Hailing from Winston-Salem, NC, Tyler Nail is a dynamic Americana songwriter whose story-driven songs capture life's depth, darkness, and beauty. His songs deliver vivid stories with colorful cinematic clarity. He has a raspy voice, a thick Appalachian accent, and busy two-finger picking style.
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Nail has been an artist and performer since 2008. Throughout his long career he has toured heavily, landed song placement in film, and released multiple LPs, EPs, and singles. Most fundamentally, Nail is a Southern songwriter with a keen and unique eye for observation, giving his lyrics a refreshing depth and sincerity.
"North Carolina is a Mecca of troubadouring singer-songwriter brilliance...
Tyler Nail is undoubtedly a key player in the current chapter of this storied heritage."
-Aldora Britain Records
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Tyler Nail is a wiry figure with a dark, prominent beard. He marches around club stages like he can’t bear to stand still. His voice is rough, loud, and unmistakably Southern. His two-finger Piedmont-style guitar playing weaves intricate compositions that carry both rhythm and melody. His songs are cinematic, built on vivid imagery and storytelling, reflecting on love, loss, and life.
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Nail’s story began in Winston-Salem, North Carolina – a city built on tobacco, now decorated with repurposed brick factories. He grew up in a log cabin his grandfather built, surrounded by dogwood trees and red clay. His mother sang in the church choir. His father played drums. As a boy, Nail banged out drum patterns on pots and pillows around the house. It was in this setting that Nail discovered a love for music. Throughout childhood, Nail would thumb through his father's CDs and his grandfather's records, studying songs of all genres.
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He entered into music performance as a singing drummer, piling his friends into a hot backyard building to play rock songs. But at sixteen, he picked up his first guitar and started writing original songs. He was not a natural singer. His early recordings were as rough as they come. But he kept at it, playing open mics and bars, learning his voice.
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From there, music consumed him. He gained his first fans in a coffee shop in King, NC, and more in the clubs of Winston-Salem. He started playing in a local competition called the Winston-Salem Shuffle, where he became its most decorated winner. In 2011, he released his first proper album, Winter to Winter. That same year, he produced When I Go Away: A Tribute to Levon Helm – a project that strengthened his place in the local scene.
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Over the years, Nail released more albums, shared stages with Americana staples like The Hackensaw Boys and American Aquarium, and toured the country with his band, The Tyler Nail Trio. In 2016, the band disbanded and Nail took a break from touring. Nail stayed in North Carolina, releasing music quietly until 2019, when his double album Life Lessons marked a darker and louder chapter in his artistry.
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The pandemic halted his touring entirely, but it reignited his drive. His 2020 single “I Don’t Wanna Die Alone” spoke to a renewed dedication to the adventurous life. In 2021, his DEVIL EP hinted at a fresh fire burning in his artistry.
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In 2023, after years of rebuilding and soul-searching, Nail decided to leave North Carolina. He moved far from the Carolina foothills to the little city of Providence, Rhode Island, to seek new inspiration and opportunity. In 2024 he worked aggressively on music, sharing songs through Patreon and YouTube while expanding his creative team. During this time, he recorded Family, an album honoring his North Carolina roots, capturing the warmth and weight of home from afar, and honing in on a pure, guitar-driven Americana sound.
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Tyler Nail’s catalog boasts nearly 300 songs. The Southern recluse-turned-wanderer writes with wisdom and craftsmanship, earning accolades along the way: winner of "Best Country Artist" at the Forsyth Entertainment Awards (2018), semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition and American Songwriter Road-Ready Contest (2024), voted in the top 5 songwriters of the Piedmont Triad for multiple years, and nominated for best Americana artist in Providence by Motif Magazine (2025).
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His humble beginnings in his grandfather's cabin led him to packed-out music clubs in Winston-Salem. Years of hanging on to home led him to the snowy streets of Providence, RI. Nail's story is one of exploration, transformation, and authenticity. He is a Southern songwriter, a craftsman, and a heavy-hitting Americana artist. In an industry of personas and wild antics, Nail tries to explore how interesting, entertaining, and artistic "realness" can be. Much like his musical heroes, Nail is driven by the craftsmanship of his songs, and sharing them with as many people as he can across the country, on stage and on recording.