"The Similarities Are Just Very Strange": Ty Myers Suggests He Could Be Ernest Hemingway Reincarnated In Sprawling New Interview
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On a frigid January morning, Ty Myers radiates utter warmth, soothing the soul and igniting a joy that's almost as radiant as his own.
He's a wide-eyed 17-year-old from just outside of Austin, Texas, who started playing around with his guitar and writing songs around the age of 6. Hailing from a sixth generation cattle ranch and boasting a couple of viral songs, it would be easy to write him off as just another charming TikTok singer.
Yet, as he begins to explain the passion, care and sentiment behind his craft, you can't help but lean in closer.
So far in his young career, Myers hasn't tried to follow the proven formula for country success. Rather than three chords and the truth, he's found a lane that, while perhaps not inherently "country" on its face, is wholly country at its core.
An old soul at heart, which runs on '90s country and a cocktail of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Bill Withers, Otis Redding and Chris Stapleton, Myers effortlessly weaves between genres rather than being married to one, at one moment offering something that's breezy and bluesy, while the next is steeped in twang and ready to burst with Texas dancehall mettle.
When it comes to how he classifies his own sound, he simply states that "good music is just good music."
"I feel like genres are kind of crumbling at the base", Myers expands on the concept of genre lines and country qualifications. "I feel like less and less people are going, ‘I'm not going to listen to that, because that is this genre and I don't listen to this genre.’ Music is becoming so diverse and so different with every song, and every artist is coming out with different genres of music, even within one album".
"Good songs are at the heart of everything right now and I love that. I think it's a great period of time and music," he adds, beaming.
What a time in music it is, especially as Myers readies his debut record, The Select, for release on January 24.
Featuring 16 songs that highlight his compelling songwriting skills and notable guitar chops, the project is home to a flurry of early hits for the burgeoning artist, including his Billboard Hot 100 chart debut, 'Ends of the Earth,’ as well as ‘Drunk Love,’ ‘Can’t Hold Me Down,’ ‘Worry is a Sickness,’ ‘Drinkin’ Alone’ and his soul-stirring debut single, ‘Tie That Binds,’ all of which already total upwards of 200 million streams.
"It's a culmination of everything since I started. That's kind of how all first albums are, I guess, but I started writing when I was around six or seven and have been writing ever since," Myers explains. "I've had the opportunity to choose songs from way back then, songs I wrote a couple years ago and some songs I wrote the day before I recorded it."
With so many years of material available, though, trying to mold the perfect introduction to his artistry was no small feat.
"When making an album, I think about what I would want to hear. When I was picking all of these songs, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to hear and what I wanted out of this first album," he notes.
"I think what I've done with this album is try to pull from all of the influences that I've garnered over the years. My first love was old country when I was little bitty, because that's just what we listened to. Then my mom introduced me to more soul and blues stuff, which was a huge influence on this album. Obviously, I'm young and I listen to R&B and rap sometimes. I'm not sure how much that has to do with my sound, but I'm sure it's influenced it in some way, shape or form," he adds with a laugh.
What results is a dynamic collection of songs that encapsulate merely the first chapter of Ty Myers' artistic journey, whetting our appetite for whatever he has up his sleeve next in what's sure to be a promising and prolific career.
Myers also reflected on his unique connection to Ernest Hemingway, what keeps him busy outside of music, his special musical talent and what's in store for 2025.
On his impressive ability to play music by ear:
“It's really just practice. I wouldn't say I can play anything by ear but I can probably play any country song by ear. With everything else, it's probably not as accurate as the recorded version, but it's just all practice and getting used to the instrument. I’ve spent so much time playing guitar that it's really second nature to me at this point.
It’s all about creating a bond with your instrument and the music. There's so many songs I write that I go into thinking of another song. I'm thinking, ‘Oh, I really like this song. How can I recreate it in my own way and make it my song?’ I've done that so many times. You find out how to play this song and then you use some of the theory of that song in your song.
It all comes down to time with your instrument, time within the music and creating a bond like that”.
On his deep reverence for novelist Ernest Hemingway and his influence on The Select:
“My uncle, who I was very close to and has now passed away, was a huge Hemingway fan. He passed that down to my mom, who always had books lying around, so when I was little and wanted to read, I would probably be reading Hemingway.
I always loved him just because of his writing, but as I got older, I started reading about him as a person and his life. It’s very strange how similar he and I are, like similar traits and everything, really, to a T. I'm not going to say I believe in reincarnation, but if it exists, I’m pretty confident that I was probably Ernest Hemingway in a past life. The similarities are just very strange”.
On his favorite works by Hemingway:
“The Sun Also Rises is definitely top three for me, which is where I got the title for this album from.
A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Old Man and the Sea, those are all up there for me. He has so many great works so it's hard to choose one”.
On what keeps him busy outside of music:
“I love to hunt and fish, which is actually a similarity to Ernest. I love to golf, as well; that's a big hobby of mine.
Reading is more of a stress relief for me. If I just need to decompress a little bit and really ground myself, I'll sit down and read for an hour or two to balance myself out that way”.
On his goals for 2025, either personal or professional:
“Oh, my God. This is tough.
I feel like I should make it personal so my goal is to shoot under par at some point this year in golf.
I'm gonna be mad at myself if I don't get it now!”
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