startedwriting songs.
Jay Franze (09:28):
At what point did you start writing songs that you
felt comfortable to share withothers?
Blake Tyler (09:33):
Man.
I don't know if I still am like100% comfortable with with
sharing everything that I write,you know, and.
But I would say within thatfirst year of pursuing music, I
decided that I wasn't going tobe a cover guy and I had been
writing for a little bit, butobviously not to the level that
(09:53):
I've been able to get to and Istarted writing with some
buddies that had been writingfor a long time.
That really opened up myabilities to write was just
being in rooms with guys likethat and learning what their
process was and just kind offeeding off of their vibes and
how they write music.
Jay Franze (10:14):
Now are these people in the Cincinnati area.
Blake Tyler (10:17):
I do.
I do have a buddy.
His name is Joe Jordan, so ifyou have not heard of Joe Jordan
yet, that guy is phenomenal andhe's become a really good
friend of mine Been friends foralmost four years now and he's
amazing.
He's got about 500,000 monthlylisteners on Spotify and he's
written some of the best songsthat I've ever heard.
We've written some of thesesongs together that I've put out
(10:38):
.
We're actually going toNashville the 17th through the
21st to write a bunch with mymanager, Matt McClure, so
hopefully we're going to getsome pretty good songs out of
that.
Jay Franze (10:49):
I don't know With a manager like Matt, I don't know
how far he can get.
Blake Tyler (10:52):
Well, I know he's been on your show before.
That guy's pretty daggone goodhe's special.
Jay Franze (10:58):
He's all right, he's special, all right, special in
his own kind of way no his ownkind of way.
Matt's awesome.
He's one of the best engineersand producers I know.
I had an opportunity to workwith him for a few years.
He's just one of the best byfar.
Blake Tyler (11:11):
He's amazing man.
I've been very blessed to beput in the situation with Valdez
Stern Group and Matt and AlexKidd and his wife Renee, matt's
wife Renee.
They're just phenomenal people,man.
I got to a point in this career, you know, where I felt like I
was kind of at a standstillwithin the past year, that I
(11:34):
felt like the growth was kind ofat a standstill on social media
.
I don't have connections inNashville too many connections
and I just felt like it was timefor me to to be represented by
somebody that knows the businessand the ins and outs, cause I'm
still pretty green when itcomes to to this business and
it's been a great experience sofar with them, so blessed to be
(11:56):
a part of out of Stern.
Jay Franze (11:57):
Well, let's talk about that for a minute, because
I know Matt, I know hisbusiness and his studio, I mean
everything.
He's just he's got it all goingon, but he's down there in
Nashville, You're up here in theCincinnati area.
How did you guys get connectedin the first place?
Blake Tyler (12:13):
Yeah, so it's kind of a long story, but I was going
down at the end of 2023 torecord with a guy by the name of
Chris Flick.
He had a studio down therecalled 12 Three South Studios
and he happens to be the drummerfor Drew Baldrige, which just
had a number one hit and has atop 20 right now.
(12:34):
But yeah, chris is a great guy,great drummer, great engineer,
does a really good job.
And Alex Kidd, which is Mattand Renee's partner at Bow to
Stern, he is the sound engineeron tour for Drew Baldrige.
So Chris and Alex became prettygood friends and I asked Flick.
(12:55):
I was like, hey, I'm kind of ata standstill right now.
I'm looking for a manager tokind of show me the ropes and
connect me with the people thatI need to connect with.
And Chris was like I got a guyfor you and sent me Alex's
number.
And then we went and I wentdown and I had a meeting with
them and it's funny, matt andAlex, they said they were going
(13:17):
to come up and see a show herein Cincinnati and last minute
Matt was thinking aboutcanceling and he decided he was
like no, I better go.
And my guys and I we knew thatthey were coming up, so we were
like we got to put on a show andwe were playing at Lori's
Roadhouse in Westchester, whichis a big venue up here, and they
loved us and we put on a greatshow and they decided that they
(13:41):
wanted to bring me on board, andthe rest is history.
I've been with them since Juneof last year, 2024.
Jay Franze (13:48):
All right, so you got introduced to them.
Matt came up to see you atLaurie's Roadhouse, which is a
very large venue.
It's probably my favorite venuein the area by far, and it used
to be a Kroger, right.
Blake Tyler (14:02):
I think it was like a big Watts or a Baymark or
something.
Yeah, it's huge.
Jay Franze (14:07):
But yeah.
So I mean he comes up and hesees you play and he likes you.
Does he tell you that thatnight or do you have a meeting
following the show?
Blake Tyler (14:17):
Yeah, I mean I could tell by his demeanor that
he was excited, I could tellthat he was happy that he came
up, you know, and he didn'treally say much that night.
I mean they drove four and ahalf hours up here to see us and
they got a hotel, and thenwe're just going to drive back
down the next morning.
So they left.
Jay Franze (14:37):
Did he come up with his wife?
Who did he come up with?
Blake Tyler (14:39):
Yeah.
So Alex, matt and Renee allthree came up to see us and I
believe it was the next day thatwe had a conversation and he
was like, yeah, I mean I thinkthis could be a good fit and
that we should work together ifyou want to do that.
And I was like, yeah, I'm onboard.
It was kind of one of thosethings that when I met them, it
(15:01):
felt like they were the rightfit.
It was just like one of thosethings where I felt at home
right away and just super nicedown to earth people and that's
what I'm looking for.
I'm not looking for somebodythat's got 50 artists on their
list of people that they manage,you know.
I'm looking for somebody that Ifeel like is going to go to
(15:22):
work for me and get me to thatnext level that I'm looking to
go to, and I felt like that wasthem.
Jay Franze (15:31):
So after the show, was it a phone call?
Was it a meeting in person?
Blake Tyler (15:36):
Yeah, it was a phone call.
I believe it's such a blur, ithappened so fast.
I believe it was a phone call,but they had sent me the
contract via email and I wentover it and had my lawyer look
at it and everything lookedgreat.
I went down to Nashville thatnext week and we met at the bank
(15:58):
and had a notary there and weboth signed the contract and we
made it official that.
So that's awesome yeah man.
Jay Franze (16:07):
So how?
How long after that did youguys set foot in the studio?
Blake Tyler (16:12):
Oh, it was pretty quick, man.
It was pretty quick.
I had sent Matt some of thesongs that I had written and
just kind of was trying to gethis idea of what he thought was
a good song and what was not agood song.
And I just sent him like 15 or20 songs that I had that I
thought were the best that Ihave.
And, um, and he, he picked one.
He picked blood ain't thick outof the whole bunch and was like
(16:34):
that one right there, I want to, I want to cut my studio.
And I was like, all right,let's do it.
And that was another thing too.
It's like Matt, matt has hisown business with the recording
side.
You know it's it's separatefrom Bow to Stern, which is this
management company, and hewasn't 100% like trying to get
me in the studio right away.
(16:55):
But he heard that song and hewas like, yeah, I want to, I
want to cut that one with you.
And I was like, say less, I'min there, just tell me when, and
I'll be there, you know.
And I went down for the sessionand it's crazy how his sessions
work.
I'm sure you've seen itfirsthand, but he's got
everybody in there at once, likethe whole band and these guys
(17:17):
are legends, you know.
I mean you got freaking RobMcNelly in there, I mean just a
ton of guys that have been onsome of the biggest songs that
you've ever heard, and so it wasa little overwhelming at first
and we, we got in the studio andand, uh, I started singing and
you could tell that the guyswere were getting into it and it
was just a really coolexperience to to be a part of
(17:39):
that.
Jay Franze (17:40):
Well, that's just it .
I mean, you're not talkingabout just a manager by any
stretch.
You're talking about somebodywho's also an engineer, also be
able to produce your record foryou, not only that, but owns his
own studio.
Blake Tyler (17:51):
Which is amazing, by the way.
Jay Franze (17:53):
His studio is incredible.
It's killer, and he built ithimself too, which is even
crazier.
So you found somebody who'swell, what we would call
well-rounded, I guess, correct.
So he's definitely a good oneto hook up with and, matt, if
you're listening, it's all liestonight, just like you told me
to say.
Blake Tyler (18:12):
I hope he's not listening.
Jay Franze (18:16):
So you went in, you recorded the one song.
Was there more songs than thatthat you recorded that day?
Blake Tyler (18:21):
No.
So we just cut the one that dayand it took an hour for the
band to have the the whole thingdown, you know, and I was like
this is insane, you know,because I'd been in the studio
before and it was like one songall day, took us five, six hours
, you know, and like they hadthat thing knocked out within an
hour and then I came back downa couple weeks later and cut the
(18:42):
vocals.
So it was just a new experiencefor me.
It was a great experience,something that really showed me
what Nashville was all aboutwhen you're with the Top Dogs.
It was a cool experience.
Jay Franze (18:56):
Did you save the chart?
Blake Tyler (18:59):
I did.
Yes, I did First one.
It was awesome, man.
Once I did that I was like Idon't know if I can cut a song
with anybody else now.
Jay Franze (19:10):
It's a pretty impressive process, for sure.
I mean it really is.
So you meet Matt, you guys, youdo your show.
He comes up there, you go downto the studio and all that stuff
, before you even go toNashville and you sign the
paperwork.
You know you, you get the newsthat it's going to happen.
What's going through your mind?
What was the feeling at thattime?
Blake Tyler (19:30):
Oh, I mean, I was pumped man, I, when I had met
with him the first time, like Iknew, you know, like that I
wanted to work with these guys,you know, and I don't think that
they were as sure about it.
I mean, they'd never seen meperform live or anything, and I
had decent social media numbers,which is great, but it doesn't
necessarily mean anything either.
Obviously, social media is abig part of this business.
(19:53):
I'm not trying to downgradesocial media, but yeah, he'd
never.
He'd never seen me perform live.
He didn't know what, what kindof an artist I was and if I had
the chops to, to really pursuethis at a high level.
So I was, I was nervous becauseI wasn't sure if, uh, if he
wanted to to work with me rightaway.
And when he came up to see us,when he came up to see us live,
(20:17):
that solidified it and I was, Iwas really pumped to uh to get
that call and him him be like,hey, yeah, let's do this.
To uh to get that call and himhim be like, hey, yeah, let's do
this.
Jay Franze (20:25):
So the nerves I completely understand.
You know it's a big, big stepfor you.
It was.
Blake Tyler (20:36):
You go on stage, how long till those nerves go
away?
Man, it's, it's pretty quick.
