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For The Morning Relix Review
via Relix
“There’s a dream of home for those that work out on the road/ And there’s a vision of the road for all the others,” Tyler Ramsey sings on his fourth solo LP, his voice blanketed by swooning slide guitar and a delicate acoustic strum. “I can tell you what I’ve seen because I’ve been at both extremes/ There’ll be a time you will wish you could trade your life for another.” It’s a sentiment as old as pop music itself: a musician worn down by traveling and missing his family, and the sobering realization that the touring lifestyle isn’t the fantasy one may think. It’s the central theme from For the Morning , his first album since 2011’s The Valley Wind and a reemergence into the solo realm since leaving Band of Horses in 2017. Ramsey crafted the record partly on tour, cramming in writing sessions in hotel rooms and on airplanes, and partly at his idyllic home near the woods outside Asheville, N.C. Both of those realities, the longing and the contentment, flow through the music. “Who will bring in the firewood? And who’s gonna keep up the fire?” he sings on the haunting folk reverie “Firewood.” Is he referencing an actual pile of kindling or the foundation of a marriage? With its weepy steel guitars and acoustic-heavy arrangements, many of the highlights here—like the gospel-tinged “Your Whole Life” and fingerpicked “White Coat” — suitably feel like they were written in middle of a forest, with a hunting dog nearby and a smartphone nowhere in sight. It’s Ramsey’s dream of home, solidified in sound.
Tyler Ramsey plays a hometown album release show at the Masonic Temple
via Mountain Xpress
Before he was a husband and father, Tyler Ramsey used to do a lot of his songwriting at night. While living in downtown Asheville, he’d go to his little basement studio and work through melodies and lyrics as he found his musical voice.
Though he’s still up fairly late while out on tour, Ramsey enjoys being able to return to his current home life, including early wake-up calls courtesy of his young daughter. The shift in schedule has become so thorough that it’s made its way into the title of his new solo album, For the Morning.
“Part of what inspired that song ‘For the Morning’ was the desperate feeling … of change and kind of going with it,” Ramsey says. “When you become a parent, you kind of lose yourself, so that had a lot to do with it. Not really the sleep schedule part as much, but it’s part of it.”
Now based in Candler, the longtime local resident plays what he calls “a proper local hometown album release show” on Saturday, May 11, at the Asheville Masonic Temple, sharing a dreamy, sonically rich set of songs that he’s elated to give the attention it deserves. That journey began in 2004 with his self-released, self-titled album, which he followed with 2010’s A Long Dream About Swimming Across the Sea, his first collection to come out on a label. He feels that his sophomore record’s release got off to a strong start with “an energy around it” and reviews and articles in national and international publications. Immediately afterward, however, he joined Band of Horses.
“My touring ability fell off, and my focus shifted a little bit. And then I was fully in the band, and we were writing and getting ready to do Infinite Arms,” Ramsey says. “That was a great phase and a creative time for me. I think that was kind of a shift for that band, too, because it was me and Bill Reynolds contributing a lot of ideas and a lot of energy to that record.”
When he put out his next album, The Valley Wind in 2011, he didn’t have any time to tour it because he was immediately back on the road with Band of Horses. Released on Fat Possum Records, the album received decent attention, but with Ramsey unable to play solo shows or radio stations, the album all but evaporated from the cultural consciousness.
“I’m still kind of disappointed that I allowed that to happen,” he says. “At the time, I kept with the band, and it was starting to taper off as a creative outlet. And by the time I had [For the Morning] starting and I started to feel like I had the energy to create a new record, I realized if I do that again, it’s a waste of my time to put a record out at all, as well as a waste of other people’s time.”
He continues, “If some label or a booking agent is waiting on me to do something and they’re excited about it and I’m unable to give it the time — I didn’t want to do that again. I didn’t want to have this record disappear again. All of it felt like a massive shift in what I wanted to do with my time and who I wanted to spend my time with. It was a big change, but it was time to make it.”
