Two milestone moments stand out for Tyler Tomlinson since he joined Morgan Wallen’s band in 2018 – and the first took place not long after he’d joined.
“We were playing little bars that held 200 or 300 people, and they weren’t even full sometimes,” he says. “Morgan hadn’t released his first album. The song Whiskey Glasses became one of his biggest hits, and it’s the one we still close with live, but for the longest time it was just in the middle of the set.
“Night after night we’d play this song in bars and we couldn’t play the next song because people would scream for five to 10 minutes. I’m not exaggerating. It would go on forever. We’d be onstage, flabbergasted, tearing up. And those moments were like, ‘This isn't just another gig. This is something different.’”
The second big moment took place when live work resumed after almost two years of Covid lockdowns. “When our tour shut down in 2020, our biggest headline show was 4,000 people,” Tomlinson says. “When we came back at the end of 2021, the first show was 40,000.
“If you’d told nine-year-old me, learning to play Brad Paisley songs, ‘One day you'll be playing football stadiums with your best friends,’ I would’ve said, ‘That’s not even an attainable goal.’ I didn’t even know to dream that!”
A self-described “timid introvert” – although you’d never guess from watching him onstage – Tomlinson grew up in Valdosta, Georgia, with music in his blood. His father and grandfather played guitar; his uncle played guitar and bass.
At age seven, Tomlinson began on drums, moved to guitar, and played in hardcore bands until he heard Brad Paisley’s solo on Little Moments, which was when he found his calling in country music.
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He began touring after high school, moving to Nashville in 2013 with friend and colleague Cole Taylor. That gig led to one with Jamie Lynn Spears, then Eric Paslay in 2015, Seth Ennis in 2017, and a job offer on New Year’s Eve from Morgan Wallen’s manager.
Over the course of five years and three albums, Wallen has become one of the industry’s top artists. Last year’s 57-show One Night At a Time world tour took the musicians – Wallen on vocals, acoustic guitar and piano, Tomlinson and Dominic Frost sharing guitar duties, drummer and musical director Mark “Taco” Annino, bassist/guitarist Luke Rice, “utility” players Chris Gladden (keyboards and more) and Tony Aichele (guitar, pedal steel, and more) – into sold-out stadiums across five countries.
When I started playing Knaggs it was like I went from renting my home to owning
The tour continues in 2024 with an additional 29 shows. Tomlinson will travel with the same rig: three Knaggs Kenai guitars, his signature Knaggs Keya J TT, Knaggs Choptank, Knaggs hollowbody Sheyenne and Chena, JL Custom sparkle black Strat, Hughes CEM-4 T with Certano bender, Danelectro baritone, and a walnut JPrice parlor-style acoustic.
You’ve been a Knaggs artist for 10 years. What makes their guitars right for you and Morgan’s music?
“There's something so expressive about the way Joe builds his guitars. I grew up playing Teles, but when I started playing Knaggs it was like I went from renting my home to owning. I can really be myself on those guitars. There’s something inspiring about the way they’re put together.”
You seem to like mahogany and maple.
“Yeah, it’s a classic combination. But my favorite Knaggs is a Choptank that’s swamp ash with a maple neck and cocobolo fingerboard, which is an interesting combination. I don’t know if it has anything to do with those three woods together, but I will say – and I know I’m a little biased – that I think it’s the best guitar he’s ever built.”
The Choptank was your number one. Now that you have your signature Keya, has it taken over that spot?
“I retired that particular Choptank. It means a lot to me and I would rather keep it at home and use it for sessions and sentimentality. I now have a different Choptank on the road.
“For most of Morgan's music, the Kenai fits best because there’s a lot of 335 tones or humbucker-type sounds on the record, so that's what I gravitate towards first for learning Morgan parts. But some of my favorite sounds that I get to do in the set come from the Keya, so I’m really excited that it gets to be my signature guitar.”
Your influences include Brad Paisley, Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. Paisley is obvious, but how do the others influence what you’re doing now?
“Our job as a live band is to recreate the parts as they were recorded, but with a little more adrenaline. The thrill, for me, is finding that balance of playing them note for note, tone for tone, but also with enough energy so that it makes sense in a live setting.
If I can add a little bit more tasteful vibrato to this one note of this one chord, how much can I elevate that moment from show to show?
“The show definitely is more rocking than the records. It’s a fun challenge to bring influences from Vai or Satriani or Paisley – not necessarily with more notes, but doing it with the adrenaline they bring to their playing.”
At this point, how much of the show is muscle memory?
“It’s pretty much all muscle memory now. Because of that, I really pay attention to my right hand, the way I’m picking each note: how can I add a little more emotion to this part than I did last night?
“I don’t know if it translates, but it feels different to me if I’m picking from a certain angle than if I’m doing it completely flat. I’m constantly thinking about my pick angle, how that translates the way I feel in that moment – the way the song makes me feel.
“How can I translate that to the audience with my picking or my vibrato? I’ve got the parts down, but I want to play them even better, so if I can add a little bit more tasteful vibrato to this one note of this one chord, how much can I elevate that moment from show to show?
We have a full backline team, and not only are they amazing hard workers, but they’re really good friends, too
“I’m constantly challenging myself with that. Do I need to lighten up my touch? Will that help things breathe more? Is my guitar compressing too much in my ears because I’m hitting too hard? Do I want to bring up more 6K in my EQ pedal?
“I accidentally moved the mid-knob on my overdrive and I’m all the way on the other side of the stage and can’t do anything about it. My mind never shuts off!”
Going into this interview, you credited your tech, Matt Kennedy, as an integral part of the tour for you. Techs rarely get the credit they deserve.
“He’s the best. First, he’s an amazing guitar player, so that creates an automatic bond because we can nerd out on gear and go back and forth on ideas. He built the board and rack for this tour, and he turned me on to the Greer Lightspeed, which is now one of the main overdrives in the rig.
“Matt is thoughtful, proactive, always paying attention, and he has the right suggestions and solutions. He was the first tech Morgan hired for the backline at the beginning of 2020, when we were a four-piece.
“At that time he teched for all of us, but now we’re a six-piece, he takes care of Morgan and me. We have a full backline team, and not only are they amazing hard workers, but they’re really good friends, too. It’s an awesome dynamic.”
- Follow Tomlinson on Instagram and check out his Mechanics Wanted metal project. Catch Wallen’s band on tour starting on April 4.