It's more so like right beforeyou're going on stage that you
feel those nerves and then, onceyou sing those first couple
lines, I mean everything justkind of lifts off your shoulders
and you're just in it.
That's the beauty of the liveshows for me is that it's my
favorite part of of all of this.
I mean, I love writing songs, Ilove, I love other aspects of
(20:59):
this business, but there'snothing like being in front of a
crowd and and performing anddoing what you love.
So it goes away pretty quickwithin within that first song,
right, the first few lines.
Well, that's cool.
Jay Franze (21:11):
But what about the band?
Were they as nervous as youwere?
Blake Tyler (21:14):
oh man, they were way more nervous than I was, for
sure.
Well, they had never met mattand renee or alex or anything
before that, so they they didn'tknow what to expect expect or
what kind of people they were.
But I did a pretty good job oftalking them off the ledge.
Before we went up there I waslike let's just go do what we do
, have fun, and there's no waythat they're not going to like
(21:37):
us if we do what we do and we doit to the best of our ability.
Jay Franze (21:41):
Well, I know you're still fairly young and still
fairly new to this.
How long has the band been withyou so?
Blake Tyler (21:50):
I've had a band for three years, but the only
member that's left from thefirst gig I ever played is my
bass player, andy, and everybodyelse has been with me within
the past two years.
I got Lincoln, which is myguitarist, and then I have
another lead guitarist, zachHaney, who's out of Akron.
I got guys from all over theplace.
(22:10):
I got two from Kentucky, onefrom Dayton, one from Akron.
They're my best friends.
It makes it easy to go up thereand play some of these big
shows because we all have eachother's back and we all work
equally hard at this and we putthe time in individually and as
a team to make sure that we'retight and that we have our sets
(22:33):
down.
It's a lot of fun with theseguys.
Jay Franze (22:37):
One thing I've noticed since being in this area
is that the music scene is, asfar as musicians and the talent
level of the musicians, it's notthe same as Nashville, but it's
definitely a big music scene ofsome extremely talented people
it is.
Before I forget, go ahead andrattle off the names of your
band members, just so you don'tleave anybody out.
Blake Tyler (22:56):
Yeah, yeah.
So Andy is my bass player.
He's from Tip City.
Andy Uzzle, Mason Stamper,which is my drummer.
He's been with me sinceFebruary of last year, so just
about a year.
He's from Grant County,Kentucky.
And then one of my leadguitarists, Lincoln Howe, he's
also from Grant County, Kentucky.
And then Zach Haney, leadguitarist, he's from Akron.
Jay Franze (23:20):
So, now that you're signed and now that you're going
to be playing some of thesebigger shows that are going to
be coming your way, are youkeeping that same lineup that
are going to be coming your way.
Blake Tyler (23:30):
Are you keeping that same lineup?
Yeah, I'm not changing nothing.
Man, these guys are my brothers, they work extremely hard and,
in my opinion, some of the bestmusicians in the state of Ohio
and Kentucky.
And that was another thing too,that Matt came up and was like
dude, I don't need to touch yourband.
Your band is right on par withyou and you guys are a unit.
(23:52):
It's special what we built andthe way we came together.
It's a really special situationand there's nothing that I
would do to change that.
If you see us play, I don'tthink anybody would think any
different than that either.
I think we put on a really goodshow.
(24:12):
It's very high energy.
We get the crowds going, soit's a lot of fun.
Jay Franze (24:17):
It is definitely a rocking country feel to it and
it's got some aggression to it.
It definitely is so again, Ihate to keep going back to this,
but you're still fairly new atit.
How do you land such big gigs?
Blake Tyler (24:31):
Man, I've been very blessed.
I've been in the right places,sometimes to where it just has
happened.
So I played an acoustic show ata place called Manhattan Harbor
Yacht Club it's on your side ofthe river Dayton, kentucky and
I played just an acoustic showthere and the bartender that
(24:52):
night happened to be the ladythat was going to be the booking
agent for Lori's Roadhouse, andso she heard me perform and I
went up to the bar after I wasdone and she was like take my
number down.
She was like I'm going to bebooking at this new place called
Lori's Roadhouse.
It hadn't been open yet.
I took her number down, I shother a message and was like hey,
(25:16):
let me know if there's anyopportunity here.
We went to Lori's Roadhouse forthe artist opening, basically so
the artists that were going tobe playing there could see the
venue.
I was like, oh my gosh, thisplace is absolutely insane.
It was pretty overwhelmingseeing that place, and I was
just playing little small barsat the time, you know so.
So I got in there, I played acouple acoustic shows and we did
very well.
We opened for Diamond Rio oneof the first gigs that we'd ever
(25:40):
played there.
It was.
It was definitely an opportunitythat took me to the, to the
next level as far as venues go.
So they were like, dude, if youwant to play here, I mean you
need to get a band.
So I started searching for aband and finally found me a good
(26:00):
enough band at the time youknow to to be able to perform,
and we just kept working at itand we had to lose some pieces
here and there and and pick upnew pieces and we finally got to
where we are now and voices ofAmerica festival, which is this
huge festival that they put onin Westchester Ohio.
The owner of Lori's roadhouseis the one that puts that on, so
(26:22):
I got that opportunity fromLori's roadhouse.
So I owe I owe a lot to Lori'sroadhouse.
I truly do, and it's a blessingto get to play there like once
every couple months, and thiswill be the third year running
that we're playing Voices ofAmerica Festival.
We're playing with HaleyZimmerman this year on Sunday.
That's kind of how I've beenable to get some of these bigger
(26:46):
gigs.
Jay Franze (26:48):
So when you played the acoustic set, did you play
on the side stage?
I did yes.
Blake Tyler (26:53):
So I started from the bottom and now we're
headlining Laurie's Road Houseand we played there last month
and we had about 800 or 900people there at our headlining
show.
So it's been awesome, man, Iowe them a ton.
Jay Franze (27:09):
Well, that's just it .
I think I don't know if peopleunderstand.
We talk about Laurie'sRoadhouse a lot because it's the
big venue here in town.
It's where the big acts thatcome through town play.
But to me it's not a smallvenue.
I mean it's not like your localhonky-tonk.
There's two stages but they'rein the same room but there's
still two stages.
(27:30):
So I mean it's a nice venue toplay at, but you start there as
an acoustic.
What was the first time youplayed as a full band?
Was it as an opener?
Blake Tyler (27:39):
It was.
I can't remember who we hadopened for.
It was another local band thatwe were opening for.
I'm not sure I can't rememberwho it was off the top of my
head, but we played the sidestage and it was.
It was a rough gig.
It was definitely, uh, somegrowing pains in that first gig
and what made it tough?
(27:59):
Well, I mean, it was athree-hour set and getting for
getting four other guys togetherin a short period of time,
trying to put together athree-hour set was not easy and
we ended up playing like I don'tknow 25 songs maybe and we had
to repeat them, repeat some ofthem a couple times and you know
(28:21):
which was embarrassing.
But I mean it was good enoughto where people could see our
talent and that we were going tobe a good band if we kept
working at it.
So it was just one of thosethings that you just had to
figure it out.
So you got to start somewhereand just keep getting better.
So we did that.
Jay Franze (28:42):
I laugh because I remember a rock band I played in
just out of high school.
Between high school and thefirst few years of college I was
playing in a rock band outsideof Boston and we got a gig at
this bar, this premier bar.
It was kind of like a Laurie'sRoadhouse.
And we got a chance to headline, so we had our moments.
But we got through the set andthey started cheering and wanted
(29:05):
us to play more and thebartender said oh yeah, you guys
can go, continue on.
We were out.
No more song, no more song itwas either you want to hear them
over again or Right.
So I know that feeling.
I know it well.
Blake Tyler (29:20):
Yeah, it was.
It was tough, but it's part ofthe journey, man, it's you learn
, you learn as you go.
I mean, when you're gettingthrown in the fire, you just
gotta, you gotta roll with thepunches and, and that's what
I've been doing this whole time.
You know I'm I don't knoweverything.
I don't claim to knoweverything I'm.
I'm learning every day aboutthis business and it's it's
(29:40):
definitely a cutthroat business,but I couldn't see myself doing
anything else now.
I absolutely love it.
Jay Franze (29:46):
So when you have an opportunity to open up for some
of these other artists, like,say, brooks and Dunn, do you get
a chance to meet them or areyou just opening up for them?
Blake Tyler (30:01):
I mean, how's it?
How's it working?
Yeah, so it depends on theartist.
I mean we've we've had theopportunity to open for some
amazing artists.
Bailey Zimmerman came to Lori'sRoadhouse.
We got to open on the mainstage for him, which was
incredible.
I mean that kid is a sweetheart, become friends with his
drummer, max, and I mean they'reall just really nice guys.
And we've opened for ChaseMatthew, which was another one
(30:22):
of those guys that's just superdown to earth guy, you know, and
he came, we were over on theside stage and he came over
after a sound check to talk tous.
I was like this is crazy, youknow.
But there's also situationswhere you're we opened for for
hardy up in columbus a coupleyears ago and he's huge, you
know, and and he stays on hisbus and and kind of keeps to
(30:45):
himself he's he's got a processdown where he's either writing
songs or doing stuff for socialmedia, which completely
understand, completelyunderstand.
He's just a busy guy.
So it really just depends onthe artist and what kind of time
they have.
But yeah, we have met somereally good people and some of
these guys that are as big asanybody in the business are some
(31:06):
of the most down-to-earthpeople you'll meet.
Jay Franze (31:08):
Well, who's been the best experience you've had so
far?
Blake Tyler (31:12):
That's a good question, man.
Well, we've opened for CooperAllen.
That guy's just a super niceguy.
Talked with him a couple times,uh, for extended periods of
time, and I really like him as aperson.
I think he's.
He's doing some really goodthings with his artistry and
some of these songs he's beenputting out of have resonated
(31:33):
with a lot of people.
So I would say him, baileyzimmerman and and chase matthew,
the two that I named before.
It's kind of a toss-up betweenthose three.
Jay Franze (31:44):
Out of those I like Chase Matthew.
Blake Tyler (31:46):
Yeah, he's a great dude, and that guy puts on a
heck of a show too.
Jay Franze (31:50):
Yeah, he's awesome.
I mean great guy, great shows,great music, and he's still very
young and new to this himself.
Blake Tyler (31:59):
Oh yeah, he's doing it right.
Jay Franze (32:04):
Yeah, I mean that's fantastic.
