Because the past year has felt more like a decade, it’s easy for our minds to wander and put ourselves in other time and place. With the release of his new single “Move to Montana,” Tyller Gummersall has done just that.
With the vast majority of his gigs cancelled, Gummersall says putting pen to paper to create “Move to Montana” was therapeutic for him.
“Songwriting is always a great therapy. It was great to dive into that creative process fully. You get lost in it to some degree too, and that can be nice and distracting!” says Gummersall. “I love the challenge songwriting presents, as well as the outlet it offers to get stuff off your chest.”
Gummersall says the ongoing pandemic served as a major inspiration behind the song, which he says came together quickly as he was crafting it.
“It was March 2020, and all my gigs had just been canceled! The pandemic hit and I had a whole lot of free time all of a sudden! It was great to be writing again, and the idea for this song came to me one day. I kept getting the image of a nice cabin in the mountains, a couple horses, etc.,” says Gummersall. “We (Emily, my girlfriend on the album cover) were down in Texas where I had been playing music most of the winter and spring. I was sitting on the couch in our RV (where we live), I picked up a guitar and put the idea down to paper. It was one of those tunes that came nice and easy, they’re not all that way [laughs].”
Present on “Move to Montana” are several A-list Nashville musicians, including Aubrey Haynie on fiddle and Jen Gunderman on piano. Even though he wasn’t able to be present with them in the studio, Gummersall says their presence took the song to another level.
“It’s so awesome to get to collaborate with such fine players, even at a distance! It’s almost more exciting than in a normal studio situation. I send the tracks off to ‘em with a few ideas, and then when I get their tracks back, it’s like Christmas morning!” says Gummersall. “I’m really thankful that these folks are willing to lend their talents; it really brings the songs to life and becomes something unique with their own creativity.”
Gummersall’s new single follows November’s “Doggone Cowboy,” and though he says he he hasn’t put much thought into the sequencing of his releases, he says that he’s looking to stay sonically diverse with his forthcoming releases.
“Lately I’ve been pretty loose about sequencing the releases. Really it’s been what I’ve felt like doing, plus who’s available to play on it and when. We’re recording and releasing all within a month or two,” says Gummersall. “I do want to keep some variety in tempo and style though. So some of the songs next month will be a bit more honkytonk most likely.”
Because he has a studio in his home, continuing to release new music frequently is a possibility for Gummersall, and is something he sees as an asset.
“Having a home studio has been really essential. I think I would feel pretty helpless and like I was doing nothing to forward my career without it. Playing live shows is such a huge part of being an artist these days, and all of that stopping at once is a shock for sure, but being able to bring together some different skills that allow me to affordably keep making music has been great,” says Gummersall. “Not being able to play music face to face quite yet is a bummer, but it’s pretty cool to see so many people listening to the songs out there! ‘Move to Montana’ had over 8,970 streams on Apple Music in its first week (over 15,000 to date).”
As he continues to prepare new music for release this year, Gummersall has high hopes that he’ll be able to return to the stage in 2021.
“I plan on releasing more music for sure,” says Gummersall. “And I’m optimisic that I’ll be playing live shows again before too long!”
*”Move to Montana” is featured on The Best of Pro Country playlist!*
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