Tyler to Perform At Tribute To Levon Helm November 23 in Charlotte

 
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The New Familiars formed in 2005 and immediately took to the road for years playing 150+ shows and countless festivals annually alongside of some of the industry's big players (Gregg Allman, Levon Helm, Infamous Stringdusters, Del McCoury). Pioneers and innovators of the "acoustic/americana" they've performed at festivals throughout the region like Merlefest, Floydfest, Bristol Rhythm & Roots and more with an extensive catalog of original music and interesting and unexpected covers of songs they love.

In 2010 The New Familiars were honored to open for legendary musician Levon Helm. As the drummer for The Band, Helm was extremely influential to The New Familiars and needless to say, this was a absolute dream come true for the guys.

When Levon passed away in April of 2012 the Familiars began a "Last Waltz" type of tribute show the Friday after Thanksgiving to preserve the musical legacy of Helm. With the help of The Midwood Horns and special guests to perform songs from Levon's catalogue the show has grown into an annual celebration of Levon Helm & The Band. Now in its seventh year, the Levon Helm tribute show is a fun night of singalongs and good times remembering an american icon of rock'n'roll. Past guests have boasted band members from Muddy Waters (Bob Margolin), Doc Watson (Jack Lawrence), The Black Lillies, The Mantras and more.

Tyler Ramsey on His New Album, Band of Horses & His Unique Style

 
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via The Pop Break

Sometimes words cannot fully do a musician justice.

Tyler Ramsey, the former guitarist for Band of Horses, is a musician that my words cannot do adequate justice for. His unique, innovative style of guitar playing, his resplendent voice — all creates this magical sound. It’s a sound that would find itself comfortable amongst a sea of vinyl from the late 60s/early 70s, yet still has the immediacy, and importance of being set today.

It’s hard to fully summarize, except for this, Tyler Ramsey is creating something special, and it’s time to put him on your musical radar.

We sat down with Tyler Ramsey as he gets set to perform tonight at The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, NJ.

I’ve seen a few videos of you performing your solo material, and I really dig the way you play guitar. Can you talk about why you use your fingers to play guitar instead of using the traditional pick?

Some of the first guitar music I was really drawn to was the country blues. The way you can hear the melody and the bass and rhythm in that music coming from one person really hooked me. I love the guitar as a solo instrument and when you play with your fingers it opens up the possibilities and the potential to create pieces that stand on their own.

You’re known for your time in Band of Horses, where you were an integral part of the band’s most popular work. How do you feel your time in the band has helped you as a solo artist?

The main thing I would say is that my voice got a little stronger- having to sing in a larger band setting, whether it is harmonies or lead vocals, you get used to trying to project more. I’m a pretty quiet singer a lot of the time so I think the control I gained helps out. I was also constantly checking out new guitar pedals and sounds and that is something that continues to feed my electric playing.

You’re a multi-instrumentalist. So with your new album coming out are you performing all the instruments, or did you have other musicians record with you?

I had a lot of folks play on this new record. The Valley Wind record was a core group and not much else, so this time around I had a lot of fun asking the right people to play the right parts. It’s awesome to be in the studio and peck around on a pedal steel or something and try to play a part, but then when you hear a real pedal steel player like Russ Pahl actually lay down a part, that’s mind blowing stuff! I’m all for experimenting and I love playing instruments I don’t fully grasp, but there is definitely a time when you call the real deal. I had some amazing singers and string players and other guitarists come in as well.

Speaking of the new record, can you talk about the central themes of the album?

This record was written over a wild period of time- it started when my daughter was born and I wrote a lot on the piano in my old house when she’d be asleep or when things would calm down- usually late at night. Some of it came from the heartbreak of having to be gone a lot when she was so small. There’s a lot of trouble and heartbreak in it.

How do you feel this new record stands out from all your previous solo records?