Ramsey’s For the Morning demos were fairly fleshed-out. He also did some planning with Black Mountain-based musician Seth Kauffman (Floating Action), who rode up with him to La La Land studios in Louisville, Ky., in Ramsey’s gear-filled van. But mostly, Ramsey let the duo’s sessions with engineer Kevin Ratterman take a more natural course.
“I always feel like it’s better to kind of spring things on people,” Ramsey says. “I like the energy of someone hearing something and working it out a little bit more closer to the moment. [Seth] did have a couple things that he’d loosely charted out, like bass lines for songs. But I think everything kind of came together when we were actually in the room working on the record.”
While on tour playing these songs, Ramsey has built in various visual cues to strengthen his bond to the material. For example, the “White Coats” line, “You went out across the river to lay down in the sunlight where it filters through the pines,” is a visual image from Ramsey exploring his Candler property.
“It’s a way for me to connect with the song again if I’m performing it. I really, really feel strongly that if you’re performing in front of people, you need to do whatever you can to make yourself feel that the meaning of the song that you’re singing or put yourself back in that moment of why that song was written,” Ramsey says.
“Because that’s performance. That’s what you’re doing in front of an audience. If you’re just up there singing words and playing chords, that’s probably fine with some people, but I really do feel that for the songs that I’m singing, I like to be in the moment of the song so I can create a really cool atmosphere in a live setting and draw people into the song.”
WHO: Tyler Ramsey
WHERE: Asheville Masonic Temple, 80 Broadway, tickets at thegreyeagle.com
WHEN: Saturday, May 11, 8 p.m. $20 advance/$25 day of show
Tyler Ramsey Evokes Nick Drake on Sublime 'For The Morning'
via Glide Magazine
Tyler Ramsey literally had nothing to prove when he opted to put his solo career in second gear and join forces with Band of Horses for a tour in 2007. That stint with the group became a decade long association, one that found him splitting his time between his individual pursuits and writing and recording with the group as a whole. It didn’t deter him from pursuing his own muse at the same time — in fact, he was able to further spur his creativity by making prime contributions to the band’s repertoire as well — but by 2017 it became clear that the lanky singer and guitarist’s talents were best served by the forlorn ballads he continued to record on his own.
Now, four albums in, that premise is clearer than ever, courtesy of an album that’s so sensual and sublime, it’s easy to imagine folks touting him as an heir apparent to none other than Nick Drake. Not that the comparison hasn’t been tossed out before, but if anyone most deserve it, Ramsey’s clearly the one. The album title alone evokes a dewey-eyed perspective, a dreamlike state that finds the world reckoning with dreams that were sown in the immediate hours before. Certain songs — “Your Whole Life,” “Darkest Sounds,” “White Coat,” “Firewood,” and “Cheap Summer Dress” being the most apparent — convey a sense of hushed circumspect, a sound that’s low-key, lethargic, but enveloped by a breathless beauty too tangible to deny. It can seem contradictory at times — a song like “A Dream of Home” is both earnest and upbeat, while “Breaking a Heart” recalls Neil Young sounding resilient and yet resigned. Indeed, Ramsey has that ability to entice his listeners into sharing his solitude, and once lured inside those intimate environs, they’re engaged, ensconced and content to deliberate on any tender perspective.
Ultimately, For The Morning is an album of meditative moods, one that demands more than a momentary embrace. It speaks in soft tones, a perfect way to contemplate possibilities and whatever cerebral setting the day may hold in store.
Do512 Performance from SXSW
We had a great time with Do512 while we were in Austin for SXSW. Thanks to everyone who came out for the set and for the 512 team for capturing "A Dream of Home" on video.
New album, For The Morning, is out now on Fantasy Records. Check it out HERE.
Jam In The Van
We had a great time with Jam In the Van - playing songs from the new record, For The Morning, for them when we were in Austin for SXSW.
“Evening Country”
“Breaking A Heart”
“A Dream Of Home”
Tyler Ramsey performing new album at Horizon Records
Tyler Ramsey is as surprised as anyone that it’s been almost eight years since his last solo album. But there are some pretty good reasons for that gap, most notably that for six of those years, Ramsey served as lead guitarist for the folk-rock sensation Band of Horses.