So what has been the mostembarrassing moment to you so
far other than having to repeata couple songs on stage?
Blake Tyler (32:14):
Oh man, uh well, my first voices of America
experience.
The first year I forgot thewords to a song.
Was it one of your own?
No, it was not.
It was a cover song we weresinging and it's a song I've
sang a thousand times.
So I think it was just one ofthose nerves situations.
But I Don't Want to Be by GavinDeGraw.
(32:37):
We played that one.
We play it very driving androck.
It's one of my favorite songsthat we play cover-wise.
We play it very driving androck.
It's one of my favorite songsthat we play cover-wise.
The first couple lines I wasjust drawing a blank, could not
think of them, so I went up tomy guitar player and I was like
what's the words, what's thewords?
And he finally got me back ontrack and we finished it out.
Did anybody?
Jay Franze (32:56):
notice.
Blake Tyler (32:58):
I mean, I did you know.
I mean, when you're an artist,you just pick yourself apart.
Of course.
So it was probably way worse tome than it was to anybody else,
but that was definitelyembarrassing, but I felt like we
still put on a pretty good show.
My guys killed it that night.
Jay Franze (33:14):
That's when you just take the mic, point it towards
the crowd and let them singalong and get you through it.
Blake Tyler (33:20):
Yeah, I should have done that for sure.
I wasn't thinking on my feetwith that one.
It's tough.
Jay Franze (33:26):
You mentioned the covers and I mentioned earlier,
and you just mentioned it again,that you kind of give your own
twist to these covers.
Do you like giving songs yourown twist?
Blake Tyler (33:37):
I do.
Yeah, I listened to a lot ofcovers on YouTube growing up.
I thought a lot of people putout really cool covers of
different hits.
I'll just give you an exampleof one.
There was a band, it was like aduo.
They were called the Civil Wars.
(33:58):
I'm not sure if you've everheard of them or not.
They did a Billie Jean cover.
I was like holy crap, youcouldn't even tell that it was
that song until they startedsinging the words, you know, and
I was like this is genius.
So I kind of, after I heardthat song, I started hearing
songs a little bit differentlywhen I would hear them and
(34:19):
trying to kind of put my ownspin on them, just like they did
.
And we've really developed arock sound as a group.
My guys on the guitar, theirtones are very much rock and I
have a powerful voice and it'sreally just worked for us, you
know.
So we've been going with thatand that's what Matt and Renee
and Alex all loved about us.
(34:40):
And we're trying to sing a lotmore of our own songs now,
obviously, being that I've putout about 10 songs now and we've
got some more in the chamber.
So we're really trying to focusmore on inputting original
material in there, but obviouslythe crowd wants to hear songs
that they know too Sure.
Jay Franze (34:59):
You mentioned Billie Jean.
There's been some amazingcovers of that song.
Yeah, Chris Cornell.
Blake Tyler (35:05):
Some of these guys have done a great job on that
song yeah, I remember david cookcovered it on american idol and
that was incredible.
Jay Franze (35:14):
Yeah, I thought it was incredible.
Everybody you know on the showand the audience thought it was
incredible.
And then everybody startedpicking apart saying, well,
cornell did it, it like that.
It's not new.
Blake Tyler (35:23):
It's like thank God give the guy a break.
Yeah, I mean the guy crushed it.
I mean it was incredible to beable to do that live.
Jay Franze (35:30):
He was awesome.
I thought it was a greatversion of it.
I heard that version beforeChris Cornell's version.
Yeah, there you go.
Blake Tyler (35:39):
Well, you probably didn't even hear about chris
cornell's until people werepicking his right.
Jay Franze (35:43):
I wouldn't I probably wouldn't have heard of
it at all if it wasn't for davidcook.
So that's right.
No, I mean it's, it's a greatversion and I I really love when
bands do that and put a twiston cover tunes.
I don't know if you ever heardany of the bands that cover
cindy loppers time after time.
I have not no, man, you gottalook into that, go down that
rabbit hole.
There's some amazing versionsof time after time, you know
(36:06):
rock versions metal versions.
I mean there's a lot of goodversions of it.
That's awesome.
Speaking of that, shout out toRocky Rose, previous guest on
the show.
She's on the road with CyndiLauper right now.
Blake Tyler (36:17):
No kidding, that's awesome.
Jay Franze (36:18):
Yeah, she's over in London right now.
That's a bucket list rightthere.
If you have not followed her,that's an Instagram page you
need to follow Rocky Rose.
Blake Tyler (36:28):
Rocky Rose.
That's a great name right offthe bat.
I mean goodness.
Jay Franze (36:33):
She is amazing.
She went to school at Berkeley,graduated then she went to the
London Conservatory and then shewas in LA doing film scores and
playing in all these rock bandsand pop bands and punk bands
and now she's on the road withcindy lopper.
So I mean, this girl isamazingly talented.
But her instagram, she sharesit all on instagram, all the
(36:55):
crazy stupid things she does outthere.
It's fun, it's a fun place towatch.
Blake Tyler (36:59):
That's one of the things too, man.
It's like people want to seethe authenticity of, of, uh,
your personality and and whatit's like to be a musician, you
know.
So that's kind of somethingthat I'm I'm trying to to
channel, as well as as trying toshow a more personal side on
social media, because it's yeah,it's not an easy thing to do,
and so what are you doing?
Jay Franze (37:20):
what steps are you taking?
Blake Tyler (37:21):
yeah, I mean, I'm trying to do more stuff like
this.
I work with a videographer Hisname is David Nguyen, and we've
really just been trying tofigure out different ways to
catch people's attention and Ithink, by doing some
behind-the-scenes things showingpeople what we do for content,
for social media, what it's likeat shows in the green room and
(37:44):
basically just going through ourday on show days I feel like
it's important for people tofeel like they're a part of
those kind of things and itreally draws people in to feel
like they're a bigger part ofwhat you're doing.
Jay Franze (37:58):
Well, that's a good point.
I mean, I think the behind thescenes of the shows like if
you're in the green room atLaurie's Roadhouse just getting
ready, that type of thing isvery interesting.
It's more interesting to me onsocial media than some of the
other stuff.
I don't want to see the cannedposts all the time.
Blake Tyler (38:13):
Right, but did you record anything when you were in
the studio with Matt, actuallythis past time I went down there
last week actually and recordedsome of the actual session and
the song's not going to be outfor a while, so I'm not going to
release any of that just yet.
But yeah, we have done that fora couple of these songs, just
(38:37):
to kind of show that process andhow it goes.
So that'll be something I'mgoing to be putting out here
soon as well.
Jay Franze (38:44):
Well, it's tough to record when you're in a studio.
There's so many things going onlike you mentioned, all the
musicians, and there's geareverywhere.
You don't even want to walkaround and possibly trip over a
cable.
I mean, there's just so manythings going on.
But when you're with Matt,you're in his personal studio
and it's more like you're with agroup of friends and they
understand what the expectationis on your part to be filming
(39:07):
things and doing that type ofstuff.
So it's probably a goodenvironment for you to be in to
get that out there.
Especially, he's also yourmanager.
He knows what needs to be done.
Blake Tyler (39:18):
Yes, exactly, and I mean my videographer is very
good about being what's theright word Unseen.
I guess he's very much hiddenwhen he's trying to make sure he
gets this content, so he's notin your way and he's very, very
good and he does a lot of likethe live shows and he's been a
(39:41):
great friend and a greatcolleague as far as what we've
been able to do in this pastyear.
He handles basically everythingfrom the video standpoint.
So all these videos of mesinging in front of the camera
to these new songs I'm puttingout, he is responsible for
(40:02):
filming, editing, punching thesong, the actual song, into the
video edit and he has been ahuge help to everything I've
been building.
Jay Franze (40:12):
That's very cool.
Did he do the music videos aswell?
He did.
Blake Tyler (40:15):
Yeah, so that Blood Ain't Thick video.
We sat down for about 45minutes and we anchored the
whole thing out and put it onpaper of what we wanted and the
vision that we had behind it,and we we made it happen.
He's a.
Jay Franze (40:30):
He's extremely talented and has an extremely
nice camera that he works with,and when I was working with Matt
, social media was a thing, butit wasn't a big thing at the
time, so it wasn't like we wereposting things on Instagram 20
times a day, that type of thing.
So I would be in there takingpictures though all the time all
sorts of pictures and I'd bethe one crawling under the
(40:52):
cables and moving around things,and I understand the importance
of having that stuff todocument it, whether it be even
if it's just going into an albumsomewhere or somebody's file.
That stuff's important to haveDocuments.
Who played on your recording,what the setups were, what the
microphone placement was, thingsthat you wouldn't even think
about.
That might come up later downthe road.
(41:13):
So, if you're, you know wellhow did we get that guitar sound
on that song?
Well, you know, here's apicture I was taking of the guy
and you can see the microphone.
We had the guitar and for somereason, it was twisted around
and pointed at the rock wall.
I don't know what we were doingthere, right, you know, and you
get that type of thing going on.
Blake Tyler (41:29):
So, yeah, or you have a picture of somebody that
you need to ask that question.
You know you can give them abuzz because you remembered from
that picture who was playingthat part, you know.
So yeah, it is very importantto keep documentation of these
things, you know, because I mean, it's a grueling business man.
(41:50):
There's a lot of aspects of it.
I don't think people realizehow much actually goes into it,
especially with the social mediaside of things, and I hate to
say it but it's my leastfavorite part of everything and
I feel like that's pretty commonin this business.
In this business, like nobodylikes to do it, but I've
realized how important it isover the past year and working
(42:10):
directly with my videographer.
Jay Franze (42:13):
So how much time do you spend?
Blake Tyler (42:15):
on social.
Oh man, I mean I, there wastimes that I was posting three
times a day.
That that's on every platform.
So it's, it just depends.
I mean, social media is like it.
It comes in waves, like there'sthere's times where you can
post one time a day and thenthere's other times where it
wants you to post three times aday.
(42:36):
It's just based on thatalgorithm and what what they
want from you.
So it's it's more along thelines of just reading what,
what's working, what's notworking, and and kind of making
adjustments as you go.
And that's really the hard partis is figuring out what works,
because, uh, it definitely, itdefinitely doesn't work as much
(42:56):
as it doesn't, if that makessense.
Jay Franze (43:00):
Well, let's take it a step further, because you've
got quite a following.
We're talking, you know,600,000 followers roughly.
So I mean, you're talking abouta large following per platform.
You've got a large following,so that doesn't just happen.
What are you doing to make itgrow?
