Tyler James (American musician)
| Tyler James | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Tyler James Geertsma |
| Born |
Mount Vernon, Washington, US March 31, 1982 |
| Origin | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Genres | Soul, pop, indie, folk, classic rock, gospel |
| Instruments | Piano, trumpet, guitar, bass, drums |
| Years active | 2004 – present |
| Labels | Nettwerk, Son of Geert Records |
| Associated acts | Ten Out of Tenn, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Escondido |
| Website | www |
Tyler James Geertsma (born March 31, 1982) is an American singer/songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is best known for his work as a solo recording artist and as keyboardist in Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
James was born Tyler James Geertsma just north of Seattle in Mount Vernon, Washington, in 1982. His father is a teacher and his mother an adoption social worker. They raised Tyler and three siblings in the small Midwest town of Orange City, Iowa. He began studying piano and trumpet at a young age and later picked up the guitar from his mom. He spent his last year of high school in Holland, Michigan, before moving to Nashville in 2000 to study and pursue music. Tyler enrolled at Belmont University as a music business major and worked part-time jobs like meter-reading, pizza delivery, valet, landscaping, and in a retirement home. He used the school's recording studios to make demos and interned at record labels and artist management firms before graduating in 2004.
In 2005, Tyler teamed with producer Jason Lehning (Guster, David Mead) and released his first EP aptly entitled "An EP". Tyler followed that release with his first national tour, traveling solo in an old Volkswagen Golf. That same year, he joined nine other Nashville singer/songwriters in forming "Ten Out of Tenn", an artist collective aimed at bringing attention to Nashville's non-country music scene. The group consists of Griffin House, Matthew Perryman Jones, Tyler James, Butterfly Boucher, K.S. Rhoads, Trent Dabbs, Katie Herzig, Jeremy Lister, Andy Davis, and Erin McCarley. Ten Out of Tenn. Vol. 1 was released in 2005 and featured Tyler's song "Stay Humble". Ten Out of Tenn partnered with Myspace and Paste magazine for an extensive national tour which began in April 2005. In March 2006, Tyler was recognized by Paste as "Artist of the Week". In the article, Tyler cites his move to Nashville as "the best thing that could have happened to me, musically and spiritually." He goes on to say, "I'm supposed to be here."
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