ABOUT NICK
Whether he is appearing on the Music Row Country Breakout Chart or writing alongside some of the industry’s top songwriters and producers, Nick Tyrrel’s list of achievements in music never stops growing. Inspired by the likes of Jake Owen, Matchbox 20 and U2, the 29-year-old vocalist, lyricist and guitarist from San Francisco has opened for popular acts such as Lee Brice, Steve Miller Band, Dustin Lynch, Cole Swindell, REO Speedwagon, Styx, and more.
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Nick is currently preparing for the release of his untitled debut EP. The EP will feature six original songs co-written by Nick, Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer Clay Mills (“Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” by Darius Rucker, “Beautiful Mess” by Diamond Rio) and multi-platinum producer and songwriter Mike Krompass (Meghan Trainor, SmashMouth, Steven Tyler).
"It is an honor working with Clay and Mike because they are truly masters of their craft,” says Nick. “There are many times when we are in the studio that I am just in awe of their talents and feel so lucky to be working with them on this project.”
Mills had high praise for Nick’s work as an artist. "I've written with a lot of big artists over the years and Nick has what those special few have in that he can sing three words, and you hear years of experience dripping off every syllable,” says Mills. "I knew the moment I heard his voice that there was a true artist waiting to come out, and his writing on this latest project has proved me right."
The EP was recorded at Krompass’ studio, Twelve Records, in Nashville. It will drop in Summer 2019 and will be available for streaming and digital purchase on all major platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes and Amazon.
Nick has released five singles to date, all of which are currently available for streaming. One of them, “Breathe the Air Tonight,” was released to radio in 2017 and climbed to #79 on the Music Row Country Breakout Chart. It was a memorable experience for Nick, mostly considering “Breathe the Air Tonight” was only the second single he had recorded. The song also captured the attention of the University of Alabama, which decided to play it at Crimson Tide baseball and softball games.
“Having the song played at Alabama’s baseball and softball games is such a cool experience,” says Nick. “I sent the song to the university’s athletic department to see if it was something they would be interested in playing during the games, and they sent me back a reply saying they loved it and wanted to add it to the baseball and softball playlists.”
A video of Nick performing one of his other singles, “Thin Blue Line,” went viral on social media and accumulated more than 300,000 views on Facebook. He wrote the song after a chance meeting with an on-duty police officer who spoke to Nick while he was working on his music at a community park after hours. As Nick tells it, the officer approached him with some caution, but her demeanor changed quickly after hearing him sing.
“Her demeanor went from suspicious and guarded to curious and interested,” he remembers. “She let her guard down and showed me the real her, and it made me think about how there is a thin line between the ego and the soul and how by simply playing some music for her led to both of us opening up.”
Nick has also found ways to use his music to help others. He is an advocate for the Dillon Strong Foundation, a nonprofit founded to support children battling cancer. It was named after Dillon O’Leary who, at the age of 11, was diagnosed with ependymoma, a rare type of brain and spinal cord tumors. O’Leary eventually passed, but the foundation lives on in his memory holding fundraisers at which Nick has performed.
“Dillon was an inspiration to me,” says Nick. “He fought a hard battle, and it was tragic when we had to say goodbye to him.”
While many artists fall in love with creating music at an early age, Nick came into music later in life. His early years were spent pursuing his love of baseball until taking up guitar and singing when he was 20. After performing for family and friends at a camp, Nick’s uncle gifted him a songwriting journal.
“Two weeks after my uncle gave me the journal, I found myself going through a break-up with this girl I was dating,” he remembers. “As soon as that happened I was in that journal writing lyrics and chord progressions. That is the first time I really remember diving head first into songwriting, and I fell in love with it.”
Away from music, Nick still follows baseball and football, specifically the San Francisco Giants and 49ers respectively. He is an avid runner and enjoys exploring spirituality. Nick also loves spending time with his dogs in nature.