“I was fully absorbed in touring and doing a couple of records with the band, and time flew by as it does when you’re wrapped up in a project,” Ramsey says. “I didn’t feel like it had been that long; when I hear now the amount of time that’s passed, it’s surprising to me because I’ve been able to be creative. Hopefully there won’t be a big gap of time again.”
Part of the reason that Ramsey can work a little faster on his own music now is that he left Band of Horses in 2017 after several intense cycles of touring and recording.
There are moments in Ramsey’s songs that are reminiscent of Neil Young in his folk-music phase, and others that bring to mind the chiming country-rock guitars and rich vocal harmonies of bands like The Byrds or the Eagles, and he explores those sounds to the fullest on his just-out album “For the Morning.” The idyllic arrangements were inspired by the bucolic scenery around his home in the mountains outside Asheville, North Carolina, but the album itself has more restless origins.
“It’s a record that represents a lot of change,” Ramsey says. “It’s a big shift. I’d attribute that to constant having moved into being a dad, making decisions about moving forward in my career, that was all going on when I was writing the songs.”
In fact, some of the songs were written when Ramsey was still part of Band of Horses, most notably “A Dream of Home,” a harmony-drenched midtempo rocker about being on the road and thinking of home.
“That song reflects my life and being torn between the path I was on and a simpler, more grounded way,” Ramsey says. “That reflects that yearning for a different path.”
Even though Ramsey is happier as a solo artist on a smaller scale than Band of Horses, he still struggles with the conflict of pursuing his music and spending time with his wife and young daughter.
“When I walk out the door to go on tour, I know that I’m going to do what I’ve been preparing myself to do my whole life,” he says. “I’m torn; but the flip side is that when I come home, I’m 100 percent home. I can hang out with my daughter all the time. I get this solid block of time where it’s us hanging out and doing everything we want to do together.”
The “For the Morning” album is rich with intricate, layered, full-band arrangements, which will make things interesting when Ramsey plays the material solo in a show at Horizon Records on Saturday.
“My goal is to write songs that people can get engaged with, with just a guitar and a voice,” he says. “My hope is that I’m writing songs that are engaging enough and people won’t think there’s anything missing.”
The show is part of Horizon’s celebration of Record Store Day, a day that recognizes independent brick-and-mortar record stores around the country.
“It’s important to keep record stores going all over the place,” Ramsey says. “It was where I discovered all of my new music. But the main thing is that I’ve known Gene Berger [the owner of Horizon] forever. He’s always been such a huge supporter of local music and music in general. He’s helped me out so much over the years, so when I talked to him about the possibility of doing it, it was a no-brainer to get in there and play.”
What: Tyler Ramsey
When: Noon Saturday, April 13
Where: Horizon Records, 2-A W. Stone Ave., Greenville
Admission: Free
Info: 864-235-7922, http://horizonrecords.net/
For The Morning Out Now!
Today is a huge day for us. For the Morning has officially been released into the world, and it's also our first vinyl release! It has been a long road, but we are all incredibly grateful to get to this day. Below are links to all major digital retailers, and our official webstore where you can get Vinyl and CD copies of the album. Of course you can always go out to your local record store and grab one there as well.
Webstore | Spotify | Apple Music | iTunes | Amazon
Thank you all for your continued support on this endeavor. It means the the world to us. Hope you enjoy the record, and we look forward to seeing you out on the road real soon!
Sounds: Tyler Ramsey // A Dream of Home
There’s something about spring that changes me. Sure, it makes me want to open up all the windows, air out the house, scrub the baseboards, and give away clothes, but beneath the flurry of activity, there’s a grounding within me, like my feet are planted a little more firmly on the earth. I want to slow my pace, turn off my phone, watch the sun rise and set, and take a long, deep breath.