I think the fact that I had a lot of folks involved in it makes it stand out a bit from the others. Also the intent feels different. I put a ton of energy into the recording and I plan on putting that same energy into the shows and the touring of this music.

You’ll have a new quartet on the road with you when you hit the road for your new tour. Can you talk about the band you’ve assembled, and why you chose them to go on the road with you?

I’m not sure I can convey how excited I am to head out with these three gentlemen — i will have Brian Landrum, who I’ve been good friends with for years, on pedal steel and guitar, David Macinnes will be on bass and has an amazing voice and ear for harmonies, and another old friend who I’ve wanted to play with for years, Kevin Rumley on drums, who also happens to have a heart that is made out of pure gold. They are super keyed into dynamics and I’m excited at the potential to really play to the rooms we will be in and make the shows unique.

If someone was coming out to see you for the first time, and had never heard you before (say because they enjoy your work in Band of Horses), what song of yours would you recommend they check out in order to really get a sense of who you are as an artist?

I would probably say “a long dream” or “1000 blackbirds”- those both have a lot of weaving in and out of vocal sections and guitar movements. In that way they kind of capture a lot of what I try and do.

Outside of the new record, what are you most excited about for in the next year?

I have to say I’m excited about traveling and touring. Im looking forward to that feeling of connecting with people and playing a show that feels honest and dialed in. Also more recording! I built a studio last year at our place out here in the country and I’m just now settling into it!

Now/It's: Tyler Ramsey at The Basement

 
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via Now/It's Nashville

When writing one of these show recaps/ruminations, I’ll scan the headlines for topics of interest as peculiar pop cultural tie-ins. Normally, there’s some sort of broad or quirky aspect of what’s going on in the world to poke fun at or analyze in jest, but at the time of writing this - Tuesday, October 6th - the two most widely trending topics in Tennessee are voting and tornadoes.

While I do feel passionate about the former - hopefully at the time of reading this, you’ve already submitted your ballot for the 2018 midterms - I feel a show recap may not be the best forum to stump or entice would be non-voters. Furthermore, it would be unfair to Tyler Ramsey, of whose show I’ll be ruminating over. So, we’ll close that first bit of topicality with this - voting is important, civic engagement is important, and our communities do not progress without the involvement of all who inhabit them.

Now, onto the second trending topic in Nashville on Tuesday, October 6th, 2018 - tornadoes. There was, purportedly, a tornado last night. For obvious reasons (attending Tyler Ramsey’s show), I was (relatively) unaware, but apparently it did happen. The time spent moving from parked vehicle to The Basement would support such a scenario, but seeing as I’m no meteorologist, I figure we’ll table the weather talk and focus on the reason I didn’t notice much of the tempestuous bluster outside - Tyler Ramsey’s Nashville stop at The Basement.

I can only assume it is difficult to approach touring in anticipation for an album that is set to come out in Spring of the following year, but that’s precisely what Tyler Ramsey and company find themselves in the midst of, and they do so marvelously. While Ramsey (for now) might be best known for a decade long stint in the “beautifully dysfunctional family” Band of Horses, such will not be the case for long once his upcoming LP drops.

If memory serves, I’ve taken the time on this site (or some other random one off on another) to express my distinct admiration for the music of Cameron Avery. Much like Ramsey, Avery is a side-man (in Tame Impala) who spends his touring off-season making music of his own. The music Avery makes on his own is somewhere in the realm of slightly sleazy velvet lounge drunkard pop. Like Ole Blue Eyes mixed with Cocker.

So with that in mind, upon hearing Tyler Ramsey’s new music at The Basement for the first time, you might imagine my surprise when a former member of Band of Horses’ solo music recalled moments of Cameron Avery’s 2016 solo record.

Now, I realize, I should probably qualify some things in moving forward with this comparison. First and foremost, I stand by Avery’s music being playfully sleazy, whereas Ramsey’s most certainly is not. There’s a sleepy empathy to it. Almost as if Ramsey is singing his songs in the middle of a sleepwalking episode.

