Get to know this California native!
Tyler Rich’s latest release ‘Feels Like Home‘ is everything you never knew you needed right now. The Irish infused beats are the ultimate pick-me-up. He’s the king of relatable feel good California Country music. We can’t wait to see him back again at live at concerts. In the meantime, Tyler’s interacting with fans through livestream concerts, and Leave Her Wild brunches with his wife and fur babies. His latest EP ‘Live At Home‘ encapsulates his acoustic live concerts for fans to take a positive piece of quarantine down memory lane. The California native took a moment to speak with Tonight Mag about his new EP, his love for animals, and more! Get to know country artist Tyler Rich below!
How have you kept busy during quarantine?
“I’ve spent most of my quarantine trying to figure out how to use TikTok. I’m still failing [said sarcastically] but I think it’s because I refuse to do the dancing and that stuff. I’m trying to figure out creative and fun ways to be myself on the app with the way that things are trending. That’s been a fun and interesting ride. I’ve been writing a lot and putting on finishing touches of what could be the first official album, and all sorts of instagram live shows.”
How has your road trip through California been?
“It was amazing! My goal was to take a couple of weeks and drive Sabina around California to show her how awesome our state is. We did really quick stops like Yosemite for a couple of days, Tahoe to visit some of her friends, Carmel and then we drove The One down to Big Sur.”
Congrats on your new song ‘Feels Like Home’ and the upcoming release of ‘Live At Home’! What was it like recording it at home during quarantine vs in a studio?
“It was very interesting because I don’t technically know how to record anything. I basically got mics and all sorts of stuff sent here by my producer in Nashville in the first month of quarantine when I had to get “Feels Like Home” the single done. I would FaceTime him and figure out a system to record and get it into his system in Nashville. I’m tracking stuff here, he’s sending stuff to my headphones and mixing it in Nashville. It’s funny because the single is called feels like home but we all recorded it separately from home. It was a really cool process and different from anything I have experienced. Using my new single as the trial for recording set me up for being super productive all of quarantine and keeping up all of these demos.
I did ‘Live At Home’ which is just me and my guitar playing five songs. The idea was that all of these people have been coming in and watching this same acoustic set every week for all of quarantine. A year from now when we’re all in shows again, all the fans who have sat with me through this for five months straight have something to take with them that will remind them of that. It’s raw- just me and my guitar.”
How have you seen your fans connect with your music through ‘Feels Like Home’ concerts and ‘Leave Her Wild’ bunch?
I do ‘Feels Like Home’ live couch series every week. I’m just sitting on a couch every week for half an hour or so. On Sunday we’ve been doing this Instagram live brunch show. We are a big fan of rooftops and brunch so I figured since we can’t go on these rooftops or do brunch, which we usually do in the spring or summer, why don’t we just do it from home? The brunch is basically doing a bunch of day drinking, hanging out with fans, and we have a bunch of surprise guests that are friends and other entertainers. We have someone close the show with music every week. We do day drinking trivia games. Sometimes we’ll have fans on the screen with us. It’s been fun! For so much time when you just sit around and do nothing we’ve kept pretty busy and trying to make the most of it.”
How have you seen yourself grow as an artist when reflecting on your immense success with past releases such as ‘The Difference’ & ‘Leave her Wild’ etc.
“I’m constantly always growing. Even though those songs have had a lot of success I truly feel that I become a better singer every day, I become a better songwriter every week. When I put out ‘The Difference’ I was like Oh! This is the peak, this is awesome, then I put out “Leave Her Wild” and was like oh ‘The Difference’ sucks compared to this. I’m putting new music out and writing new stuff every week that’s like, “oh man, this is it and this is the stuff.” I feel like it’s supposed to be this way. You are supposed to continue to grow as an artist, as a writer, and as a person in this career. If you don’t think your new thing is the best thing you have to make sure you get there. If you don’t think you’re getting better then nobody thinks you are getting better. The growth has been amazing! I ‘m just constantly trying to beat it.”
How do you compare California Country to Nashville Country?
“It’s all the same stuff- we all talk about water. The water just comes from the beach instead of the lake. But that’s only part of California. We are a massive state of anything and everything you want to do in the country, but we have it here. When I think about California Country I don’t think about the sound, I think about the people. It’s such a cool circle of artists. I think California Country and Nashville Country coexist just from different spots. I think in California country we have a little bit more fun, a little bit more playful and good time.”
As a fast growing artist, what is a goal you hope to accomplish, and how do you plan on achieving it?
“My first goal was that I wanted a plaque. I had this weird security blanket that if I had a plaque, I’d feel like I made it. It goes back to the growth thing where you’re always trying to out-beat your last goals. I was like, man once I got it, it was cool and I celebrated it! My next goal is to have a number one song on country radio. I also just want more tours. We were on the road nonstop. I would want to do those big arena tours or amphitheater tours and open for someone massive for a year.”
As huge animal lovers, we are so happy to see what you’re doing with Rich Rescues. How are you continuing to advocate for animals through quarantine when the original plan was to visit shelters while on tour?
“We are still raising money for Rich Rescues! There’s a shelter called happily ever after Green Bay which is one we met on a Rich Rescue stop. They do a huge fundraiser every year but it was cancelled because of COVID. So they are doing a big virtual event and they asked me to be the musical guest there and so I ddi my normal weekly Feels Like Home show but I turned it into Feels Like Home A happily ever after. I did a show and invited them into my split screen and showed some dogs that need homes in Green Bay. We posited links and swipe ups. Together we raised about $70,000 for them which is unbelievable. I can’t support what they do more. We have our rescue project here too. His name is Max and he is a half samoyed husky mix. He was in a bad neglected state about three months ago when he came into our lives. When we first got him he couldn’t walk well and he had mange. Now he plays and jumps and is super sweet. He’s our quarantine rehab project. He’s been with us for this long and he’s for sure our dog.”
Stay up to date with all things Tyler Rich by following him on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and checking out his website!
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