MUSIC: Tyler Hayes (August Issue 2013)

Oliver Wendell Holmes writes, “Most people die with the music still in them.” Holmes’ inspirational words are used as the basis for “The Song Workshop”, therapeutic songwriting created by multiple award-winning songwriter, Tyler Hayes.

Tyler and I met a few years ago and quickly became friends.  She’s one of those people that just draws others in.  She’s beautiful, funny, extremely talented and most of all authentic.  You never question what she’s thinking or feeling, and she will tell you that she “loves big”.  All this comes out through her emotional, raw songwriting ability.   Tyler has had great success with songs like “Bring It On Home To Me” recorded by Little Big Town, “Right Now (We Need One Another)” recorded by BeBe and CeCe Winans along with Vince Gill and Wynona Judd and her first cut at age 19, “If This World” recorded by Jaci Velasquez.

A year and a half ago, Tyler significantly limited commercial writing to a handful of artists and turned her focus to creating “The Song Workshop”.  Through her own personal struggles, Tyler found that songwriting can be a very healing tool.  After working very closely with Miles Adcox, CEO of Onsite (www.onsiteworkshops.com), “The Song Workshop” was developed.  During the workshop, Tyler asks participants a series of interpersonal questions to draw out what she believes is their own personal song.  “This allows them access to a lot of emotions and to move through emotional blocks,” Tyler said.  As answers to the questions are given, she begins writing lyrics from what she hears being discussed and then sings it to the individual or group.  “As they talk, I write and sing it back,” Tyler said.  “That’s when the experience happens.”  Once the song is complete, Tyler records it and gives it to them.  She says that from then on, when they play the song, their brain remembers the healing.  This summer, Tyler has been making a record of songs co-written with Kyle Rictor that are based on a year of therapeutic songwriting at Onsite.

In addition to her work in therapeutic songwriting, Tyler has her own publishing company and has been producing contemporary Christian artist David Richt.  David is the son of Mark Richt, head football coach for the Georgia Bulldogs.  Tyler is originally from Georgia so she enjoys traveling back there to work with David.  It also does not hurt that she loves those Bulldogs.  She even co-wrote, “Dawg Bite”.  A song that David sang featuring Colt Ford.  It was not received well by critics, but Tyler says that it was fun and just one of those things that she has to laugh at herself about.

Bulldogs aside, it is really “The Song Workshop” that Tyler is most passionate about right now.  She wants to write and speak more and more about “finding your song”.  “I believe within everyone is a song, a song as unique as their fingerprint,” said Tyler.  “I want to write that song, your song, to celebrate, to heal and to assure that we do not ‘die with the music still in us’ ”. 

To find out more, please visit her websites: www.thesongworkshop.com and www.tylerhayes.net.