William Tyler

William Tyler’s new record, Goes West, is the best music that he’s ever made. I’m sure of this because I know and love all of his music intimately, and this album moves me the most, and the most consistently. The first time I heard it was in the late spring in the Texas Hill Country, rolling between limestone and scrub. I was on a cleanse then—no alcohol, no drugs, no evil thoughts—and was astonished at the emotional clarity that the album held. It offered up a model for what I wanted my head to feel like.

Goes West marks a sort of narrowing of focus for William’s music; it sounds as though he found a way to point himself directly towards the rich and bittersweet emotional center of his music without being distracted by side trips. Perhaps this is down to the fact that William only plays acoustic guitar on the album, a clear and conscious decision considering that he is one of Nashville’s great electric guitarists. The band that performs Goes West alongside William—including guitarists Meg Duffy and Bill Frisell, bassist and producer Brad Cook, keyboardist James Wallace, drummer Griffin Goldsmith, and engineer Tucker Martine—is the best and most sympathetic group of players that William could have assembled to play these songs.

— M.C. Taylor (of Hiss Golden Messenger), Durham, NC

Past Shows


Oct
10
th
2019
icehouse MPLS
Oct
10
th
2019
icehouse MPLS

William Tyler

with Oscar Tengo
Apr
25
th
2013
7th St Entry
Apr
25
th
2013
7th St Entry

William Tyler

with Southwire and Bora York

More Shows

May
15
th
7th St Entry

RAGEFUTURE

Sep
20
th
Palace Theatre

St. Vincent

with Dorian Electra
Jul
13
th
First Avenue

PRIVATE EVENT

May
24
th
First Avenue

Area 51 Rave