Date: February 221st, 2024
Opening Act: Jeremy Lister

Singer/songwriter Tyler Ramsey, formerly of Band of Horses, played Milkboy in Philly on a Wednesday night with Jeremy Lister. I haven’t been to Philly since 2008 but I had the opportunity to see Tyler perform solo finally.

I’ve been hooked on Tyler Ramsey’s music this year and the tail end of last year. The title track of his new album “New Lost Ages” has been played on repeat and his last album from 2019 has been played a lot in recent months. His new album is out now and I think it’s already one of my favorites from 2024. I love Band of Horses and especially liked the tracks Tyler sang on like “Evening Kitchen” and “Country Teen.” I saw Tyler perform with the band once at Carnegie Hall and that was an excellent concert!

Nashville-based singer/songwriter Jeremy Lister opened up the show and I checked out a few tunes before I saw him live. The song that stuck out to me was “Into The Wild.” It was easily the catchiest song he wrote and also stood out during his set as well. Jeremy said it was about going to the National Parks, but then Toyota picked it up to use for commercials so he was making jokes around that. He also talked about being on the NBC show The Sing-Off in 2010.

His vocals were excellent and he has a similar singing voice and style to Tim Warren of The Alternate Routes. At one point, he talked about writing a Crooner Christmas album and decided to play one of the songs he wrote…in February. The crowd was very receptive to it despite the holiday having been over for 2 months. I’ll have to add some of his music to my Xmas playlists when it comes time for that again. Jeremy played his song “L-O-V-E-L-O-V-E” and then played a melody of covers using the same beat, it was quite enjoyable!

Tyler Ramsey was up next and Jeremy joined him on stage for a bunch of songs, along with Tyler’s friend Brian (or a Bryan like me?) who played guitar and pedal steel guitar. Tyler started off with an instrumental intro and then went into “1000 Black Birds.”

Tyler’s music is very tranquil and harmonizing, and I felt like I was put in hypnotic trance listening. His vocals just hook you in. It was so quiet in the venue you could have heard a mouse fart. Unfortunately there were a few loud people in the back that were a bit loud throughout the night. Why pay money for a concert if you’re just going to talk loudly and be obnoxious? Tyler handled it like a pro and didn’t even mention it but I would have been pissed if I was him.

Back to the music, his last two albums were heavily featured, especially his new album, of course. He played “Evening Country” (his twangier version of Evening Kitchen), “Flare (For Neal Casal,” “We Were A Small Town,” “Where Were You” and “A Dream of Home.” “Flare” almost had me in tears. I guess Tyler’s my emo music? He did a different style version of his title track “New Lost Ages” which they were experimenting with. Tyler’s albums are a bit different than his solo performances since there’s a full band and more upbeat than live. He finished off his set with “These Ghosts,” his latest single from the album.

Tyler’s vocals are outstanding and I was glad I was able to hear them in person. I was watching him play the guitar too and you can tell he has a different style than others when playing an acoustic guitar. I can’t remember if he sang anything solo when I saw Band of Horses years ago. I wish he played “Country Teen” but at least we got one BOH song. Not sure if Tyler does a full band tour all that much but that would be something to see! Tyler’s on tour now so check him out and be sure to buy New Lost Ages!

Jeremy Lister

Tyler Ramsey