Tyler Bryant is a rock guitarist extraordinaire. In 2006, at the age of 15, Bryant was given the Robert Johnson Gibson New Generation Award for aspiring young guitar players and in 2007 won the Play Crossroads Competition, which earned him a spot performing at The Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago, founded by Eric Clapton. 2009 saw Bryant appear in the documentary film Rock Prophecies, featuring stars including Jeff Beck, Carlos Santana and Slash and following rock ‘n’ roll photographer Robert M. Knight on his personal mission to find the best new guitar player in the world. In the same year Bryant toured with popular country musician Vince Gill, who said of Bryant, ‘To be 18 and play like this kid is the rarest of the rare. Hands down a future guitar god.’ Tyler has since toured with major artists including Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, B.B. King, Pat Benatar, Heart, Smash Mouth, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Guns N’ Roses and AC/DC.
In 2011, Tyler performed at the Austin City Limits Music Festival and formed the band Dead Cool Dropouts with Lisa Origliasso of The Veronicas, releasing a self-titled album in 2014. A relocation to Nashville led Tyler to meet drummer Caleb Crosby, bass players Calvin Webster and Ryan Fitzgerald and guitarist Graham Whitford (the latter the son of Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford) and together the four formed the band Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown. They released their debut album Wild Child in 2013 and have since made a further 3 studio albums, including Pressure in 2020, which was recorded during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown period.
