Tyler Grant joined KGNU’s Neil Smart for a live studio session ahead of his show at eTown Hall in Boulder on April 18th. He performed songs from his new record Flatpicker, shared stories behind the music, and talked about his journey back to bluegrass after some time away. (Interview date: 4/5/2025)
Neil Smart: That was Tyler Grant. Imagine that. And I am joined in the studio right now by Mr. Grant. Good morning, Tyler.
Tyler Grant: Good morning, Boulder.
Neil Smart: There we go. Lemme get some levels here for you. Tyler’s joining us this morning and we’re just gonna kick one off if that’s all right.
Tyler Grant: Let’s do it. Thanks Neil for having me. Thank you KGNU Radio Boulder. Here we go. This is one from the new record, Flatpicker, the name of the album, and this song called Been Away Too Long.
[Tyler Grant plays Been Away Too Long]
Neil Smart: Very nice, very cool. That is off your new record, correct? Just released and being released as we speak, so to speak.
Tyler Grant: And it’s a week old, just a baby. Still in its infancy, yes. But that song is a couple months old. Released that as a single first with the full band, of course, Michael Daves singing the Tenor. Andy Thorn on the banjo. Andy Reiner on the Fiddle, Ace Engfer on the bass, and the incomparable Dylan McCarthy on the Mandolin. Hot band.
Neil Smart: Yeah, that’s pretty good right there. And who are you bringing with you on the 18th for the release party?
Tyler Grant: It’s pretty close to that group. Ace on the bass, my old brother from the Grant farm, he spent a lot of years touring together. And Andy Reiner on the fiddle and Dylan McCarthy on the mandolin, those are all fellows who played on the record. And Elijah Donovan on banjo. Great local banjo guy. Yeah. Amazing banjo banjo player plays in a group called Tonewood. I’m actually producing an album for them, so we’ve been working close together lately.
Neil Smart: Yeah, Elijah’s about as nice a guy as there is in the world too. He’s a good one there. Folks, yes, on the 18th of April, KGNU Presents Tyler Grant, an album release show at eTown Hall in Boulder. The doors are at 6:00 for a 7:00 show that night. And, how long has it been since you’ve released music, Tyler?
Tyler Grant: 2022. I released an album called Tryin’ To Have A Good Time, and that was a tribute to my father who passed away in 2019. Lost my Dad and I had a lot of songs that were based on lessons I’d learned from him over the years, including one of the best pieces of advice he ever gave me, which was “Tyler, no matter what the situation, the best thing you can do is try to have a good time.” So that was the title of that album, and it was a rocking Americana style thing. I played a lot of Telecaster. I played pretty much all Telecaster on that, and I thought the album turned out fantastic. It’s one of my favorite projects that I’ve ever released, but I was not touring behind it. I didn’t have a band, I wasn’t really doing the work. I just put it out there. As a tribute to dad and then I disappeared into the wilderness, which is something I’ve been doing quite a bit since the pandemic, when I became a river guide and started running river WonderGrass trips out in Dinosaur National Monument. So that album is there, it exists. But this is the first sort of bluegrass release I’ve done since the 2010s. 2016 was Earth and Wood. And then 2018 was Kanawha County Flatpicking with my West Virginia Paw Robin Kessinger. So it’s been a while, and that’s the sentiment behind that song I just sang. I’m in a bit of a rebranding time. I have a Flat Picking Academy on Artist Works that launched a couple years ago. I really enjoy teaching, I’ve been doing these Monday night play along Bluegrass Jams since the pandemic. Many of you out there are part of my online jam community. So this contribution mindset in the bluegrass community is something that I’m just really trying to show up this year and put everything I can into this release. Get back to playing the festivals, I’ll be back at Rockygrass Academy this summer performing a set at Rockygrass Festival with Charlie Rose. Rose and Grant Sunday set. So I’m just really excited. I had a good reset. I’m gonna still be raft guiding and entertaining on River Wonders launches, but doing less of that and doing more bluegrass picking in the realm of civilization.
Neil Smart: I’m glad you mentioned the artist works academy there because folks, Tyler’s an educator. He teaches online and in-person still? Are you still doing some in-person stuff?
Tyler Grant: Workshop based. I have a lot of private lessons to work off from the Kickstarter campaign that I did for this album, but I’m too busy really to take on private students, so I do a lot of workshops, music camps, things like that. And then I spend some time weekly keeping up on the Flat Picking Academy. And the beauty of that Artist Works platform is that participants, when they subscribe, they take all the lessons, they’re on there on the site and then they can send me a video and we do a video exchange. So it’s really the best way to work with me directly.
Neil Smart: Well, do check that out folks. Is that beautiful box you got strapped on? You got another one in it?
Tyler Grant: Yeah, so I’m gonna give this tune a go. We’ve got a festival coming up called Baja Wonder Grass. I’m very much involved in Winter Wonder Grass Festival and they get us on all these adventurous sort of gigs like River Wonder Grass and Baja Wonder Grass. Heading out to Baja in a couple weeks, and this is a tune from the Flatpicker album that was inspired by that experience. I like to make up tunes programmatic to the scenes I’m witnessing. So this one came to me down there in La Ventana, Baja California Sur, and it’s called Sea of Cortez.
[Tyler Grant plays Sea of Cortez]
Neil Smart: That’s pretty good right there. And I do need to take a minute here and let you know you are listening to your radio station, KGNU FM 88.5 Boulder, KGNU 1390, Denver doing the FCC business. Yeah, that folks, I’m sitting across the board from Tyler and watching his fingers and I own guitars. That’s pretty amazing stuff. Folks, get out and see Tyler Grant. Get to that show on the 18th at eTown Hall. What a great room for an album release party. Just a real solid sound, gonna be a great crowd as always.
Tyler Grant: I’m so grateful for the opportunity. Huge thanks to KGNU for presenting this show and eTown Hall for hosting it for the band who has been with me. Through thick and thin during the recording process and doing all these videos that we filmed, some live videos and a couple shows we’ve already played. So I’m very excited about the show on April 18th,
Neil Smart: Cannot wait for that one. April 18th, eTown Hall in Boulder. Folks, I’m just looking to see if we’ve got a low ticket alert on it yet. Not yet, but get your tickets ’cause you’re gonna need them. This thing is gonna sell out. Tyler, I’m gonna ask you for one more before we had it.
Tyler Grant: Oh, I’d love to.
Neil Smart: Folks, get out and see Tyler Grant and get this new record ’cause everything I’ve heard off it is just phenomenal. The production’s great. Obviously the musicianship is other worldly in my opinion, but very well done record.
Tyler Grant: Thank you, Neil.
Neil Smart: Absolutely. Thanks again for coming in, Tyler. We sure appreciate you and for everything you do in the community and for everything you’ve done with the station and for the station. We do thank you so much.
Tyler Grant: You’re welcome. And thank you so much for supporting the music in the community here on KGNU. This song is called Goat Canyon Trestle, about the largest wooden trestle ever built and the story of the Impossible Railroad, the San Diego and Arizona Eastern.
[Tyler Grant plays Goat Canyon Trestle]
Neil Smart: Ladies and gentlemen, Tyler Grant Live on KGNU in the studio with me. Thanks again, Tyler, for coming in.
