Tyler Braden Interview - Debut Album, Devil You Know, Songs

Over the past few years, Tyler Braden has emerged as a talented country-rock singer/songwriter to watch. He has a powerful, soulful singing voice, and he writes thoughtful, heartfelt songs. And this week he’s releasing his debut album, Devil and a Prayer, on Warner Music Nashville Records.

This new album contains 19 songs, which provide a good overview of Braden’s music. The songs range from his strong hit singles “Devil You Know” and “God & Guns N’ Roses,” to more acoustic songs such as “To Tell You The Truth” and “Dear Old Flame.” Other highlights include “Right On Track” and “Might Be Dangerous” (which is a duet with Kaitlin Butts).

Braden discusses his new album: “As an artist, it’s exciting to constantly relearn who you are as you grow, and this album is a huge culmination of those moments. The whole process of a debut album has taught me so much about myself and I’m stoked for everyone to experience who I’ve become. Front to back, it’s where I’ve been and it’s the direction I’m headed. I built it like a set list, consistently keeping the live aspect in mind, so check it out and then come see it in person!”

Braden grew up in Alabama, and when he was in college at age 19, he formed a band and started playing live. The band mainly played rock cover songs, but they also played the otiginal songs that Braden was writing.

Interestingly, Braden first worked as a firefighter. He and a friend applied to the Montgomery, Alabama fire department, and they were selected among many candidates that applied. Braden worked as a firefighter in Montgomery, and then he moved to Brentwood, Tennessee (a suburb of Nashville) and worked as a firefighter there.

After moving to the Nashville area, Braden was able to make connections in the music business, and he subsequently signed a music publishing deal. This eventually led to Braden receiving offers from record labels, and he decided to sign with Warner Music Nashville.

In 2021, Braden released his 7-song EP called What Do They Know. Then in 2023, he released his 6-song EP, Neon Grave. The key songs from these EPs include “Try Losing One,” “Secret” and “Neon Grave.”

Here’s the video of Tyler Braden’s hit, “Devil You Know.”

Currently, with the release of his album Devil and a Prayer, Braden has been busy touring with his band. He is finishing a tour with Warren Zeiders, and later this year he’ll be opening for Darius Rucker on a tour. In addition, Braden is also headlining his own shows.

We are pleased to do this new Q&A interview with Tyler Braden. He talks about the making of his new album, his hit single “Devil You Know,” and his songwriting.

DK: I read that you grew up in Alabama. How did you get started with music, singing and writing songs?

Tyler Braden: Well my parents sing, my aunts and uncles sing, and I’ve been around it my entire life. When I was about 19, me and some friends started our first rock cover band. I also wrote some songs for that band, and that was the first time I’d written songs. I had tried writing some songs in my college dorm room, but the first time I wrote anything and performed it was in this rock band. Then after five or six years I moved to Nashville, and by the time I was 26 I’d still only written a handful of songs. But I was slowly getting into it when I moved here.

DK: I read that you were a firefighter in both Alabama and Tennessee. How did you first decide to be a firefighter, and then how did you transition into being a music artist?

Braden: I had a roommate that I’d gone to high school with. Then when I was 21, his dad retired as a firefighter in Montgomery, Alabama, and interestingly, he had been hired and retired 20 years to the day on my birthday, and we had his axe hanging up in our house. He’d given it to his son, and my roommate asked me if I wanted to apply with him to be a firefighter. So I applied to the Montgomery fire service, we went and tested together, and we were both in a class of 35 out of a few thousand people that applied.

So it was pretty cool to go through it all together. Then after a few years of that in Montgomery, it gave me the opportunity to be able to move a little closer to Nashville. I had friends tell me, “If you want to be successful up here, you have to live closer to Nashville.” So I moved up here to work for the Brentwood, Tennessee fire service, and it got me me close to the music industry. Then I started to learn about co-writing, and putting some music out.

Here’s the video of Tyler Braden’s hit, “God & Guns N’ Roses.”

DK: In 2019, you signed with Warner Music Nashville Records. How did you decide to sign with them?

Braden: I had started getting music publishing offers from a few different companies. And that was when I was able to resign from the fire service and go full-time in music. At first, we had no intention of seeking out a record deal…I just wanted to do the writing thing. Then while the songs were out for publishers to hear, we started having some record labels call us. We started to set up meetings, and I got some verbal offers from some other labels. Then we met with (producer/exec) Scott Hendricks and some others at Warner in 2019, and I was treated real well. We ended up going with Warner, and it’s been great.

DK: In 2021 you released your EP, What Do They Know, and then in 2023 you released the EP, Neon Grave. Can you talk about those EPs?