That being said, Ramsey’s music has a uniquely forthright nature that resembles the same unnerving honesty that his more “sleazy” constituents might play up. The name of the song escapes me, but one of Ramsey’s tunes features an intoxicating (pun possibly intended?) hook of “No one goes out anymore.” It’s like Ramsey’s take on the same purview behind Leonard Cohen’s “Death of a Ladies Man” and the subsequent homage track from Father John Misty, “Only Son of the Ladies Man.”

The idea that someone could craft a song so wistful for some version of the “glory days” with casualness and empathy is fascinating. It’s as if Ramsey obtained the unreleased manuscripts for Catcher in the Rye 2 and turned an even more jaded Holden Caulfield’s purview into song. It’s lyrical (obviously) and prosaic all the same, which if no easy feat.

Perhaps another reason Ramsey’s music seems to be such a sonic mnemonic for Cameron Avery and Leonard Cohen is his liberal use of the Wurlitzer. One of the most simultaneously whimsical and visceral instruments there is, a properly utilized Wurly can blur the lines of empathy and apathy as sharp as any other instrument.

In all honesty, seeing the Wurlitzer was a bit of a surprise, considering Ramsey’s music would most readily (and lazily) be categorized as “Americana,” but the nonspecific role it plays in his music creates a breadth of each song that most are incapable of achieving. Ramsey’s arrangements are simple (as he put it, he opts mostly for three chords when he can), but that simplicity creates a space for Ramsey’s meter to marinate further.

That’s probably what it is about Ramsey’s music that sticks with me so readily - it’s simple but effective. The music is impactful, but without the “shove it down your throat” emphasis of what Ramsey’s doing. On the surface Ramsey’s music may come off as elegaic and doleful, but at the same time, it’s quietly sanguine and poised to lift the listener up the more time they spend with it, even if the next time they get to spend extensive time with the music isn’t until Spring of 2019. But for now, the one off will have to do.

'Morning' Will Soon Break for Singer-Songwriter Tyler Ramsey

 
 

via The Daily Times

For singer-songwriter Tyler Ramsey, a new “Morning” is about to dawn.

It’s been seven years since the ruggedly ethereal artist released his last album, “The Valley Wind.” At the time, he was the lead guitarist for Band of Horses, the indie band whose brand of rock ‘n’ roll beauty was an ideal fit for Ramsey’s songwriting and vocals.

He left the band in May of last year, however, and not much has been written about his departure.

“Basically, it was 10 years of being on the road, heavily touring with a bunch of dudes that don’t necessarily know how to communicate very well,” Ramsey told The Daily Times recently. “It gets tricky after a while, like any relationship that you have that lasts a long period of time. Traveling and being on the road is a tricky thing anyway, and staying open is a hard thing to do. It just kind of was time, and I knew I had this record ready, so I felt like it was time to do something different, really.”

“This record” is tentatively titled “For the Morning,” and it’s slated for release sometime in early 2019, added Ramsey, who performs Wednesday at The Open Chord in West Knoxville.

The foundation stones of the album were laid at his home near Mt. Pisgah in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where he’s spent much of the past year playing guitar and relaxing with family.

“It’s pretty country, right at the foot of the mountain, and we’ve got a little stream running through our yard,” he said. “I built a little studio out here last year, in this little building out in the field down from my house, so I’ve got a place to go play music.”

If it sounds bucolic, that’s an apropos description for Ramsey’s particular brand of Americana. Coming up in the Asheville scene, his raggedly blissful style made him a standout, and after releasing an eponymous debut album in 2005, various publications hailed his early 2008 release, “A Long Dream About Swimming Across the Sea,” as a worthy inheritor of sounds peddled by Ryan Adams and Red House Painters.

With Band of Horses, he helped cement that band’s legacy as a purveyor of anthemic rockers and intricate ballads, and he’s proud of the work he did as part of that group, he said.