Blake Tyler (43:19):
Man.
Truthfully, I think the mostimportant thing is the song.
I think that that is findingsomething that people can relate
to and making sure that youshow your emotion behind that
song, and if you can do that,you are going to reach a large
group of people, group of people.
(43:45):
And the beauty in social mediais that, especially with TikTok,
every time you post it doesn'tgo to that same audience.
So the algorithm is built toreach new people each time you
post, and it doesn't always workout that way, but that is the
beauty in it is that each postthat you do post has the
potential to reach millions ofnew followers, or millions of
new viewers, I should say.
But yeah, I do think that thekey is finding something that
(44:09):
people can relate to, makingsure that they can feel your
emotions in the song that you'retrying to push to them.
Jay Franze (44:19):
Do you have any sort of strategy that goes along
with it?
Blake Tyler (44:23):
Honestly, it's just consistency.
That's one thing that I'venoticed within the past year,
and what me and my videographerhave talked about is just being
consistent posting every singleday, and it's not fun, but it is
what works.
The more consistent that youget with it, the more the
results will show and thealgorithm will reward you for
(44:44):
using their platform.
I don't think there's any realmethod to going viral.
You can look into hashtags andall that stuff, and there's
certain hashtags that may help acertain video, but I think
there's also people out therethat don't even use hashtags,
you know, and so, like I said,so, people out there that don't
even use hashtags, you know, andso, like I said, I don't think
(45:05):
there's really a method to it.
I think it's just just workinghard and and being consistent
with it.
Jay Franze (45:10):
A lot of the things you've mentioned here are what
you put out there in hopes thatpeople find and share.
Yes, so, and that's the bestway to grow.
But do you do any sort ofoutreach, like, do you go to
people that you think couldpotentially be the type of
person that enjoys your style ofmusic and then start
conversations or anything likethat?
Blake Tyler (45:32):
I have not, and that may be something that we
try to pursue at some point.
I have not.
It's mostly just been organicand being consistent and just
trying to get my music out there.
Um, do you push it at shows?
Oh yeah, like, do you mentionit from the stage?
I do, yeah, um.
So I mean, I'm sure that thatthat is that is a big help as
(45:52):
well as making sure that thatpeople know I'm on social media.
I'm on all streaming platformsand every time I'll play a song
that I I wrote or that I haveout on streaming platforms, I'll
make sure people know they canjust stream that after the show
well, we mentioned chaseMatthews and that's the success
he's got right now is by thestage and yeah everything else
he's going on no doubt plus hisphotographer friend that falls
(46:16):
him around.
Yeah, she's huge yeah she's asbig as he is.
Yeah, I was gonna say she mightbe bigger than he is.
That that girl is.
She's doing it right, for sure,awesome.
Jay Franze (46:26):
Her work is amazing.
Blake Tyler (46:28):
She seems to have a great personality too.
I mean, it seems like everybodycan connect with her, yeah.
Jay Franze (46:34):
She's just what looks like a fun, lovable person
have you had her on the show.
No, you know what I thoughtabout it.
I was going to reach out to herand see if we can get her on
here.
Yeah, it might be cool.
I think it would be fun to haveher on here.
That would be cool.
People think, well, why don'tyou reach out to Chase?
It's like, well, I want to talkto her.
Blake Tyler (46:51):
She knows what's really going on.
Yeah, no kidding.
Jay Franze (47:04):
She gets all the behind-the-scenes stuff, watch
the little videos she puts outwhere she finds somebody in the
wild and then takes them, does aphoto shoot, and then I always
just wait till the end because Iwant to see the, the photo
itself, and they're just amazing.
Yeah, they are.
She's.
She's incredible, for sure.
Yeah, I love the, not only thephoto and but the, the eye that
she has to take the photo andthen the eye that she has to do
the coloring of the photo andeverything.
Blake Tyler (47:22):
It's just awesome all while she's being filmed,
doing it too, you know it's likewhatever she has no mercy.
Jay Franze (47:31):
I mean, she'll go up to anybody anywhere, she's not
afraid of anything.
Blake Tyler (47:35):
The girl has got some gumption to her for sure,
I'm telling you that's, that's,uh, I mean that she's.
Jay Franze (47:40):
All right, Kara, if you're listening, come on the
show.
There you go.
We need to have you here.
We have questions.
Blake Tyler (47:47):
Yep.
Jay Franze (47:47):
All right, buddy.
Well, we do this thing here wecall Unsung Heroes, where we
take a moment to shine the lighton somebody that's worked
behind the scenes or somebodywho may be supporting you along
the way.
Do you have anybody that you'dlike to shine a little light on?
Blake Tyler (47:59):
Yeah, so my grandparents are a huge support
system for me.
My grandma was actually in theCountry Music Hall of Fame.
She was in the first all-femalecountry music group in country
music history.
It's called Ann Jones and HerWestern Sweethearts.
I mean, they have a display inthe Country Music Hall of Fame
(48:24):
with all of their outfits andsome of their old gear drum set,
all that kind of stuff andshe's been an inspiration for
sure.
She met my grandpa while shewas touring, actually with the
band and my grandpa was in themilitary, so they were hitting
military bases and all thatstuff back in the 60s and she
left the band to be with mygrandpa and, yeah, the rest is
(48:47):
history.
So but they they've been a hugesupport system for me.
My grandpa was like my bestfriend and I couldn't be doing
any of this without them, that'sfor sure that's awesome.
Jay Franze (48:57):
Do you go check out the exhibit every time you go to
nashville?
Blake Tyler (49:00):
I wish I, I wish I did, but uh, there's not enough
time in a day when I'm downthere.
But it was cool.
The induction that they hadinto the Hall of Fame was
actually my grandparents' 50thanniversary too, so we
celebrated their 50thanniversary at the Country Music
Hall of Fame as she was beinginducted, so it was a really
cool experience.
Jay Franze (49:21):
A big thanks to Blake for taking the time to
share his stories with us andthank you for taking the time to
hang with me here.
I really do appreciate it.
If you know anyone that wouldenjoy this episode, please be
sure to share it.
You can do that and find thelinks to everything mentioned
over at jayfranze.
com/episode120.
Thanks again for listening andI'll see you next week.
Tony Scott (49:47):
Thanks for listening to The Jay Franze Show.
Make sure you visit us atjayfranze.
com.
Follow, connect and say hello.
Welcome to The Jay Franze Show, a
behind-the-curtain look at theentertainment industry, with
insights you can't pay for andstories you've never heard.
Now here's your host, JayFranze.
Jay Franze (00:33):
Well, hello, hello, hello and welcome to the show.
I am Jay Franze and this isyour Backstage Pass to the Music
Industry.
This week we get to talk with acountry music recording artist.
We get to talk with Blake Tyler.
We'll talk to him about hiscover of Pray All the Way Home,
what it was like to sign withBowen Stern, and we'll discuss
(00:55):
how he got to start opening forsome of the greats.
Now, blake, he is not only anamazing talent, he is an amazing
person and I can't wait to talkwith him tonight.
So if you would like to join in,comment or fire off any
questions, please head over tojfranzycom.
Now let's get started, allright, buddy.
(01:16):
Well, let's just jump in.
I want to talk about a fewthings, but first I'd like to
start with the song that drew meto you in the first place, and
that's pray all the way home.
I know it's a cover, but thereason I liked it is you took a
different spin to it.
The original version of thesong has this kind of beat to it
, has kind of more of amodern-day feel to it.
You've taken it, you've slowedit down, you've made it your own
(01:39):
.
What can you tell me about thatprocess?
Blake Tyler (01:42):
Yeah.
So, first off, big Austin Snellfan, who was the original
artist on that song and had beena fan of him for a while.
And then I heard that song.
When I first heard it, I heardit differently.
Just listening to the words andthe message behind it, I felt
like there was going to be a wayfor me to slow it down and make
(02:03):
the listener feel the words alittle bit more.
Not that there was anythingwrong with Austin Snell's
version I love his version aswell but, yeah, the song had a
message that I related with andit was a message where I felt
like I was making some wrongdecisions in my life and I
remember nights where I would belaying in bed and talking to
(02:25):
God and wondering why I can'tquit this cycle of bad decisions
that I was making.
And, truth be told, about a yeara little bit over a year now I
decided that I was going to quitdrinking and get completely
sober, and part of it wasbecause of that song and I
realized that that was somethingthat I needed to do and I
(02:46):
needed to be a better examplefor my family.
And also I felt like I wasn'tgoing anywhere with this career.
I felt like I was kind of at astandstill and that song kind of
helped me get through thosetimes and I decided to go ahead
and put that cover out, beingthat it started doing very well
on social media and was gettinga really good response with it.
(03:07):
So I decided to put it out onall platforms and really glad
that I did Well.
Jay Franze (03:12):
you mentioned your family.
I assume you're married.
I don't know that for certain.
Blake Tyler (03:16):
I am engaged so long time girlfriend.
We've been together for nineyears.
We have two kids together.
We plan on getting married inthe next couple months.
Jay Franze (03:24):
Nice Well, tell her.
You know, I don't mind pushingthat along for you Absolutely
Appreciate you.
She would appreciate that.
So you, you have a family thatyou've been.
It's a longtime family at thispoint, no, you know nine years
with her.
You've got children, you get ason who's what?
Eight now.
Yep, Just turned eight, soyesterday yesterday actually.
Blake Tyler (03:44):
So there you go.
Happy birthday.
I got a daughter that's three.
Her name's noel.
Nice, he's the uh, she's thetough one of the group.
So dude.
Jay Franze (03:52):
I have a daughter who's just about to turn three
and she's wearing me out.
I'm telling you, way too old tobe having kids.
Blake Tyler (03:59):
It is uh, it's uh.
It's been an experience to havea daughter, for sure, but she's
been a blessing.
I have three.
You have three daughters, threedaughters.
Oh my goodness, how few for you, brother.
Jay Franze (04:09):
A 14, a 10, and a 2.
The 2 and 14 are about to go upone.
They're both March babies.
Very cool, but, yes, definitelya handful.
But you, with your sonspecifically, you're trying to
be a role model for him, so Ican understand how a change like
this would would be importantto not just you but to him.
(04:31):
So talk about your own personalbackground.
Did you grow up in a home thatexperienced some of these things
that you sing about?
Blake Tyler (04:39):
yeah.
