Tyler Gilbert

History

Tyler was born in Calgary, Alberta in 1988. Growing up Regina, Saskatchewan he crafted his song writing skills by recording over 8 multiple song demos from 2003 to 2007.

In 2008 he formed 3 piece rock band VOS with John Buhr and brother Aaron Gilbert which helped sculpt what would become their debut EP "Vos" released in October 2008, produced by Brad Papp. The song “Prison Wall Blues” remained for 16 months on the charts of “Saskatchewan Top 30”. Over the next few years they would play shows locally around Regina, until they disbanded in 2009.[1]

After the break up of VOS, Tyler went on solo and independently released his 2009 album “The Re-session” The album got its name from its relatively small budget. The overall sound and feel of the album is a bare bones singer/songwriter approach, using mainly acoustic guitars and single track vocals. Tyler began touring within Western Canada to help promote the album.

In 2011, Gilbert's 3rd studio album "Tyler's World" was released world-wide.[2] The video single “Break Free” premiered on Global Regina TV and received moderate commercial airplay within Canada as well as “Song of the Day” on songshooter.com for Sept 26, 2012. The album garnered media attention and later won him the Rawlco radio's 10k20 grant. The style of the album continued with the raw singer/songwriter feel but included more harmonies and electric guitar than the previous album. This was produced by Justin Bender and was the first album of their working relations. Over the next few years Tyler stayed busy touring across Canada and select US states tour with support acts Megan Nash and TB Judd on select legs of the tour. He also performed at festivals such as Canadian Country Music Awards, Winnipeg Fringe Festival, Chaplin and Herbert Centennials.[3]

During this time, Gilbert’s lyrics were used in the WWF “Earth Hour” song. He also made is acting debut in Discovery Channels series “Deadly Intent”. Appearing also on Shaw TV’s one hour episode of “Stripped Down” in 2012.

In 2013, after a busy couple years Tyler released his standout album “OK Murphy”, a perfect balance on the 13 tracks set between the acoustic folk/rock of his past and the electric-driven rock of his roots funded by Rawlco radio. This was his first album to feature full band, featuring drummer Jayson Brinkworth on drums, Rob D on bass. Producer Justin Bender was brought back to produce Tyler’s 3rd studio album released under Farmageddon Sound. The album spawned 3 popular singles, with “Continuously” receiving moderate airplay on adult contemporary commercial radio stations and the music video was premiered by BlankTV, “Mornin’ Sunlight” received a lot of airplay on Canadian Country radio and CBC stations and “Lady of the Mountaintop” what would become Gilbert’s bestselling and most popular song to date. “Lady of the Mountaintop” would go on to receive heavy rotation on Canadian Country radio as well as Sirius XM and CBC radio. The song also reached #9 on DMDS’ “Most Active Indies” on January 4, 2016.[4]

Tyler was a nominated finalist for the Regina Mayor Arts & Business “Emerging Artist” Award.[14] Immediately following the release Gilbert hit the roads in one of his busiest years, playing countless shows and performing at top notch festivals such as Cathedral Village Arts Festival, All Folked Up In Montmartre, Regina Rams Half Time, Estevan Art Gallery 35th Anniversary, Festiv-ale, Canadian Western Agribition, Saskatchewan Country Music Awards, Midsummer Arts Festival, Kinsmen Telemiracle, Broadway Festival and the Festival of Words.

Tyler was brought on to perform song writing workshops as part of the SCES Workshop Tour which travelled to schools all across Saskatchewan. Also in 2013 he teamed up with local hip hop act Thunderhawk and Shayne Hawken to independently release the single “Awakening at the End”.

It was in this time frame when Gilbert joined prog metal group Third Ion, which consisted of Justin Bender, Aaron Edgar and Mike Young. In 2014 they released their debut album “13/8Bit” which was release worldwide on Glasstone Records, Peaking at #14 on iTunes Metal Charts, the album was fully embraced by press across the globe, receiving 9/10 at metal.de, 8.5/10 in Aardshock Magazine, as well as featured streams at Bravewords.com, and Metal Hammer Norway. Third Ion completed their first tour of Western Canada, which was well received by the metal community and industry. Unfortunately, shortly after the release of “13/8Bit”, Gilbert decided to leave the band to continue focusing on his own original music.[5]

2015 proved to be another busy year for Tyler, riding the success of “OK Murphy” he would showcase through BreakOut West at Folk Alliance International and toured extensively within Canada and the USA, receiving the attention of multiple newspapers and music news publishers. Performing at the Regina International Film Festival and Awards later that year, he also received endorsements from Steve Clayton USA Picks and Shubb Capos.

Tyler remained busy come 2016, even appearing as the vocalist in The Co-operators radio commercial "A Better Place To Be". In May Tyler signed with GVG Records to release his full band 11 track studio album “The Montana Kid” world-wide, funded in part by Creative Saskatchewan. The title of the album is a nod to his father. Produced again by Justin Bender, the album showed a new side to Gilbert’s music with hints of his country music influences the album received the attention of the country music community. The single “Stains” received moderate airplay on commercial Country radio in Canada. The album reached #9 chart position on CJTR.

Immediately following the release, Tyler would have his busiest year to date with tours across Canada and the United States sharing the stage with such names as Charlie Major, Sean McCann(Great Big Sea), Wyatt, Jeremy Fisher, Ken Hamm, Pare, and Sam Bradley. Performing at high profile events such as the World Women’s Curling Championship in Swift Current, SK, High Schools for Hope Charity event, Ohio State Fair, Burlington’s Sound of Music Festival, Grand Porch Party, Bow Valley Jamboree and the Living Sky Music & Food Festival.

Tyler appeared as a guest vocalist on Daniel Besuijen’s 2016 album “The Witch Riding Your Back”. He also appears on CJTR’s “Got It Covered” compilation covering one of his early influence’s songs “To the Lady Downstairs” by the Bull North. "Stains" would later be featured on SaskMusic's InTune compilation.[6]

In early 2017 his song “Mornin’ Sunlight” was used in the Case Martingale "Unique Gifts" Compilation.[7]

Reception

Gilbert was noticed by Ominocity, "Taking on an aggressive folk sound, with plenty of ripping electric guitar parts, Gilbert's take on the genre is both refreshing and atypical. With strong vocals persisting throughout the album, there is still something wholly familiar, even haunting, about his songwriting." Prairie Dog quoted Gilbert as a "prolific folk songwriter" ."

Gilbert was well received at the Montmartre Folk Festival All Folked Up In Montemartre, "He just plainly enjoys performing and recording and we just plainly love to listen to him." Tyler's album "Tyler's World" is distributed by Dynasty Records He was featured on Shaw TV's one-hour program Stripped Down. His song "Prison Wall Blues" remains on the music charts at Sask Top 30 Tyler has received multiple plays on CBC Radio 1 Afternoon Edition, Morning Edition as well as the Saskatchewan Weekend Quoted by the Leader Post "the 22-year-old put out his first album in 2006 and has shared the stage with Sean McCann from Great Big Sea. McCann said he was glad to be in Regina just to see Gilbert play." LA Beat was quoted saying "Gilbert played an upbeat set of pop-folk music. He started off on an upbeat note, but slowed things down on a set of mostly original material featuring pleasant guitar playing and upbeat melodies" ." The Walleye quoted Gilbert's sound as "the clear crisp chords, combined with thoughtful lyrics, created a relaxing folk/rock mix." Was the Prairie Dog "Pick of the Day" The Leader Post included Gilbert in the top 12 current Regina musicians.

Discography

Awards

In 2013 Gilbert was nominated for a Regina Mayor Arts & Business Award under the "Emerging Artist" category.