Globe Hall Presents Tyler Halverson on Wednesday, July 22nd, – KITCHEN OPENS AT 5PM!
Tyler Halverson knows who he is, and sometimes he doesn’t like it. But all of the mistakes he’s made and hearts he’s broken have led him to In Defense of Drinking, his stone-cold honest country album that takes a stark look at a life lived on the road.
“It’s been a life spent falling in and out of love and finding something to write about, at the expense of your heart and somebody’s else’s,” Halverson says. “I’m not proud of the actions that that boy took to inspire these songs. But I’m very proud of how they turned out. The Nashville scene today is all so pretty and polished, and some artists try to come out looking a certain way, but how about you just show yourself exactly how you are, the good and bad?”
Growing up in the tiny town of Canton, South Dakota, Halverson has never been afraid to be himself. Before he answered the call of the road, playing bars and rodeo beer gardens, he spent as much time on his skateboard as he did showing cattle at livestock shows. “I grew up in sale barns and skate parks,” he says, and those two disparate worlds inform the music he makes. There’s a decidedly alt-country edge to the songs on In Defense of Drinking, including the thumping, unrepentant single “More Hearts Than Horses.”
Halverson comes by that aesthetic naturally. He spent time not only in his native South Dakota, but all throughout the American West, including playing cowboy on a Wyoming ranch (which inspired the cult hit “Mac Miller”). “Beer Garden Baby,” his beloved fan favorite, was born from those rodeo gigs, and he re-records it as a duet with Parker McCollum for In Defense of Drinking. He’s also set to open a string of shows for the Texas-turned-Nashville-star.
Texas is in the DNA of the music Halverson writes and records. He’s been all over the Lone Star state with his guitar and harmonica and came up with some of his best songs there. In the tailgate jam “Like a Rodeo,” featuring Australian country star Wade Forster, Halverson struggles to connect with another restless soul: an ambitious barrel racer. “Could she ever love me like the rodeo?” he sings.
Halverson wrote the track after lighting out from Tennessee to Texas to find himself. “I got pissed off with Nashville and ran away to Turkey, Texas,” he says. “I was crashing with some buddies in a trailer, smoking it out, and writing songs. ‘Like a Rodeo’ is about chasing somebody who is also chasing something, and wondering if those paths are ever going to cross.”
“You can lose yourself in the troubadour lifestyle, where every night is a damn party and you’re far from your family, your home, and your faith,” he says. “So, this album may be a little bit of a personal battle: Who are you on the road vs. who are you at home. These songs are often about me admitting that I can be reckless and impulsive, but that I’m trying my best. Conflict isn’t always bad if you can make some good out of it.”
That’s one of Halverson’s goals for In Defense of Drinking. Does he have any others? He shoots a shit-eating grin. “I hope I can buy some cows with this record.”
- All ages, ticketed guests under 16 ONLY ADMITTED WITH TICKETED GUARDIAN 21+
- All sales are final. Check your tickets carefully, NO REFUNDS FOR ANY REASON
- Your name will be on the Will Call list the night of the show at doors time.