So, um, I wouldn't say like froman alcoholic standpoint, we had
that much in our family, but,um, I wrote a song that I just
put out recently called BloodAin't Thick, and it's a little
bit of a story of mine growingup and my parents split when I
was really young about two andthen I had a stepdad that came
(05:00):
in pretty quickly after they hadsplit and it was tough.
I'm sure it was tough for him,being that I was his step kid.
You know I don't have step kids, I'm not sure what that's like,
but he was rough and that songreally details some of the
things that I went throughgrowing up and I feel like we
(05:22):
have a little bit of a betterrelationship now that I'm older
and he's looked back and seenthat he did some things that
were wrong, but uh, it's it'sthings that I went through and
that's kind of where my musiccomes from.
Is is just from a personalplace and uh, there's no hard
feelings or anything like that.
It's just more along the linesof that's how I get these
(05:42):
emotions out.
Jay Franze (05:44):
I'll tell you, as father myself, that was a tough
song to listen to.
Blake Tyler (05:49):
It's definitely triggered some people and gotten
a response from people thathave gone through similar things
.
So it's definitely a tough song, but it's a song that, like I
said, a lot of people have gonethrough.
Jay Franze (06:02):
I grew up in Boston and people give Boston a rap of
being a tough city to grow up in.
I was in a suburb.
It was just like any othersuburb and I grew up in a normal
household.
I had two parents, two brothersand nothing out of the ordinary
.
My father was tough, but hewasn't out of control or wasn't
anything too rough.
But there was one or two timeswhere I pushed the limits and I
(06:27):
I felt the wrath of it.
But that song, you know, bringsthat type of stuff back and I
mean it.
It was tough to listen to.
It was really tough to thinkthat somebody has to go through
things like that.
Yeah, man.
Blake Tyler (06:37):
Well, I mean, it's uh.
It was tough growing up but Ihad siblings that that kind of
went through some similar things.
Uh as well, I was the oldest soI kind of got the brunt of it,
but it's something that kind ofsticks with you, you know from.
I mean, I'm 30, 34, be 34 inMay, you know.
So it's still something that Ideal with from time to time and
that's why I wrote that song andput it out, and uh was kind of
(07:01):
one of those things that I'mtrying to let go of and move
forward.
Jay Franze (07:05):
Is that the song, the video where you talk about
picking up the guitar?
Blake Tyler (07:09):
Yeah.
Jay Franze (07:10):
So is that a true statement?
Did you pick up the guitar likethat?
Blake Tyler (07:14):
It is, yeah.
So I mean, I started playingguitar when I was about 12 or 13
.
I'm still not a great guitarist, but I can do enough to get by,
and it was just kind of one ofthose things that was a release
for me, trying to learn as ayoung kid, and I was really shy
when it came to singing.
Growing up, I wouldn't evensing in front of my family and I
(07:35):
definitely wouldn't sing infront of strangers back then.
So, yeah, it was this.
This last few years has been, uhhas been wild, an experience
that I never thought that Iwould try to pursue.
Long story short, I was insales for about 10 years and I
realized that that wasn't thelife that I wanted to live.
(07:55):
At 30 years old, I was likewhat can I do?
What do I love?
I used to be an athlete.
You can only be an athlete forso long, you know.
And so I just got a job.
You know, and that's what mostpeople do after high school and
college is they just go get ajob and I thought that that's
what I was supposed to do and Ijust stopped pursuing the things
(08:16):
that I loved and kind of had alittle bit of a midlife crisis
at 30 and was like I got to dosomething different.
And I went and got a couplegigs at a local bar and I
decided to start posting TikToksand seeing what I could do.
And it's all just happenedreally fast and I'm very blessed
that I made this decision topursue this career.
Jay Franze (08:37):
Well, let's talk about that for a minute, because
you mentioned the guitar andbeing able to hold your own not
being a guitarist but do you usethat as a tool to write songs?
Blake Tyler (08:46):
I do, yes, and it's one of those things that the
guitar is the first part of thesongwriting process for me.
Just trying to find somethingthat's unique and something
that's never been done is kindof impossible to do nowadays,
you know, but that's reallywhere the songwriting process
(09:07):
for me starts.
I also have some really goodguitar player friends that I can
get in the room with and we cancome up with ideas that way as
well.
So, yeah, I think definitelylearning the guitar has helped
me become a better songwriterfor sure Now we're not talking
that long ago, so you startedwriting songs.
Jay Franze (09:28):
At what point did you start writing songs that you
felt comfortable to share withothers?
Blake Tyler (09:33):
Man.
I don't know if I still am like100% comfortable with with
sharing everything that I write,you know, and.
But I would say within thatfirst year of pursuing music, I
decided that I wasn't going tobe a cover guy and I had been
writing for a little bit, butobviously not to the level that
(09:53):
I've been able to get to and Istarted writing with some
buddies that had been writingfor a long time.
That really opened up myabilities to write was just
being in rooms with guys likethat and learning what their
process was and just kind offeeding off of their vibes and
how they write music.
Jay Franze (10:14):
Now are these people in the Cincinnati area.
Blake Tyler (10:17):
I do.
I do have a buddy.
His name is Joe Jordan, so ifyou have not heard of Joe Jordan
yet, that guy is phenomenal andhe's become a really good
friend of mine Been friends foralmost four years now and he's
amazing.
He's got about 500,000 monthlylisteners on Spotify and he's
written some of the best songsthat I've ever heard.
We've written some of thesesongs together that I've put out
(10:38):
.
We're actually going toNashville the 17th through the
21st to write a bunch with mymanager, Matt McClure, so
hopefully we're going to getsome pretty good songs out of
that.
Jay Franze (10:49):
I don't know With a manager like Matt, I don't know
how far he can get.
Blake Tyler (10:52):
Well, I know he's been on your show before.
That guy's pretty daggone goodhe's special.
Jay Franze (10:58):
He's all right, he's special, all right, special in
his own kind of way no his ownkind of way.
Matt's awesome.
He's one of the best engineersand producers I know.
I had an opportunity to workwith him for a few years.
He's just one of the best byfar.
Blake Tyler (11:11):
He's amazing man.
I've been very blessed to beput in the situation with Valdez
Stern Group and Matt and AlexKidd and his wife Renee, matt's
wife Renee.
They're just phenomenal people,man.
I got to a point in this career, you know, where I felt like I
was kind of at a standstillwithin the past year, that I
(11:34):
felt like the growth was kind ofat a standstill on social media
.
I don't have connections inNashville too many connections
and I just felt like it was timefor me to to be represented by
somebody that knows the businessand the ins and outs, cause I'm
still pretty green when itcomes to to this business and
it's been a great experience sofar with them, so blessed to be
(11:56):
a part of out of Stern.
Jay Franze (11:57):
Well, let's talk about that for a minute, because
I know Matt, I know hisbusiness and his studio, I mean
everything.
He's just he's got it all goingon, but he's down there in
Nashville, You're up here in theCincinnati area.
How did you guys get connectedin the first place?
Blake Tyler (12:13):
Yeah, so it's kind of a long story, but I was going
down at the end of 2023 torecord with a guy by the name of
Chris Flick.
He had a studio down therecalled 12 Three South Studios
and he happens to be the drummerfor Drew Baldrige, which just
had a number one hit and has atop 20 right now.
(12:34):
But yeah, chris is a great guy,great drummer, great engineer,
does a really good job.
And Alex Kidd, which is Mattand Renee's partner at Bow to
Stern, he is the sound engineeron tour for Drew Baldrige.
So Chris and Alex became prettygood friends and I asked Flick.
(12:55):
I was like, hey, I'm kind of ata standstill right now.
I'm looking for a manager tokind of show me the ropes and
connect me with the people thatI need to connect with.
And Chris was like I got a guyfor you and sent me Alex's
number.
And then we went and I wentdown and I had a meeting with
them and it's funny, matt andAlex, they said they were going
(13:17):
to come up and see a show herein Cincinnati and last minute
Matt was thinking aboutcanceling and he decided he was
like no, I better go.
And my guys and I we knew thatthey were coming up, so we were
like we got to put on a show andwe were playing at Lori's
Roadhouse in Westchester, whichis a big venue up here, and they
loved us and we put on a greatshow and they decided that they
(13:41):
wanted to bring me on board, andthe rest is history.
I've been with them since Juneof last year, 2024.
Jay Franze (13:48):
All right, so you got introduced to them.
Matt came up to see you atLaurie's Roadhouse, which is a
very large venue.
It's probably my favorite venuein the area by far, and it used
to be a Kroger, right.
Blake Tyler (14:02):
I think it was like a big Watts or a Baymark or
something.
Yeah, it's huge.
Jay Franze (14:07):
But yeah.
So I mean he comes up and hesees you play and he likes you.
Does he tell you that thatnight or do you have a meeting
following the show?
Blake Tyler (14:17):
Yeah, I mean I could tell by his demeanor that
he was excited, I could tellthat he was happy that he came
up, you know, and he didn'treally say much that night.
I mean they drove four and ahalf hours up here to see us and
they got a hotel, and thenwe're just going to drive back
down the next morning.
So they left.
Jay Franze (14:37):
Did he come up with his wife?
Who did he come up with?
Blake Tyler (14:39):
Yeah.
So Alex, matt and Renee allthree came up to see us and I
believe it was the next day thatwe had a conversation and he
was like, yeah, I mean I thinkthis could be a good fit and
that we should work together ifyou want to do that.
And I was like, yeah, I'm onboard.
It was kind of one of thosethings that when I met them, it
(15:01):
felt like they were the rightfit.
It was just like one of thosethings where I felt at home
right away and just super nicedown to earth people and that's
what I'm looking for.
I'm not looking for somebodythat's got 50 artists on their
list of people that they manage,you know.
I'm looking for somebody that Ifeel like is going to go to
(15:22):
work for me and get me to thatnext level that I'm looking to
go to, and I felt like that wasthem.
Jay Franze (15:31):
So after the show, was it a phone call?
Was it a meeting in person?
Blake Tyler (15:36):
Yeah, it was a phone call.
I believe it's such a blur, ithappened so fast.
I believe it was a phone call,but they had sent me the
contract via email and I wentover it and had my lawyer look
at it and everything lookedgreat.
I went down to Nashville thatnext week and we met at the bank
(15:58):
and had a notary there and weboth signed the contract and we
made it official that.
So that's awesome yeah man.
Jay Franze (16:07):
So how?
How long after that did youguys set foot in the studio?
Blake Tyler (16:12):
Oh, it was pretty quick, man.
It was pretty quick.