“I went back recently and listened to ‘Infinite Arms,’ and I’m super proud of that record, and I think it still sounds really good,” he said. “I just think it really represents what the five of us could really do when we were working together really well, and it gained us a lot of momentum. I look back fondly on that time, even though it was kind of a messed-up time.”

His time in Band of Horses helped him develop into a better musician as well, he added: He feels his voice is bigger and stronger, and his guitar work allowed him to dial in on the particular sounds he wanted to capture on “For the Morning,” which was cut at a couple of sessions at La La Land, a studio in Louisville, Ky. It features a number of appearances from friends and peers that Ramsey has worked with in the past, another new element about which he’s particularly excited.

The overarching sound, however, doesn’t stray too far outside of his wheelhouse.

“I always try and not go too far away from the original game plan,” he said. “I don’t want to come out with some electronic record. I did do a lot of keyboards and piano, and a lot of songs were written on piano for this album. We also had some string players come in, so there are some extra things that make it a little bit more similar to ‘Long Dream’ in that way. There are a lot of really cool moments that fill it out, but I think it’s a logical progression.”

Whether it’ll be enough for him to step outside of the Band of Horses shadow remains to be seen.

He was a successful solo artist before he joined, and while his association makes it an interesting footnote for music writers, it’s also a period of his life he’s made peace with, he said.

“People want to apply that to whatever, when they’ve been in a band that’s pretty popular, and I really don’t have any problem with it,” he said. “When I was in the band and would go out and do solo shows, I would kind of resist using that as a thing, and I still would rather not, but it’s fine. I was in the band for 10 years, and I’m proud of what I did with them. I don’t mind people who need that to recognize what I do. If they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, that guy!,’ then that’s fine with me.”

IF YOU GO: Tyler Ramsey
WHEN: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7
WHERE: The Open Chord, 8502 Kingston Pike, West Knoxville
HOW MUCH: $10 advance/$12 doors

7 things to do in Wilmington this weekend

 
 

via StarNews Online

Tyler Ramsey, the former guitarist for indie-rock heroes Band of Horses, brings his talents down from the mountains where he’s a fixture on the Asheville music scene. Owner of a finger-picked guitar style that’s as pretty as it spooky, Ramsey is likely to play a few tunes from an upcoming solo album, his fourth, due out in the spring.

Details: 8 p.m. doors, 9 p.m. show, Nov. 3 at Bourgie Nights, 127 Princess St., Wilmington. $10 in advance, $15 day of show. Facebook.com/BourgieNights

Former Band of Horses Guitarist To Release Solo Album

 
 

via Gaston Gazette

When Western North Carolina-based singer-songwriter Tyler Ramsey recorded his solo album earlier this year, it had been awhile since he had done a complete album of his songs.

Ramsey, who spent a decade in the rock group Band of Horses, last released a solo record in 2011.

Any nerves?

“None. I wasn’t nervous at all,” said Ramsey, who will play a full-band show at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, at Charlotte’s The Evening Muse.

Ramsey has spent his career in music and a return to being a solo artist wasn’t a stretch for him. Although he served as Band of Horses’ lead guitarist, he was still involved in writing songs.

During his time with Band of Horses, which has scored three top 20 albums, Ramsey contributed several songs to the group’s albums, including “Evening Kitchen” and three other co-writes on the “Infinite Arms” record.

“It was the longest I’d been in a band before,” Ramsey said. “I’ve been in plenty of bands before but that was the longest with the same group of people. It was the longest run. Before that I was doing a lot of three-piece and solo shows. I learned about band dynamics and working with other people and trying to be creative and trying to stay inspired. That’s one of the things I came out with.”

Ramsey added that he learned how to tweak his guitar to make different sounds and he’s used that knowledge during his recent solo shows and recording a new album.

