Meet Tyler Neal | Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tyler Neal and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tyler, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I like to live on my own terms and do what I want to do with my life. Music has always been my passion. Luckily I sort of fell into being able to support myself financially by playing gigs. I found that when I was gigging with other musicians, I wanted to do things my way. I am naturally a leader so anytime I would get comfortable working for someone else, I get an ever-growing itch that reminds me that I want to do my own thing. I value my time and energy a lot and I want to spend as much of it as I can pursuing my own goals and dreams rather than live off of contributing to someone else’s. That’s not to say I don’t love to collaborate and work with others on their goals! At the end of the day, I want to work for myself and have independence and sovereignty with how I spend my time and energy. That’s why I started my own business.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Well, I’ve been inspired to be a musician for as long as I can remember. Music always put electricity in my body. It made everything come alive. One thing I believe sets me apart from many of my musical peers is that instead of having support form family and community in their childhood/musical upbringing, I had a lot of resistance to fight thru. My story is a common story because its a story about coming up in a world that wasn’t made for you, where the path wasn’t set out for you to succeed… rather, it was often set up for you to fail. I am just a musician and thats that. I often tried to pursue other life paths that made more sense or were more acceptable but the core of my being wont let me do it. It has always been difficult, but it gets easier. When you have a self realizing moment in life and you realize who you really are, what you were made for, the way you were made, aside from the opinions and expectations of your community, its liberating. while its liberating its challenging, because you have to develop courage and resiliance to wade through the opposition that is positioned around you and against you in your path. This is the story of the life of anyone who has ever felt like the world wasn’t made for them. The joy in this is that you find out who you really are, and you find that there is a whole world of people out there who love you for who you are. I’m honored and proud that my path was not laid out before me because I have earned the liberty to create myself the way I want to be. My dream is for my art to encourage and inspire people to find truth within them and in their life, and to courageously face the world and its challenges. Bitterness and deceit are murdurous qualities that we all must face at some point. Music has the power to inspire us from the core of our hearts and minds and create the world we live in. Together, each of us aligned with our truth and purpose, there is nothing that we as a human race cannot face and overcome. This is the spirit I hope to eminate through my life and its work. It is an honor and a priveledge to be alive and get to share through music.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
First thing that comes to my mind is I would take them for drinks and live music the Northside Tavern on Howell Mill road in west midtown, Atlanta, where I currently hold a residency every wednesday night from 10pm to 2am with some of my favorite musicians in the city. The northside tavern is a national monument. It’s one of the few blues dive bars left in the country and the world that truly is rooted in music. Sadly, our world for the most part has seemed to have lost its live music culture, because of technology and commercialism. People are lazy and they would rather stay at home and watch netflix than go out and meet people and hear live music. The Northside Tavern is a blues bar, I consider it my home, where I recieved, and continue to recieve a considerable chunk of my musical education. the northside tavern is a time machine, you go in there and people of all colors, classes, and creeds are socializing, dancing, buying eachother drinks, and listening to a real live band, sweating, working it out, and digging deep in their hearts on that stage for the people to dance, enjoy, and have a good time. Artists like Lola Gulley, Mudcat, Albert White, Beverly Watkins, Donnie McCormick, Eddie Tigner, and many more have been playing there for decades, building up the character, writing the story of atlanta music and blues, and contributing to the culture of the city. Northside Tavern is a national treasure and I’d like to see it declared a historical national monument some day.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are 2 people I want to dedicate my shout out to. The first person is Yonrico Scott. Yonrico, who passed away in 2019, will always be one of the most important people in my life. Yonrico was a drummer from Detroit who moved to Atlanta in the 80s and was a huge member of the music scene here and around the world up until his last days. We met in 2010 the summer after I graduated high school. I worked as a clerk at my aunt’s gym where he worked out. She knew about my music and offered Yonrico a free membership to give me some drum lessons. He jumped on the opportunity. Looking back it was not a fair trade, financially. No, Yonrico was basically giving me lessons for free. I remember one of the first times we had met, before we did any lessons, we had a conversation on the gym floor. He asked me, “Do you want to be a musician?”. I replied with a resounding “YES. Do you think it’s possible?” He responded with a, “Yea, you can do it.” As if to say, “duh”. This was so crucial for me at the time because I grew up in a community that didn’t value music, there was even a significant amount of distain for artists and the arts, as if to say, “throw away the pipe dreams, get a real steady hard working job like the rest of us… and by the way… you think you’re special, or better than the rest of us?” This was the general mentality in working class west Georgia, about an hour down from Atlanta on I-20 one way and an hour from the Alabama state line the other way. My life exploded with musical knowledge and opportunity from that point, thanks to Yonrico. We started studying music regularly, and I also started to join him on his gigs and recording sessions, helping him set up and carry his drums. The lessons I learned accompanying him were as valuable if not more valuable, as I began to learn how to conduct myself in the music world, I learned how the music business works, I began to meet people, and learn about new places. Yonrico gave me a foundation for everything I know about what I do today. As the years went on we became closer, much like family. He was a father figure in my life. I was lucky to be by his side in the last year of his life, helping him get his health back, and his family welcomed me in his last moments on this planet, something I will forever be grateful to them for. I miss him so much. He will always be my number 1.

The other person is Col. Bruce Hampton. A key figure in what they call, the “Southern Rock – Jam Band” scene. Bruce, who was a proud Atlantan for most of his life, was around the Atlanta scene ever since the 60s with his band, The Hampton Grease Band, which was often associated with bands like the Allman Brothers and other popular jam bands that came from that era. Bruce was the first person to give me a chance on a professional level. He hired me to play guitar and sing as well as be the musical director in his band. I was 23 years old at the time… He told me he’d never had anyone lead the band who wasn’t at least in their 30s. Bruce took a risk on me, gave me a chance, and opened doors for me, and continues to open doors for me despite his dramatic passing on stage at the Fox theater in Atlanta in 2017. I will always be grateful to Bruce for putting me on the stage, taking a risk on me, and giving me a chance.

Website: tylernealband.com

Instagram: @tnealforreal

Facebook: facebook.com/tylernealband

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6kW_sGLVN8eX2hHiMounXw/featured

Other: my spotify artist page https://open.spotify.com/artist/3FCIOAlI83je5C3dD4Fma9?si=qjnUj9N-TVu00sMGYsSfhQ

Image Credits
Vincent Tseng Donna Winchester