I had sent Matt some of thesongs that I had written and
just kind of was trying to gethis idea of what he thought was
a good song and what was not agood song.
And I just sent him like 15 or20 songs that I had that I
thought were the best that Ihave.
And, um, and he, he picked one.
He picked blood ain't thick outof the whole bunch and was like
(16:34):
that one right there, I want to, I want to cut my studio.
And I was like, all right,let's do it.
And that was another thing too.
It's like Matt, matt has hisown business with the recording
side.
You know it's it's separatefrom Bow to Stern, which is this
management company, and hewasn't 100% like trying to get
me in the studio right away.
(16:55):
But he heard that song and hewas like, yeah, I want to, I
want to cut that one with you.
And I was like, say less, I'min there, just tell me when, and
I'll be there, you know.
And I went down for the sessionand it's crazy how his sessions
work.
I'm sure you've seen itfirsthand, but he's got
everybody in there at once, likethe whole band and these guys
(17:17):
are legends, you know.
I mean you got freaking RobMcNelly in there, I mean just a
ton of guys that have been onsome of the biggest songs that
you've ever heard, and so it wasa little overwhelming at first
and we, we got in the studio andand, uh, I started singing and
you could tell that the guyswere were getting into it and it
was just a really coolexperience to to be a part of
(17:39):
that.
Jay Franze (17:40):
Well, that's just it .
I mean, you're not talkingabout just a manager by any
stretch.
You're talking about somebodywho's also an engineer, also be
able to produce your record foryou, not only that, but owns his
own studio.
Blake Tyler (17:51):
Which is amazing, by the way.
Jay Franze (17:53):
His studio is incredible.
It's killer, and he built ithimself too, which is even
crazier.
So you found somebody who'swell, what we would call
well-rounded, I guess, correct.
So he's definitely a good oneto hook up with and, matt, if
you're listening, it's all liestonight, just like you told me
to say.
Blake Tyler (18:12):
I hope he's not listening.
Jay Franze (18:16):
So you went in, you recorded the one song.
Was there more songs than thatthat you recorded that day?
Blake Tyler (18:21):
No.
So we just cut the one that dayand it took an hour for the
band to have the the whole thingdown, you know, and I was like
this is insane, you know,because I'd been in the studio
before and it was like one songall day, took us five, six hours
, you know, and like they hadthat thing knocked out within an
hour and then I came back downa couple weeks later and cut the
(18:42):
vocals.
So it was just a new experiencefor me.
It was a great experience,something that really showed me
what Nashville was all aboutwhen you're with the Top Dogs.
It was a cool experience.
Jay Franze (18:56):
Did you save the chart?
Blake Tyler (18:59):
I did.
Yes, I did First one.
It was awesome, man.
Once I did that I was like Idon't know if I can cut a song
with anybody else now.
Jay Franze (19:10):
It's a pretty impressive process, for sure.
I mean it really is.
So you meet Matt, you guys, youdo your show.
He comes up there, you go downto the studio and all that stuff
, before you even go toNashville and you sign the
paperwork.
You know you, you get the newsthat it's going to happen.
What's going through your mind?
What was the feeling at thattime?
Blake Tyler (19:30):
Oh, I mean, I was pumped man, I, when I had met
with him the first time, like Iknew, you know, like that I
wanted to work with these guys,you know, and I don't think that
they were as sure about it.
I mean, they'd never seen meperform live or anything, and I
had decent social media numbers,which is great, but it doesn't
necessarily mean anything either.
Obviously, social media is abig part of this business.
(19:53):
I'm not trying to downgradesocial media, but yeah, he'd
never.
He'd never seen me perform live.
He didn't know what, what kindof an artist I was and if I had
the chops to, to really pursuethis at a high level.
So I was, I was nervous becauseI wasn't sure if, uh, if he
wanted to to work with me rightaway.
And when he came up to see us,when he came up to see us live,
(20:17):
that solidified it and I was, Iwas really pumped to uh to get
that call and him him be like,hey, yeah, let's do this.
To uh to get that call and himhim be like, hey, yeah, let's do
this.
Jay Franze (20:25):
So the nerves I completely understand.
You know it's a big, big stepfor you.
It was.
Blake Tyler (20:36):
You go on stage, how long till those nerves go
away?
Man, it's, it's pretty quick.
It's more so like right beforeyou're going on stage that you
feel those nerves and then, onceyou sing those first couple
lines, I mean everything justkind of lifts off your shoulders
and you're just in it.
That's the beauty of the liveshows for me is that it's my
favorite part of of all of this.
I mean, I love writing songs, Ilove, I love other aspects of
(20:59):
this business, but there'snothing like being in front of a
crowd and and performing anddoing what you love.
So it goes away pretty quickwithin within that first song,
right, the first few lines.
Well, that's cool.
Jay Franze (21:11):
But what about the band?
Were they as nervous as youwere?
Blake Tyler (21:14):
oh man, they were way more nervous than I was, for
sure.
Well, they had never met mattand renee or alex or anything
before that, so they they didn'tknow what to expect expect or
what kind of people they were.
But I did a pretty good job oftalking them off the ledge.
Before we went up there I waslike let's just go do what we do
, have fun, and there's no waythat they're not going to like
(21:37):
us if we do what we do and we doit to the best of our ability.
Jay Franze (21:41):
Well, I know you're still fairly young and still
fairly new to this.
How long has the band been withyou so?
Blake Tyler (21:50):
I've had a band for three years, but the only
member that's left from thefirst gig I ever played is my
bass player, andy, and everybodyelse has been with me within
the past two years.
I got Lincoln, which is myguitarist, and then I have
another lead guitarist, zachHaney, who's out of Akron.
I got guys from all over theplace.
(22:10):
I got two from Kentucky, onefrom Dayton, one from Akron.
They're my best friends.
It makes it easy to go up thereand play some of these big
shows because we all have eachother's back and we all work
equally hard at this and we putthe time in individually and as
a team to make sure that we'retight and that we have our sets
(22:33):
down.
It's a lot of fun with theseguys.
Jay Franze (22:37):
One thing I've noticed since being in this area
is that the music scene is, asfar as musicians and the talent
level of the musicians, it's notthe same as Nashville, but it's
definitely a big music scene ofsome extremely talented people
it is.
Before I forget, go ahead andrattle off the names of your
band members, just so you don'tleave anybody out.
Blake Tyler (22:56):
Yeah, yeah.
So Andy is my bass player.
He's from Tip City.
Andy Uzzle, Mason Stamper,which is my drummer.
He's been with me sinceFebruary of last year, so just
about a year.
He's from Grant County,Kentucky.
And then one of my leadguitarists, Lincoln Howe, he's
also from Grant County, Kentucky.
And then Zach Haney, leadguitarist, he's from Akron.
Jay Franze (23:20):
So, now that you're signed and now that you're going
to be playing some of thesebigger shows that are going to
be coming your way, are youkeeping that same lineup that
are going to be coming your way.
Blake Tyler (23:30):
Are you keeping that same lineup?
Yeah, I'm not changing nothing.
Man, these guys are my brothers, they work extremely hard and,
in my opinion, some of the bestmusicians in the state of Ohio
and Kentucky.
And that was another thing too,that Matt came up and was like
dude, I don't need to touch yourband.
Your band is right on par withyou and you guys are a unit.
(23:52):
It's special what we built andthe way we came together.
It's a really special situationand there's nothing that I
would do to change that.
If you see us play, I don'tthink anybody would think any
different than that either.
I think we put on a really goodshow.
(24:12):
It's very high energy.
We get the crowds going, soit's a lot of fun.
Jay Franze (24:17):
It is definitely a rocking country feel to it and
it's got some aggression to it.
It definitely is so again, Ihate to keep going back to this,
but you're still fairly new atit.
How do you land such big gigs?
Blake Tyler (24:31):
Man, I've been very blessed.
I've been in the right places,sometimes to where it just has
happened.
So I played an acoustic show ata place called Manhattan Harbor
Yacht Club it's on your side ofthe river Dayton, kentucky and
I played just an acoustic showthere and the bartender that
(24:52):
night happened to be the ladythat was going to be the booking
agent for Lori's Roadhouse, andso she heard me perform and I
went up to the bar after I wasdone and she was like take my
number down.
She was like I'm going to bebooking at this new place called
Lori's Roadhouse.
It hadn't been open yet.
I took her number down, I shother a message and was like hey,
(25:16):
let me know if there's anyopportunity here.
We went to Lori's Roadhouse forthe artist opening, basically so
the artists that were going tobe playing there could see the
venue.
I was like, oh my gosh, thisplace is absolutely insane.
It was pretty overwhelmingseeing that place, and I was
just playing little small barsat the time, you know so.
So I got in there, I played acouple acoustic shows and we did
very well.
We opened for Diamond Rio oneof the first gigs that we'd ever
(25:40):
played there.
It was.
It was definitely an opportunitythat took me to the, to the
next level as far as venues go.
So they were like, dude, if youwant to play here, I mean you
need to get a band.
So I started searching for aband and finally found me a good
(26:00):
enough band at the time youknow to to be able to perform,
and we just kept working at itand we had to lose some pieces
here and there and and pick upnew pieces and we finally got to
where we are now and voices ofAmerica festival, which is this
huge festival that they put onin Westchester Ohio.
The owner of Lori's roadhouseis the one that puts that on, so
(26:22):
I got that opportunity fromLori's roadhouse.
So I owe I owe a lot to Lori'sroadhouse.
I truly do, and it's a blessingto get to play there like once
every couple months, and thiswill be the third year running
that we're playing Voices ofAmerica Festival.
We're playing with HaleyZimmerman this year on Sunday.
That's kind of how I've beenable to get some of these bigger
(26:46):
gigs.
Jay Franze (26:48):
So when you played the acoustic set, did you play
on the side stage?
I did yes.
Blake Tyler (26:53):
So I started from the bottom and now we're
headlining Laurie's Road Houseand we played there last month
and we had about 800 or 900people there at our headlining
show.
So it's been awesome, man, Iowe them a ton.
Jay Franze (27:09):
Well, that's just it .
I think I don't know if peopleunderstand.
We talk about Laurie'sRoadhouse a lot because it's the
big venue here in town.
It's where the big acts thatcome through town play.
But to me it's not a smallvenue.
I mean it's not like your localhonky-tonk.
There's two stages but they'rein the same room but there's
still two stages.
(27:30):
So I mean it's a nice venue toplay at, but you start there as
an acoustic.
What was the first time youplayed as a full band?
Was it as an opener?