Asheville, North Carolina’s Tyler Ramsey‘s “A Dream of Home” wraps all of those thoughts and feelings up in one song. The former Band of Horse’s guitarist and co-songwriter’s latest track is warm and root-bound, a solid oak tree in a tempest of quick and dirty tracks that come and go like a cloud in the sky. It’s textured, a little worn, soft to the touch and easy on the ears. I’ve got it on repeat, and not just to write this review; it’s exactly what my soul has needed.
(I also immediately pre-ordered the upcoming album, For The Morning.)
Settle down, take a deep breath, and stream “A Dream of Home” here:
Live on DittyTV Wednesday, April 3
On their last run on the way to SXSW, Tyler Ramsey and his band stopped by Ditty TV to record a handful of songs live in studio. Check out “A Dream of Home” above and tune in for the entire performance Wednesday, April 3 at 8p CT at DittyTV.com.
The new record, For the Morning, is out this Friday, April 5. You can pre-order the record HERE.
Listen: Tyler Ramsey, "Evening Country"
In Their Words: “A couple of years ago my band and I started messing around with some of my older and more pared-down songs and trying to bring them into a band setting. ‘Evening Kitchen’ was a song that I had written for the Band of Horses record Infinite Arms and when we did that record it stood out because it was in contrast with the rest of the album and really bare bones. A lot of that album was lushly produced and I thought having the song recorded with a single acoustic guitar and vocals would help balance things. It worked well in the sequence of that album and led to a lot of the more intimate moments in our live shows and the direction we headed in for the live Ryman acoustic album.
“This version, called ‘Evening Country,’ was a way to reimagine the song and a chance to put it into a new frame with some truly amazing musicians. It was recorded in Louisville, Kentucky, with Seth Kauffman (Floating Action), Kevin Ratterman (Lalaland Studio, My Morning Jacket, Ray Lamontagne), and I doing the basic tracking. Seth had worked with pedal steel guitarist Russ Pahl before and we were able to get him to play on it (I still jump up and down when I hear his playing!). And the goosebump-inducing harmony vocals were sung by Molly Parden and Thad Cockrell and recorded at the Fleetwood Shack in Nashville by my old friend Bill Reynolds (former Band of Horses bassist). The opportunity to revisit this song in the way that we did has given it a new energy for me as well as new meaning.
“A wild memory of this song: years ago we were playing at Bonnaroo after Infinite Arms had been released. We finished our set and climbed down off the stage and our manager came up and told us to go back up and play a couple more songs because Bruce Springsteen had come onto our side stage to watch us play just as we were walking off. We ran back up and ended up playing ‘Evening Kitchen’ last, and all I could think about the whole time was that there was Bruce Springsteen standing fifteen feet away from me and watching us play this song I’d written — don’t f*ck it up! We made it through and headed back down off the stage and there he was with that Bruce Springsteen smile and handshakes all around. Our monitor man Jon Cronin told me afterwards that he heard Bruce say ‘That’s a good song!’ That’s enough for me!” — Tyler Ramsey
Tyler Ramsey reworks old Band Of Horses single with pedal steel guitar on “Evening Country”
Tyler Ramsey, formerly of Band Of Horses, has reworked the band's "Evening Kitchen" single with some pedal steel guitar, renaming it "Evening Country".
"Evening Kitchen", originally written by Ramsey, appeared on Band Of Horses' Infinite Arms album in 2010 as an intimate piano piece.
Having left the band, the former guitarist has since reworked the track, injecting some pedal steel guitar, and renaming it "Evening Country".
"Evening Country" is the third single to be shared from Ramsey's first solo album n eight years, For The Morning, after earlier singles "A Dream Of Home" and "Firewood".
On his follow up to 2011's The Valley Wind, Ramsey says, "This album came about in the midst of a lot of change. The birth of my daughter, a move to the country, and the steady realization that I needed to switch the road I was on in my life as a musician and songwriter. I tried to express and balance images of life as a constantly traveling and touring musician with the more connected life I live at home and the time I spend hiking in the mountains where I live."
"Evening Country" is out now. For The Morning drops 5 April via Fantasy / Virgin EMI. Tyler Ramsey will play London's St. Pancras Old Church on 20 May.