His new music is due out early next year, he said, and will be released on Fantasy Records, which recently released notable albums by James Taylor (“Before This World”), Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats (“Tearing At The Seams”), former Journey lead singer Steve Perry (“Traces”) and another of Asheville’s favorite sons, Warren Haynes and his group Govt. Mule.

“I feel so lucky to have hooked up with them. They are really into the record and they are excited about it and that makes me so excited,” Ramsey said. “They run a super tight awesome ship over there. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I think it’s going to be good and I’m looking forward to working with them. It’s going to be really cool to have that support and that team of interested people trying to get others to hear the music I worked on. I think it’s going to be a really good match-up.”

The album, Ramsey said, is more reminiscent of his second album, 2008’s “A Long Dream About Swimming Across the Sea.” That album got Ramsey a nod as an “Artist to Watch” on website Stereogum.

For this tour Ramsey has teamed up with Brian Landrum (pedal steel, guitar, harmonies), David Macinnes (bass, harmonies) and Kevin Rumley (drums).

“It’s awesome,” Ramsey said. “We’ve been having a blast learning how to listen to one another and be super dynamic. It’s like a dream team.”

Want to go?
Who: Tyler Ramsey with Justin Fedor
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2
Where: The Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St., Charlotte
Tickets: $15

Capturing A Mood: Tyler Ramsey Prepares to Release new Solo Album, Heads to Bourgie Nights

 
 

via Encore

“It had been 10 years of just doing [Band of Horses],” guitarist and singer-songwriter Tyler Ramsey says of his 2017 departure from the group. “I had this record in the works . . . and I was just excited about the material I had. Ten years with a group of guys is a pretty long time to be in a band.”

It isn’t Ramsey’s first solo act. The Ashville-based artist has had four releases outside of Band of Horses and has a forthcoming album set to debut in spring 2019.

At this stage Ramsey has played most, if not all, of the new tracks to live audiences. He’ll continue to play versions of them on his fall tour, while mixing in tracks from his solo records, “A Long Dream About Swimming Across the Sea” (2008) and “The Valley Wind” (2011). Ramsey will rotate in Band of Horses’ tunes he penned, too, during his stop at Bourgie Nights on Saturday.

“Even though I haven’t released the album yet, I’ve got new twists on songs that no one’s heard before,” Ramsey muses with a laugh.

Generally, a song will come to Ramsey and becomes the first snippets of an impending record. The rest of the tracks fall in a natural arc. Little bits of songs may stick around for years, but most of them come in a wave.

“Weirdly enough, I always end up with a ‘complete’ album somehow magically,” he quips. “Since these were all written around a similar time, it does tell a story . . . sometimes it takes me a while to figure out how they all fit together and what that story actually is.”

The first song, “For the Morning,” written for the record was four years ago as his family was growing. After his daughter was born, he spent what time he could writing.

“I would have her in the carrier on my chest and sit at the piano when she was sleeping,” he tells. “It kind of started there, when there was a lot of change and shift in my life. [It’s] represented in the songs, but I also think that’s kind of always the way it is. If you’re inspired to write a song, (hopefully) something’s happening in your life, feeding into your desire to create art or music.”

“For the Morning” came first on the piano, though, as with the entire album, it was recorded with guitar. With every record, Ramsey likes to include at least one bare-bones track—sans “studio magic.” Therefore, he approached “For the Morning” much the same way it started: with a touch of sleep deprivation at a late 3 a.m. session.

“When you’re in the studio, you might try to capture the original mood or atmosphere of the song,” he offers. “But that one was written late at night on the piano, and I just thought I should do it last and wait until I’m kind of in that headspace, the way it was when I wrote it.”

Ramsey just signed with Fantasy Records on October 18. He was attracted to the prospect of a new partnership built on trust, appreciation and excitement for a new album. While Fantasy already has offered a stamp of approval on “For the Morning,” Ramsey’s confident they’d never force a particular look or sound that deeply contrasted his work.