Blake Tyler (27:39):
It was.
I can't remember who we hadopened for.
It was another local band thatwe were opening for.
I'm not sure I can't rememberwho it was off the top of my
head, but we played the sidestage and it was.
It was a rough gig.
It was definitely, uh, somegrowing pains in that first gig
and what made it tough?
(27:59):
Well, I mean, it was athree-hour set and getting for
getting four other guys togetherin a short period of time,
trying to put together athree-hour set was not easy and
we ended up playing like I don'tknow 25 songs maybe and we had
to repeat them, repeat some ofthem a couple times and you know
(28:21):
which was embarrassing.
But I mean it was good enoughto where people could see our
talent and that we were going tobe a good band if we kept
working at it.
So it was just one of thosethings that you just had to
figure it out.
So you got to start somewhereand just keep getting better.
So we did that.
Jay Franze (28:42):
I laugh because I remember a rock band I played in
just out of high school.
Between high school and thefirst few years of college I was
playing in a rock band outsideof Boston and we got a gig at
this bar, this premier bar.
It was kind of like a Laurie'sRoadhouse.
And we got a chance to headline, so we had our moments.
But we got through the set andthey started cheering and wanted
(29:05):
us to play more and thebartender said oh yeah, you guys
can go, continue on.
We were out.
No more song, no more song itwas either you want to hear them
over again or Right.
So I know that feeling.
I know it well.
Blake Tyler (29:20):
Yeah, it was.
It was tough, but it's part ofthe journey, man, it's you learn
, you learn as you go.
I mean, when you're gettingthrown in the fire, you just
gotta, you gotta roll with thepunches and, and that's what
I've been doing this whole time.
You know I'm I don't knoweverything.
I don't claim to knoweverything I'm.
I'm learning every day aboutthis business and it's it's
(29:40):
definitely a cutthroat business,but I couldn't see myself doing
anything else now.
I absolutely love it.
Jay Franze (29:46):
So when you have an opportunity to open up for some
of these other artists, like,say, brooks and Dunn, do you get
a chance to meet them or areyou just opening up for them?
Blake Tyler (30:01):
I mean, how's it?
How's it working?
Yeah, so it depends on theartist.
I mean we've we've had theopportunity to open for some
amazing artists.
Bailey Zimmerman came to Lori'sRoadhouse.
We got to open on the mainstage for him, which was
incredible.
I mean that kid is a sweetheart, become friends with his
drummer, max, and I mean they'reall just really nice guys.
And we've opened for ChaseMatthew, which was another one
(30:22):
of those guys that's just superdown to earth guy, you know, and
he came, we were over on theside stage and he came over
after a sound check to talk tous.
I was like this is crazy, youknow.
But there's also situationswhere you're we opened for for
hardy up in columbus a coupleyears ago and he's huge, you
know, and and he stays on hisbus and and kind of keeps to
(30:45):
himself he's he's got a processdown where he's either writing
songs or doing stuff for socialmedia, which completely
understand, completelyunderstand.
He's just a busy guy.
So it really just depends onthe artist and what kind of time
they have.
But yeah, we have met somereally good people and some of
these guys that are as big asanybody in the business are some
(31:06):
of the most down-to-earthpeople you'll meet.
Jay Franze (31:08):
Well, who's been the best experience you've had so
far?
Blake Tyler (31:12):
That's a good question, man.
Well, we've opened for CooperAllen.
That guy's just a super niceguy.
Talked with him a couple times,uh, for extended periods of
time, and I really like him as aperson.
I think he's.
He's doing some really goodthings with his artistry and
some of these songs he's beenputting out of have resonated
(31:33):
with a lot of people.
So I would say him, baileyzimmerman and and chase matthew,
the two that I named before.
It's kind of a toss-up betweenthose three.
Jay Franze (31:44):
Out of those I like Chase Matthew.
Blake Tyler (31:46):
Yeah, he's a great dude, and that guy puts on a
heck of a show too.
Jay Franze (31:50):
Yeah, he's awesome.
I mean great guy, great shows,great music, and he's still very
young and new to this himself.
Blake Tyler (31:59):
Oh yeah, he's doing it right.
Jay Franze (32:04):
Yeah, I mean that's fantastic.
So what has been the mostembarrassing moment to you so
far other than having to repeata couple songs on stage?
Blake Tyler (32:14):
Oh man, uh well, my first voices of America
experience.
The first year I forgot thewords to a song.
Was it one of your own?
No, it was not.
It was a cover song we weresinging and it's a song I've
sang a thousand times.
So I think it was just one ofthose nerves situations.
But I Don't Want to Be by GavinDeGraw.
(32:37):
We played that one.
We play it very driving androck.
It's one of my favorite songsthat we play cover-wise.
We play it very driving androck.
It's one of my favorite songsthat we play cover-wise.
The first couple lines I wasjust drawing a blank, could not
think of them, so I went up tomy guitar player and I was like
what's the words, what's thewords?
And he finally got me back ontrack and we finished it out.
Did anybody?
Jay Franze (32:56):
notice.
Blake Tyler (32:58):
I mean, I did you know.
I mean, when you're an artist,you just pick yourself apart.
Of course.
So it was probably way worse tome than it was to anybody else,
but that was definitelyembarrassing, but I felt like we
still put on a pretty good show.
My guys killed it that night.
Jay Franze (33:14):
That's when you just take the mic, point it towards
the crowd and let them singalong and get you through it.
Blake Tyler (33:20):
Yeah, I should have done that for sure.
I wasn't thinking on my feetwith that one.
It's tough.
Jay Franze (33:26):
You mentioned the covers and I mentioned earlier,
and you just mentioned it again,that you kind of give your own
twist to these covers.
Do you like giving songs yourown twist?
Blake Tyler (33:37):
I do.
Yeah, I listened to a lot ofcovers on YouTube growing up.
I thought a lot of people putout really cool covers of
different hits.
I'll just give you an exampleof one.
There was a band, it was like aduo.
They were called the Civil Wars.
(33:58):
I'm not sure if you've everheard of them or not.
They did a Billie Jean cover.
I was like holy crap, youcouldn't even tell that it was
that song until they startedsinging the words, you know, and
I was like this is genius.
So I kind of, after I heardthat song, I started hearing
songs a little bit differentlywhen I would hear them and
(34:19):
trying to kind of put my ownspin on them, just like they did
.
And we've really developed arock sound as a group.
My guys on the guitar, theirtones are very much rock and I
have a powerful voice and it'sreally just worked for us, you
know.
So we've been going with thatand that's what Matt and Renee
and Alex all loved about us.
(34:40):
And we're trying to sing a lotmore of our own songs now,
obviously, being that I've putout about 10 songs now and we've
got some more in the chamber.
So we're really trying to focusmore on inputting original
material in there, but obviouslythe crowd wants to hear songs
that they know too Sure.
Jay Franze (34:59):
You mentioned Billie Jean.
There's been some amazingcovers of that song.
Yeah, Chris Cornell.
Blake Tyler (35:05):
Some of these guys have done a great job on that
song yeah, I remember david cookcovered it on american idol and
that was incredible.
Jay Franze (35:14):
Yeah, I thought it was incredible.
Everybody you know on the showand the audience thought it was
incredible.
And then everybody startedpicking apart saying, well,
cornell did it, it like that.
It's not new.
Blake Tyler (35:23):
It's like thank God give the guy a break.
Yeah, I mean the guy crushed it.
I mean it was incredible to beable to do that live.
Jay Franze (35:30):
He was awesome.
I thought it was a greatversion of it.
I heard that version beforeChris Cornell's version.
Yeah, there you go.
Blake Tyler (35:39):
Well, you probably didn't even hear about chris
cornell's until people werepicking his right.
Jay Franze (35:43):
I wouldn't I probably wouldn't have heard of
it at all if it wasn't for davidcook.
So that's right.
No, I mean it's, it's a greatversion and I I really love when
bands do that and put a twiston cover tunes.
I don't know if you ever heardany of the bands that cover
cindy loppers time after time.
I have not no, man, you gottalook into that, go down that
rabbit hole.
There's some amazing versionsof time after time, you know
(36:06):
rock versions metal versions.
I mean there's a lot of goodversions of it.
That's awesome.
Speaking of that, shout out toRocky Rose, previous guest on
the show.
She's on the road with CyndiLauper right now.
Blake Tyler (36:17):
No kidding, that's awesome.
Jay Franze (36:18):
Yeah, she's over in London right now.
That's a bucket list rightthere.
If you have not followed her,that's an Instagram page you
need to follow Rocky Rose.
Blake Tyler (36:28):
Rocky Rose.
That's a great name right offthe bat.
I mean goodness.
Jay Franze (36:33):
She is amazing.
She went to school at Berkeley,graduated then she went to the
London Conservatory and then shewas in LA doing film scores and
playing in all these rock bandsand pop bands and punk bands
and now she's on the road withcindy lopper.
So I mean, this girl isamazingly talented.
But her instagram, she sharesit all on instagram, all the
(36:55):
crazy stupid things she does outthere.
It's fun, it's a fun place towatch.
Blake Tyler (36:59):
That's one of the things too, man.
It's like people want to seethe authenticity of, of, uh,
your personality and and whatit's like to be a musician, you
know.
So that's kind of somethingthat I'm I'm trying to to
channel, as well as as trying toshow a more personal side on
social media, because it's yeah,it's not an easy thing to do,
and so what are you doing?
Jay Franze (37:20):
what steps are you taking?
Blake Tyler (37:21):
yeah, I mean, I'm trying to do more stuff like
this.
I work with a videographer Hisname is David Nguyen, and we've
really just been trying tofigure out different ways to
catch people's attention and Ithink, by doing some
behind-the-scenes things showingpeople what we do for content,
for social media, what it's likeat shows in the green room and
(37:44):
basically just going through ourday on show days I feel like
it's important for people tofeel like they're a part of
those kind of things and itreally draws people in to feel
like they're a bigger part ofwhat you're doing.
Jay Franze (37:58):
Well, that's a good point.
I mean, I think the behind thescenes of the shows like if
you're in the green room atLaurie's Roadhouse just getting
ready, that type of thing isvery interesting.
It's more interesting to me onsocial media than some of the
other stuff.
I don't want to see the cannedposts all the time.
Blake Tyler (38:13):
Right, but did you record anything when you were in
the studio with Matt, actuallythis past time I went down there
last week actually and recordedsome of the actual session and
the song's not going to be outfor a while, so I'm not going to
release any of that just yet.
