Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown

Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown

Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown is a rock group from Nashville, United States, active since 2009. The band is centred on Tyler Bryant, with Graham Whitford on guitar; the broader lineup in the bio also includes Caleb Crosby on drums and Noah Denney on bass. The group takes in southern rock, blues rock, rock, blues and indie influences.

Formation and lineup

Tyler Bryant moves to Nashville from Honey Grove, Texas at 17 to write songs and form a band. He later announces the name Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown in 2011, saying he wants to recognise the band in everything he does. The Shakedown includes Graham Whitford, who is identified as the son of Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford, along with Caleb Crosby and Noah Denney.

Tyler Bryant’s background

Bryant describes an early musical turning point at age 11, when he hears blues guitarist Roosevelt Twitty playing in a music store in Paris, Texas. At 15, he wins the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation’s New Generation Award, which marks him as one of the most promising new artists of the time. He is also signed on the spot by John Huie at Creative Artists Agency after his first showcase in Nashville.

He is known as a guitarist, vocalist and performer, and shares stages with artists including Aerosmith, Jeff Beck, Heart, REO Speedwagon, Paul Simon, B.B. King, Pat Benatar, The Arc Angels, Vince Gill, Gavin DeGraw and Joe Bonamassa. He also performs at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago.

Recordings and releases

Bryant signs to Sony ATV in 2011 and to Carved Records, distributed by EMI, in 2012. The band releases the EP My Radio in 2011, followed by From The Sandcastle later that same year. The track “Shackles” from From The Sandcastle becomes an iTunes Discovery Download and the album appears in iTunes’ Rock on the Rise section for more than eight weeks.

The bio also says Bryant is recording a first full-length album titled Wild Child. He contributes to the score for the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter soundtrack.

Media appearances and recognition

Bryant is featured alongside Beck, Santana and Slash in the film Rock Prophecies, directed by John Chester and produced by Tim Kaiser. The film airs on PBS and is available online through Netflix and iTunes. His song “Who I Am” appears in Guitar Hero 5, and he is described as the first unsigned artist to have a song in the game.

Musical influences and collaborators

Bryant cites Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Black Crowes and Jeff Beck among his musical influences. He records with producers Kevin Shirley, Jed Leiber, Andy Johns, Jay Joyce, Dennis Herring and Roger Alan Nichols.