About BT
Brent Tyler is a seven-foot paradox. Tyler’s intricate guitar style combined with a soulful presence and elastic vocal range contrast his obvious football frame. A voice that bellows the foundation, yet dynamically delicate and sincere, Tyler balances the subtlety of honest and introspective folk music with soulful hooks and melodies born of his childhood dreams and contemporary crushes. Tyler's music is lyrically textured with real life. Honesty and love, hope and healing.
Imagine Dave Matthews and John Mayer were sipping whiskey spinning James Taylor and Martin Sexton records at Jack Johnson’s beach house.
A Western Canadian giant…Big Man. Big Sound. Big Love.
Born in Penticton, raised in Calgary and returning home in 2018 to his Okanagan roots, Tyler grew up between two contrasting worlds of sport and music. His physical size made him an obvious choice for the University of Calgary basketball team, but his emotional heart beckoned him back towards a path of music performance.
Self-taught from the age of 9 years old, Tyler's percussive guitar style was influenced heavily by the likes of James Taylor, John Mayer, Martin Sexton, and Dave Matthews. Tyler's solo blend of guitar and voice sounds like a whole band with a giant delivery and charismatic presence. Evolved from imitative influence into his very own versatile, powerful and dynamic cadence, Tyler's live shows draw people in with his humorous story-telling and authentic tone.
After releasing Better Way in 2002, In Rhythm in 2010, & EP This Breath in 2014, Tyler released his latest full-length album Love Myself in 2015.
Love Myself is full spectrum folk-roots-soul music baring BT's big love heart with heavy acoustic grooves and soulful soaring melodies. The Big Love Family Band of world-class musical mercenaries bring the heat and backbone in perfect accompaniment. Honest and introspective. Authentic and heartfelt.
Transplanted back to the beautiful Okanagan to raise a young family only blocks from where he was born, Tyler continues to seek out stages and performance opportunities that connect the dots with reciprocal energy and community connection.
Press Clippings...
"The music of Calgary’s Brent Tyler is breezy, relaxed, and, perhaps most notably, incredibly melodic."
- Canadian Music Magazine
"His heartfelt tunes, with elements of funk, R&B and a mixed bag of genres, are about making connections with those sitting in front of him."
- Kristi Patton, BC Local News
"A large man with a very full, strong voice. Lovely lyrics and stories. No doubt he is on a musical path wanting to join people in life. Good music talks to us all and Brent does just that."
- The Dream Cafe Penticton
"Brent Tyler, In Rhythm...Folk rock with feeling, this album builds on Tyler's soulful voice and acoustic instrumentation."
- Avenue Magazine
"Brent Tyler is a big man who writes some awfully pretty music."
- Jacob Morgan, The Source Lloydminster
"Calgary's Brent Tyler may dwarf his six-string, but the music he makes with it is even grander than his stature."
- Carstairs Courier
"Brent Tyler...a Tall man with a Grande talent and a Venti heart!"
- Jonathan Love, California 103FM Radio
"With a few humble opening lines, the environment changed. In a casual space of around thirty seats, the air became warmer as Tyler’s gorgeous, melodious vocals washed through the space and the band’s instruments melted together into one whole, living sound. Where was I when this music played? Perhaps I was on a sunny beach or driving deep into green farmland; I was somewhere good. This continued on throughout the hours until 11:00pm hit, with everything bleeding together in a mix of honest stories, humour, band antics and, whether it was in dancing for those who did, in Brent’s lyrics or recollections, or in the testimony Matt gave at the show’s close, love. Through the soft originals and fast, either of which set to exclaim Tyler’s ability as a guitarist, to a final, pitch-perfect encore of Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic,” what existed in that tight warm space on 30th Avenue was love– for life, for the art, for possibly everything. Big love."
- Graeme Higginson, oook.ca
"The power of just a man, his voice, and his guitar. The skill and showmanship are the result of hard work and tough rooms, playing covers for the drunken masses, selling a piece of himself to pay the bills. But the stories are his own; love, lust, heartache, lessons learned, snapshots of how he arrived at this place...The fruit of all this labour is a musical collection Canadian ears should be anticipating to hear and experience."
- LiveVictoria.com
"Brent Tyler's opening set at the Nick was very well received by our audience. With great original songs and a powerful singing voice, Brent easily won a bunch of new fans, gaining extended applause and a return to the stage for an encore."
- Vic Bell, Nickelodeon Music Club
"Not only were his songs insanely strong but he had the vocal & guitar chops of a wild animal - like imagine a rabid badger who could sing like Ray LaMontagne and play guitar like Martin Sexton - it'd be close to that."
- Nico Boesten, Tribe House, tribehouse.org
"...Pretty Tune, a deceptively upbeat breakup song. I think that song in particular reveals a common denominator in Tyler’s approach to songwriting, which is to combine irresistible hooks with lyrics that cut to the chase, honestly and openly. There is depth and breadth to his work, and yet it is entirely enjoyable and easy on the ears — addictively so."
- Dan St Yves, Calgary Herald
"Brent Tyler...a Tall man with a Grande talent and a Venti heart!"
- Jonathan Love - California 103FM