KENTUCKY COUNTRY
Tyler Stephens to play 3 nights at Dirty Bourbon
Tyler Stephens is at home in Kentucky biding his time before heading out on tour. And he can’t wait. “I’ve been a little quiet this whole year,” he says during a recent phone interview. “I’ve been writing and getting new material together. We’re getting ready to release a new video, and a new album will be coming up at the end of January. I’m trying to hit all the marks I need.”
Stephens is based in eastern Kentucky, where he has had the opportunity to work with some of the most creative songwriters in Nashville, Tenn.
He performs more than 150 shows a year and quickly has developed a following across the country for his rocking country roots.
“I began writing music, if you want to call it that, not long after I taught myself a couple of chords on the acoustic guitar, and everything grew quickly from there,” he says. “My early influences? Too many to possibly name, but I have to give credit to the entire country genre through the ’80s and ’90s. It is my favorite time frame through country music. I love all country music and all styles of music, for that matter. We all like to listen to some funk, rock and pop every now and then.”
When it comes to writing, Stephens strives to keep his music relatable.
“I strive to write music that the listener
can relate to and live by,” he says. “In addition, I want my music to be inspiring and uplifting. There is enough negativity in the world at the moment.”
Stephens also follows his heart with every decision he makes concerning his music career.
“If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. Follow what your heart tells you and what feels right,” he says. “If I don’t feel it, the listener won’t either. It has to be a great song, not a good song. My main challenge at the moment is solo writing. I enjoy co-writing more, because it gives me someone to bounce ideas back and forth with, and two brains are better than one. Finding that perfect co-writing partner is important, and I am very lucky to have found a fellow Kentuckian, Jenny Stamper, right in my hometown, to co-write with. We bring our thoughts together, laugh, joke, and work on constructing songs that we believe in. If we don’t believe in it, we throw it in the trash. Even after we think a song is complete, we still are revising. A great song is never finished.”