But yeah, we have done that fora couple of these songs, just
(38:37):
to kind of show that process andhow it goes.
So that'll be something I'mgoing to be putting out here
soon as well.
Jay Franze (38:44):
Well, it's tough to record when you're in a studio.
There's so many things going onlike you mentioned, all the
musicians, and there's geareverywhere.
You don't even want to walkaround and possibly trip over a
cable.
I mean, there's just so manythings going on.
But when you're with Matt,you're in his personal studio
and it's more like you're with agroup of friends and they
understand what the expectationis on your part to be filming
(39:07):
things and doing that type ofstuff.
So it's probably a goodenvironment for you to be in to
get that out there.
Especially, he's also yourmanager.
He knows what needs to be done.
Blake Tyler (39:18):
Yes, exactly, and I mean my videographer is very
good about being what's theright word Unseen.
I guess he's very much hiddenwhen he's trying to make sure he
gets this content, so he's notin your way and he's very, very
good and he does a lot of likethe live shows and he's been a
(39:41):
great friend and a greatcolleague as far as what we've
been able to do in this pastyear.
He handles basically everythingfrom the video standpoint.
So all these videos of mesinging in front of the camera
to these new songs I'm puttingout, he is responsible for
(40:02):
filming, editing, punching thesong, the actual song, into the
video edit and he has been ahuge help to everything I've
been building.
Jay Franze (40:12):
That's very cool.
Did he do the music videos aswell?
He did.
Blake Tyler (40:15):
Yeah, so that Blood Ain't Thick video.
We sat down for about 45minutes and we anchored the
whole thing out and put it onpaper of what we wanted and the
vision that we had behind it,and we we made it happen.
He's a.
Jay Franze (40:30):
He's extremely talented and has an extremely
nice camera that he works with,and when I was working with Matt
, social media was a thing, butit wasn't a big thing at the
time, so it wasn't like we wereposting things on Instagram 20
times a day, that type of thing.
So I would be in there takingpictures though all the time all
sorts of pictures and I'd bethe one crawling under the
(40:52):
cables and moving around things,and I understand the importance
of having that stuff todocument it, whether it be even
if it's just going into an albumsomewhere or somebody's file.
That stuff's important to haveDocuments.
Who played on your recording,what the setups were, what the
microphone placement was, thingsthat you wouldn't even think
about.
That might come up later downthe road.
(41:13):
So, if you're, you know wellhow did we get that guitar sound
on that song?
Well, you know, here's apicture I was taking of the guy
and you can see the microphone.
We had the guitar and for somereason, it was twisted around
and pointed at the rock wall.
I don't know what we were doingthere, right, you know, and you
get that type of thing going on.
Blake Tyler (41:29):
So, yeah, or you have a picture of somebody that
you need to ask that question.
You know you can give them abuzz because you remembered from
that picture who was playingthat part, you know.
So yeah, it is very importantto keep documentation of these
things, you know, because I mean, it's a grueling business man.
(41:50):
There's a lot of aspects of it.
I don't think people realizehow much actually goes into it,
especially with the social mediaside of things, and I hate to
say it but it's my leastfavorite part of everything and
I feel like that's pretty commonin this business.
In this business, like nobodylikes to do it, but I've
realized how important it isover the past year and working
(42:10):
directly with my videographer.
Jay Franze (42:13):
So how much time do you spend?
Blake Tyler (42:15):
on social.
Oh man, I mean I, there wastimes that I was posting three
times a day.
That that's on every platform.
So it's, it just depends.
I mean, social media is like it.
It comes in waves, like there'sthere's times where you can
post one time a day and thenthere's other times where it
wants you to post three times aday.
(42:36):
It's just based on thatalgorithm and what what they
want from you.
So it's it's more along thelines of just reading what,
what's working, what's notworking, and and kind of making
adjustments as you go.
And that's really the hard partis is figuring out what works,
because, uh, it definitely, itdefinitely doesn't work as much
(42:56):
as it doesn't, if that makessense.
Jay Franze (43:00):
Well, let's take it a step further, because you've
got quite a following.
We're talking, you know,600,000 followers roughly.
So I mean, you're talking abouta large following per platform.
You've got a large following,so that doesn't just happen.
What are you doing to make itgrow?
Blake Tyler (43:19):
Man.
Truthfully, I think the mostimportant thing is the song.
I think that that is findingsomething that people can relate
to and making sure that youshow your emotion behind that
song, and if you can do that,you are going to reach a large
group of people, group of people.
(43:45):
And the beauty in social mediais that, especially with TikTok,
every time you post it doesn'tgo to that same audience.
So the algorithm is built toreach new people each time you
post, and it doesn't always workout that way, but that is the
beauty in it is that each postthat you do post has the
potential to reach millions ofnew followers, or millions of
new viewers, I should say.
But yeah, I do think that thekey is finding something that
(44:09):
people can relate to, makingsure that they can feel your
emotions in the song that you'retrying to push to them.
Jay Franze (44:19):
Do you have any sort of strategy that goes along
with it?
Blake Tyler (44:23):
Honestly, it's just consistency.
That's one thing that I'venoticed within the past year,
and what me and my videographerhave talked about is just being
consistent posting every singleday, and it's not fun, but it is
what works.
The more consistent that youget with it, the more the
results will show and thealgorithm will reward you for
(44:44):
using their platform.
I don't think there's any realmethod to going viral.
You can look into hashtags andall that stuff, and there's
certain hashtags that may help acertain video, but I think
there's also people out therethat don't even use hashtags,
you know, and so, like I said,so, people out there that don't
even use hashtags, you know, andso, like I said, I don't think
(45:05):
there's really a method to it.
I think it's just just workinghard and and being consistent
with it.
Jay Franze (45:10):
A lot of the things you've mentioned here are what
you put out there in hopes thatpeople find and share.
Yes, so, and that's the bestway to grow.
But do you do any sort ofoutreach, like, do you go to
people that you think couldpotentially be the type of
person that enjoys your style ofmusic and then start
conversations or anything likethat?
Blake Tyler (45:32):
I have not, and that may be something that we
try to pursue at some point.
I have not.
It's mostly just been organicand being consistent and just
trying to get my music out there.
Um, do you push it at shows?
Oh yeah, like, do you mentionit from the stage?
I do, yeah, um.
So I mean, I'm sure that thatthat is that is a big help as
(45:52):
well as making sure that thatpeople know I'm on social media.
I'm on all streaming platformsand every time I'll play a song
that I I wrote or that I haveout on streaming platforms, I'll
make sure people know they canjust stream that after the show
well, we mentioned chaseMatthews and that's the success
he's got right now is by thestage and yeah everything else
he's going on no doubt plus hisphotographer friend that falls
(46:16):
him around.
Yeah, she's huge yeah she's asbig as he is.
Yeah, I was gonna say she mightbe bigger than he is.
That that girl is.
She's doing it right, for sure,awesome.
Jay Franze (46:26):
Her work is amazing.
Blake Tyler (46:28):
She seems to have a great personality too.
I mean, it seems like everybodycan connect with her, yeah.
Jay Franze (46:34):
She's just what looks like a fun, lovable person
have you had her on the show.
No, you know what I thoughtabout it.
I was going to reach out to herand see if we can get her on
here.
Yeah, it might be cool.
I think it would be fun to haveher on here.
That would be cool.
People think, well, why don'tyou reach out to Chase?
It's like, well, I want to talkto her.
Blake Tyler (46:51):
She knows what's really going on.
Yeah, no kidding.
Jay Franze (47:04):
She gets all the behind-the-scenes stuff, watch
the little videos she puts outwhere she finds somebody in the
wild and then takes them, does aphoto shoot, and then I always
just wait till the end because Iwant to see the, the photo
itself, and they're just amazing.
Yeah, they are.
She's.
She's incredible, for sure.
Yeah, I love the, not only thephoto and but the, the eye that
she has to take the photo andthen the eye that she has to do
the coloring of the photo andeverything.
Blake Tyler (47:22):
It's just awesome all while she's being filmed,
doing it too, you know it's likewhatever she has no mercy.
Jay Franze (47:31):
I mean, she'll go up to anybody anywhere, she's not
afraid of anything.
Blake Tyler (47:35):
The girl has got some gumption to her for sure,
I'm telling you that's, that's,uh, I mean that she's.
Jay Franze (47:40):
All right, Kara, if you're listening, come on the
show.
There you go.
We need to have you here.
We have questions.
Blake Tyler (47:47):
Yep.
Jay Franze (47:47):
All right, buddy.
Well, we do this thing here wecall Unsung Heroes, where we
take a moment to shine the lighton somebody that's worked
behind the scenes or somebodywho may be supporting you along
the way.
Do you have anybody that you'dlike to shine a little light on?
Blake Tyler (47:59):
Yeah, so my grandparents are a huge support
system for me.
My grandma was actually in theCountry Music Hall of Fame.
She was in the first all-femalecountry music group in country
music history.
It's called Ann Jones and HerWestern Sweethearts.
I mean, they have a display inthe Country Music Hall of Fame
(48:24):
with all of their outfits andsome of their old gear drum set,
all that kind of stuff andshe's been an inspiration for
sure.
She met my grandpa while shewas touring, actually with the
band and my grandpa was in themilitary, so they were hitting
military bases and all thatstuff back in the 60s and she
left the band to be with mygrandpa and, yeah, the rest is
(48:47):
history.
So but they they've been a hugesupport system for me.
My grandpa was like my bestfriend and I couldn't be doing
any of this without them, that'sfor sure that's awesome.
Jay Franze (48:57):
Do you go check out the exhibit every time you go to
nashville?
Blake Tyler (49:00):
I wish I, I wish I did, but uh, there's not enough
time in a day when I'm downthere.
But it was cool.
The induction that they hadinto the Hall of Fame was
actually my grandparents' 50thanniversary too, so we
celebrated their 50thanniversary at the Country Music
Hall of Fame as she was beinginducted, so it was a really
cool experience.
Jay Franze (49:21):
A big thanks to Blake for taking the time to
share his stories with us andthank you for taking the time to
hang with me here.
I really do appreciate it.
If you know anyone that wouldenjoy this episode, please be
sure to share it.
You can do that and find thelinks to everything mentioned
over at jayfranze.
com/episode120.
Thanks again for listening andI'll see you next week.
Tony Scott (49:47):
Thanks for listening to The Jay Franze Show.
Make sure you visit us atjayfranze.
com.
Follow, connect and say hello.
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