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Who the Heck is Tyler Nance? The Missouri Maverick Behind the Viral New Song, ‘Keeps Me Sane’

July 15, 2025 3:23 pm GMT

Tyler Nance continues to establish himself as one of the most exciting new voices in the country and Americana sphere, with the fast-emerging Missouri singer-songwriter's latest single, ‘Keeps Me Sane’, spreading rapidly across TikTok in recent weeks.

Such was the wave of popularity that met Nance's initial teaser of ‘Keeps Me Sane’, the up-and-coming crooner was forced to adjust his rollout plans and drop the song early.

At the time of writing, ‘Keeps Me Sane’ has surpassed 500K streams on Spotify alone, with around 300K views on YouTube and more than 30K fans using the sound on TikTok. Those figures would be impressive for a song that dropped last month - but Nance only released ‘Keeps Me Sane’ less than a week ago, on Friday, July 11th.

This immediate success is a testament to the country prodigy's distinct sound and raw, unfiltered lyricism, with Tyler Nance combining a rich, yearning vocal style that feels reminiscent of another Tyler - Childers - with sparse, intricate instrumentation.

‘Keeps Me Sane’ finds Tyler Nance doubling down on the unabashed honesty that permeated his celebrated I'm Not Him EP, which arrived in May. On that project, Nance made the bold creative decision to use an old mugshot as the cover artwork.

However, rather than sending a rebellious, I-don't-care-what-you-think-of-me, Gavin Adcock-esque message, the use of this image for I'm Not Him conveyed Nance's evolution since that arrest. On the title-track, Nance accepts accountability, but stresses that he is no longer the same person as the man in the mugshot (“So many times I wish I didn't, but I did / Heaven knows that was me, but I'm not him”).

Similarly, on ‘Keeps Me Sane’, Tyler Nance showcases this same vulnerability, but accentuates it with visceral imagery. The 21-year-old muses, “I work and ponder praying for a little bit of rain / But I’m flooded like the water in the window pane / Taken over by the mullin’ goin in my brain / It might sound crazy but it keeps me sane”.

Tyler Nance storytelling captures the introspective angst and restless rumination of modern generations, while still lacing a nostalgic, sepia-tinged ambience into his songs.

His tone carries an enchantingly weather-worn quality, with the fact that he is a fourth-generation farmer and a former welder adding authenticity to his blue-collar-tinted themes.

What makes Tyler Nance's ascent all the more striking is the fact that he only released his first single less than a year ago, in August 2024. If this is what Nance has achieved in under twelve months, we can't wait to see what's in store from him throughout the rest of 2025, as the excitement builds ahead of his debut studio album.

For the full lyrics to Tyler Nance's ‘Keeps Me Sane’, see below:

“Crows are laughin while I’m drownin in the summer heat

Nickajacks and psilocybin with the maple leaves

Sugarcoats an evil world and my sobriety

I’d be better with you next to me

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I work and ponder praying for a little bit of rain

But I’m flooded like the water in the window pane

Taken over by the mullin goin in my brain

It might sound crazy but it keeps me sane

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Don’t know why