“Having met all of the people there—and [ones] I’ll be working with—I’m so excited to get to see what we can do together,” he explains. “Hopefully, we’ll continue to work together, and if they want to give me direction or feedback for the next [album], I admire the people I’ve met enough to try it out. . . . I think it’s always good when you’re able to do a record without outside influence. But I can also see the other side of the coin, when you have amazing people who have an unbiased ear who can help move a song forward.”

While Ramsey is known for his mellow, acoustic singing and guitar playing, there are more rock-forward tunes on the album, some that, according to Ramsey, have a heavier energy. “I always like to create moments where there’s a shift or heavy parts,” he explains. “I had a lot of people come in on the record than I did on the last. I got a lot of friends and new friends to come and play things that I couldn’t have pulled off.”

Ramsey has never sent off his recordings for additional instrumentation or sound layers. However, there were pieces brought in from outsiders. He sent off a couple of tracks, including “Breaking Heart,” to steel-pedal player Russ Pahl in Nashville.

“[They] just made me jump up and down in the control run,” Ramsey remembers. “I got goosebumps. I was elated there was this perfect pedal-steel part that showed up out of nowhere. I had equal experiences [with] harmony singers on a couple of songs.”

Ramsey will bring his keyboard to the live stage to switch out with guitar. He varies the tone he sets, which ultimately comes down to how he, the band and the audience connect within a space for one evening. “The show has the ability to morph,” he notes. “That’s another thing I picked up [with Band of Horses]; there’s such a variance with crowd and venue, and if you’re able to play into that, you can create really cool nights where everyone can feel like they’ve been a part of something cool.”

Details:
Tyler Ramsey with Driskill
Saturday, November 3
Doors 8 p.m.; show 9 p.m.

Bourgie Nights
127 Princess St.
Tickets: $10 adv.; $15 door

8 Wilmington concerts to see, Oct. 30-Nov. 4

via Star News Online

Tyler Ramsey - Nov. 3 @ Bourgie Nights

Asheville singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and former lead guitarist for Grammy-nominated rock band Band of Horses. He left the band in 2017 after a decade and has released three solo albums of folk and Americana-flavored songs with sweet, haunting vocals. With Driskill, Stray Local, and Earleine. Details: 8 p.m. doors, 9 p.m. show, Saturday, 127 Princess St., Wilmington. $10 in advance, $15 day of show.

 
 

Lt. Dan (WRLT) Interviews Tyler Ramsey, Amanda Shires, and More!

 
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Listen to Lt. Dan’s full broadcast from AmericanaFest on Friday, September 14th, where he interviews Tyler Ramsey, Amanda Shires, The War & Treaty, Lucie Silvas, and Carolina Story. LISTEN HERE.

Tyler will return to Nashville with his band November 5 at The Basement. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketweb.com.

2018 Americana Fest

 
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Tyler will perform at the 2018 AmericanaFest taking place September 11-16 in Nashville, TN. The 19th annual Americana Music Festival gathers thousands of artists, fans and industry professionals from all over the world. Stay tuned for more information and schedule release.

Attendees have three options to attend your showcase: Conference Registration, Festival wristband, or if space allows a ticket at the door. Registrations ($249+) and Wristbands ($75) are on sale now. 

Additional West Coast Dates Added

 
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Tyler has added additional dates to his California trip this August. Following his performance at UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley will be stops in Santa Monica and Costa Mesa. Tickets for the newly-added show go on sale this Friday, June 15 at 10a PDT.

8.23 at UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley, CA* - GET TICKETS
8.24 at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, CA - GET TICKETS
8.25 at The Wayfarer in Costa Mesa, CA - GET TICKETS

*with The Suitcase Junket

Trailblaze Challenge

Gonna get personal (and super wordy) for a second here!

Those of you who know me well might know that when my daughter was born she had some serious and life threatening health issues that lead to an operation when she was only 10 months old. She is 3 1/2 now and we are so grateful to be on the other side of all of that. Throughout the past few years I lived with constant worry- to see your own child sick and in and out of the hospital is an indescribable feeling to anyone who hasn’t lived through such times.

