MORE MUSIC THIS WEEK
Tyler Fry,
Tyler Fry has a Led Zeppelin tattoo on his arm. But the lead vocalist of Kitchener-based rockin’ blues band Tyler Fry & The Mile Highs had never heard of Led Zeppelin until he was in high school.
“They are the greatest band in the world,” he proclaims.
Fry was always drawn to the guitar but began playing music on piano.
“My mum just wanted to get us started with it when we were younger,” says Fry, who is originally from Elmira. “I played piano as a little kid because my mum forced me to do that!” drawls Fry with a laugh, adding he began to appreciate those piano lessons a lot more once he was playing guitar because he could read music and knew about music theory.
“I have an older brother and sister,” he says. “My brother drums a little bit but my sister went all the way with piano. She got her Grade 12 and she played the violin as well.
“I grew up Mennonite, right?” says Fry. “I was surrounded by people singing hymns and fourpart harmonies. I always loved the harmonies. I did not like going to church but I did like singing them,” says Fry, adding his choir took a tour bus down to the United States.
“I was 15 and we sang in a bunch of churches down there.”
As a teen, Fry also discovered more music he liked including Jimi Hendrix’s retreated Bob Dylan classic “All Along the Watchtower” — one of the songs that inspired him to play guitar.
Fry’s first guitar was an Ibanez electric.
“I was 10 years old and I got it for $50 — the guitar, cords, amp, case, everything. I got it from my brother and he got it from his buddy,” he adds.
“I learned the chords and the basics,” notes Fry, who studied for a year with Elmira guitarist Bob Wilhelm.
“The interesting thing about Bob is he taught me “Black Dog” by Led Zeppelin and I had no idea who the band was back then,” says Fry, adding his favourite Led Zeppelin tune is “The Lemon Song.”
“I love (Robert) Plant and I love (Jimmy) Page but that song it itself changed my view of bass players. Oh my God, when he (meaning John Paul Jones) hits the fast part ... I don’t know how the hell he does it!
“I have played an instrumental version of that song because I love playing it but I cannot really sing that,” admits Fry. “My thing with Zeppelin is that I hate hearing bands not get it quite right. If they cannot do it right it spoils the mood real quick. I don’t do their songs unless I am positive I can do it. The only Zeppelin song I play is “Good Times Bad Times.” That one is tough to play but it is easier to sing compared to most of their songs,” notes Fry, who got his start playing the local open music jam circuit.
He says the first time he ever played publicly was in Waterloo pub The Churchill Arms during noted guitarist John McKinley’s weekly jam which is now at Lana’s Lounge.
Fry has become a regular face on the local music jam circuit where he has played with many veteran musicians including keys master John Lee and The Hookers at The Rhapsody Barrel Bar.
That’s where Fry met (Miss) Angel Blues Brown.
“The one time Miss Angel talked to me and she said she was doing this festival down south in Mississippi. She offered me a gig and said I could get a band together and come down there!” says Fry.
“The only problem with that was it was in two weeks and we did not have a band together yet,” explains Fry.
“I thought OK! I found a band in a week! Then the five of us practised twice and then we drove 20 hours to Mississippi,” he says. “We played our gig and spent the weekend there. It was amazing and we have been running with it ever since.”
Tyler Fry & The Mile Highs include Fry on lead vocals, guitar; Ethan Meyers, drums; Kieran Tuck, bass; and Evan Peters on keys.
The band is “blues with an aggressive twist” — young musicians who tip their instruments to the players of the past while mixing their sound with a modern rock edge.
“Ethan and Evan are students at UW,” says Fry. “I actually met Ethan the drummer because I played bass in his band The Young Pilots,” says Fry adding Meyers, also from Elmira, is at UW studying psychology.
“Evan is in physics,” notes Fry. “He is from Oregon and he is going to school here. I also met him at John Lee’s weekly jam. I later found out that show was his first time ever playing Hammond B3 (organ). He rocked it and I thought I’ve got to get him. I feel I am really lucky to have found Evan because there are not a lot of young keyboard players,” adds Fry.
The band has played around the region including The Churchill Arms and last year’s Kin Carnival in Cambridge plus several outdoor events at Pioneer Park. They are also playing Lana’s Lounge in December.
“I have a number of my old songs that I want us to start doing,” says Fry, who has his own equipment and has been working on a few demos.
He says his new songs range from bluesy rock to a hard-rock modern sound.
“Everything I do has really always been around that ’60s and ’70s sound,” says Fry, adding that his Godin LG is his go-to guitar these days.
“I got the Godin a few years back when I was really getting into guitar,” says Fry. “I was looking for something on Kijiji that was cheap and looked pretty cool. So I found this guitar and brought it for $300. It looked cool so now the joke was on me because I love this guitar. I like the neck on it and it has really hot humbuckers (pickups) like a Les Paul-style guitar.
“I cannot really play clean tones with that Godin,” admits Fry with a laugh. “Whatever I put it through it sounds overdriven. And I love it! That is why I play a gritty, bluesy, overdrive.”
One of Fry’s music heroes is seminal R&B/soul singer Otis Redding.
“I love the way that guy sings!” exclaims Fry, who also likes to inject humour into his frontman guise. “The problem with me is that I am always drawn to singers like Robert Plant — the guys that like to scream high notes. I have to realize and admit that I cannot really pull that off like those guys. I need to hold myself back a little bit!”