Braden: It was kind of cool, to be able to release a few songs at the time. What was interesting about that is I was putting these songs out and they told a little bit of my story, and there were a handful of songs that wouldn’t make quite make the cut. When you’re putting out songs to fit together, it doesn’t mean that a song wasn’t good enough to make tbe EP, but it just doesn’t fit. And it’s cool that some of those songs have ended up sticking around for four or five years and have made it onto my record coming out this week. But it was cool to piece together slowly over the years who I was as an artist. And coming out with this album is showing how I’ve changed, how I’ve grown as a writer and as an artist.

DK: You’re about to release your debut album called Devil and a Prayer. Can you talk about the making of your new album?

Braden: Over the last year-and-a-half, since we put out “Devil You Know” as a single, we’ve been leaning towards going for a couple of EPs, because we wanted “Devil You Know” and “More Than a Prayer” to come out together. “Devil You Know” had its own moment on social media when we put it out by itself, and then we put “More Than a Prayer” out later in the year with the intention of doing two different EPs. But we ended up putting it all together for this debut album, and that’s where the name Devil and a Prayer comes from those two songs.

Here’s the video of Tyler Braden’s, “Call Me First.”

As I was putting the track list together, I called my management & label and said, “Y’all, I feel like I’m putting a live show setlist together, so I want to lean into that for this album.” So stemming from that is how we have four songs in the album that I call B Stage, because a lot of our live shows will have some unplugged stuff in the middle of the show. In that direction, we wanted this to feel like it’s got these pillars of emotion and moments built around certain songs. So you cut out to go to the unplugged stuff to pull back for a moment in the middle of the album, then it kicks back into high gear right after the acoustic. So that’s how we structured it; we wanted it to feel like you’re at a live show when you listen to the album from top to bottom.

DK: Your song “Devil You Know” was a hit for you last year. Can you tell the story behind that song?

Braden: The year before last, we were listening to a lot of outside songs, songs that I wasn’t a writer on…getting some ideas of what we might want to cut. There are so many amazing songwriters in Nashville that don’t get enough credit. And we listened to hundreds of songs because it’s difficult to hear an outside song and think…I won’t feel like an imposter if I cut that. It really will feel like that song is who I am, or it’s helping me become who I am.

The first two outside songs we did that were “Devil You Know” and “More Than a Prayer.” And it’s funny how a song is written by someone else when you hear it, and then you go in and put your own spin on it. You go into the production of the song and make it your own. It helped me grow into who I was becoming, and I was already growing on my own as a songwriter. I did write about 2/3 of songs on the album, but these outside songs helped shape who I was becoming as a writer myself.

DK: One of my favorite songs on your album is “Call Me First.” It’s a very nice song about being a good friend. What inspired you to write this song?

Here’s the video of Tyler Braden’s song, “Right On Track.”

Braden: A buddy of mine, Cole Miracle, came in with that idea. I think four of us were writing together, and we wrote a few songs over three days. Cole had this idea, and I immediately stuck to it, because I think it’s always important to let your friends know that they have someone to talk to. You don’t always have to have these crazy deep talks, but talking enough that your friends know that they can come to you if they need to. So it’s been a nice moment for our live shows when we play that song. A lot of people have a story of how they relate to a situation like that, and it’s something that everyone should hear.

DK: On yout new album, you have a song called “Might Be Dangerous,” which you sing with Kaitlin Buttls. How did you connect with Kaitlin and decide to sing the song with her?

Braden: I’ve heard about Kaitlin for years, although we hadn’t met yet. She probably didn’t know me from Adam, but I’d seen her stuff on social media and kept an eye on what she was doing the last few years. And we had this song (“Might Be Dangerous”) that I was playing solo, but we knew it needed to be a duet. So Kaitlin was someone that I thought would be really cool, because I liked what she was doing. And I won’t lie…I was a little worried about how our voices would mesh, because my voice is so rough, and her’s is very smooth and angelic-sounding. But it ended up working great, so I’m so excited for everyone to hear it.

DK: I want to ask you about your live shows and your tour. You’ve headlined your own shows, and last year you opened for Brothers Osborne. And this year, you’re going on tour with Warren Zeiders. Can you talk about your live show and your tours?

Braden: We went to the U.K. with Brothers Osborne and that was an unbelievable experience. The crowds were amazing. I’ve been on tour the last two months with Warren Zeiders. We did a headlining tour in February and March, and then we went on tour with Warren and his crowds have been amazing. His whole crew and band have taken good care of us. Next weekend is actually the last weekend of the tour. Then we’ll tour later this year with Darius Rucker in Canada, and we’re planning a lot of headlining shows to kick off next year.