So- my point! I’ve signed up to hike 28.3 miles on May 19th in an effort to raise as much money as possible for children and families that are dealing with life threatening illnesses. It’s the Make a Wish Trailblaze Challenge. These children and families need joy and light in their lives!! LOVE

Tyler Ramsey Brings Facile Finger Picking to Sun Valley

via Eye On Sun Valley

Tyler Ramsey grew up in Asheville, N.C., where he learned the folk music that came out of the hollows of the surrounding Smoky Mountains.

His encounters with country blues musicians traveling through the area further refined his sound as he schooled himself under such fingerstyle guitarists as Leo Kottke and John Fahey and country blues guitarists like Mississippi John Hurt.

The singer/songwriter played with Band of Horses from 2010 to 2017, contributing to their 2010 Grammy-nominated album “Infinite Arms.”

He also recorded his own albums, which included “A Long Dream About Swimming Across the Sea.”

Ramsey will bring his facile finger picking and blues-inflected folk to the Sun Valley Opera House at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18.

And he will offer a private hour-long workshop to 25 guitar students form Community School, Wood River High School and Silver Creek High School.

“After years of trying to get Band of Horses to stop in Sun Valley, we snagged what we think is an even more exciting opportunity—having Tyler Ramsey all to ourselves!” said Kristine Bretall, The Center’s director of performing arts.

Some tickets still remain for the concert, which part of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts’ 2017-18 Performing Arts Series. Tickets start at $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers. Students 18 and under can get tickets for $12.50 and $25, available at www.sunvalleycenter.org or 208-726-9491.

Tyler Ramsey to Bring the Beats

 
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Former Band of Horses lead guitarist to perform in Sun Valley

via Idaho Mountain Express

Tyler Ramsey, folk rock multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter from Asheville, N.C., will bring his music to Sun Valley as part of The Sun Valley Center for the Arts’ Performing Arts Series. The concert, which is expected to sell out, will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, at the Sun Valley Opera House.

Equally at home playing guitar, piano, keyboards, bass or percussion, Tyler Ramsey is perhaps best known as a talented fingerstyle guitarist and a skilled singer/songwriter with Band of Horses. Early on, Ramsey studied country-blues guitarists like Mance Lipscomb and Mississippi John Hurt, and American fingerstyle guitarists in the school of John Fahey and Leo Kottke. His exposure to these guitarists and their music helped to solidify his own unique sense of melody and song forms.

Between 2007 and 2017, Ramsey played lead guitar for Band of Horses and contributed to their 2010 Grammy-nominated album, “Infinite Arms.” Taking advantage of brief times off the road, Ramsey finished his fourth solo album and, in May of 2017, announced his departure from the band after 10 years. Ramsey’s latest album is set to be released in early 2018, and extensive touring will carry his new music to fans across the country—including the Wood River Valley.

“After years of trying to get Band of Horses to stop in Sun Valley for a summer concert, we snagged what we think is an even more exciting opportunity—having Tyler Ramsey all to ourselves,” said Kristine Bretall, The Center’s director of performing arts. “His quietly passionate performances rivet audiences, and we look forward to introducing him to our evening audience as well as to guitar students from around the valley,” she added. “We will gather about 25 guitar students from Community School, Wood River High School and Silver Creek High School to experience an hour-long private workshop with Tyler. It’s an exciting opportunity for these students, and The Center is so grateful to Tyler and to our donors who make these outreach activities possible.”

Tickets for Tyler Ramsey’s concert at the Sun Valley Opera House are currently on sale. All seats are reserved, and the best seats are going quickly.

General seating tickets are $25 for members of The Center, while premium seating is $50. Nonmembers add $10 to the ticket price, while students 18 and younger get in for $12.50 standard of $25 premium.