“I want people to think of me as a musician. That’s what I’m here for” Country upstart Ty Myers is championing guitar for a new generation

As he launched into an improvised mid-show guitar solo during a recent sold-out performance at the Georgia Theatre in Athens, GA, Ty Myers confidently exclaimed, “Let me play this guitar!”

It was reminiscent of Prince’s iconic declaration from his legendary 2007 Super Bowl performance. Later, Ty will admit it was not an intentional homage, “but maybe it should have been,” he beams.

And this is why the young upstart from Dripping Springs, Texas is such an interesting and exciting young artist. On the one hand he’s a rapidly rising young songwriter with nearly five million listeners monthly on Spotify and very nearly 17 million likes on TikTok. But he’s also a guitar obsessive who holds up Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Mayer as his north stars – so much so that the Strat-toting teen even wears a jade necklace as a nod to SRV.

And in an era where social media often supplants the old-fashioned business of learning your craft in a live environment, Myers is also refreshingly committed to the grind. By year’s end, he will have played over 100 shows in support of his debut album The Select, with the bulk of his 2026 already mapped out.

It’s quite some commitment for a kid who only turned 18 in July – but he’s no rookie. This writer first encountered Myers opening for country heavyweight Dylan Gossett when he was just 16 years old. And it should be no surprise he understands what it takes to make it in the business – his father Michael is a well-known musician in his native Texas, while his uncle Dean Sams is a member of the platinum-selling country outlet Lonestar, and his great uncle Ronnie Huckaby an integral member of George Strait’s ensemble.

“There’s a sense of culture, of importance, about the guitar player. I just care a lot about it.”

The Odyssey

It was only natural then, that Myers would find his way into the family business, but his guitar odyssey actually started out courtesy of another Texan guitar great. The fire that still burns bright for Stevie Ray began when an elementary-aged Myers encountered the legendary film Live at the El Mocambo.

“I can visualize it,” he says. “It was a smoky, small bar. Stevie’s sitting on a stool, smoking a cigarette, wearing a hat that’s casting a shadow half over his face, and starts playing the most complex, beautiful, melodic thing on the guitar. I was like, ‘This is it!’ It’s like he was hovering… sucking the power from the nicotine of that cigarette, and it came out in his fingers.”

It was only natural then that Myers chose a pair of Strats as his go-to electrics, plus a Gibson SJ-200 and a Gallagher Ragtime Special to handle acoustic stuff. His favourite Strat is a Custom Shop Relic built by revered Master Builder Dale Wilson. It was a guitar that Myers first encountered at Nashville’s renowned Carter Vintage store – and he knew instantly it had to be his.

“I looked down this long aisle, and on this little stage, there’s a guitar sitting on a stand, and it was like doves flew out of it,” Myers recalls with a glimmer in his eye. “I didn’t even play it, I just knew I was going to get it.”

The Guitar Sceptic

Ty is selective about the guitars he plays, but even once an instrument earns his affection, he still finds himself constantly critiquing whether it’s doing the job for him.

“The first uptake will hit you or it won’t,” he explains. “Once I find the one I want, I’ll play it for a while and try to find imperfections. I’m kind of a sceptic. If you can criticise the guitar enough and still like it, it’s a good guitar.”

That doesn’t mean he’s a gear snob, however – despite owning a variety of high-end guitars, another of his favourites is a humble Squier that was passed down from a family member that he kept tinkering with until he managed to unlock the guitar’s magic.

“When someone compliments my guitar playing, I’ll never be happier.”

“It’s a Squier, it’s from a storage unit!” he exclaims with as much exasperated judgement as he can muster. “I picked it up six months ago… and I debated bringing it out on the road to beat it up a little. I almost tried to ‘relic’ it myself, but I didn’t.”

This approach to self-critique is equally applied to his own playing and performances – it’s something that’s helped Myers flourish and thrive at such a young age.

“That’s a rut a lot of guitar players get into,” he continues. “I critique my playing the same way I critique a guitar. It has caused me to get better. It’s because there’s a sense of culture, of importance, about the guitar player. I just care a lot about it. When someone compliments my guitar playing, I’ll never be happier.”

Undeniable Talent

Of course, Myers’ guitar skills are only part of the equation – he’s also a compelling and engaging singer and performer. It’s the sort of rare combination that has caused some of the older heads in the scene to take notice. Just last month, he collaborated with Marcus King on a rendition of Little Feat’s Two Trains. And to country crooner and fellow Texan William Beckmann, who is now friends with Myers, it was immediately apparent what a talent he is.

“The first time I saw him play, I was immediately impressed by him,” Beckmann tells us. “His ability to play guitar and weave unique melodies into his songs is rare for an artist at his age. Some people are just born with undeniable talent, and he is one of them.”

Those unique guitar melodies make their way into Myers’ recordings, though are extremely prevalent in his live set. He extends intros and outros at will, plays behind his head, and often lets his piercing notes linger in the air as he stares out into the crowd in a brooding, calculated fashion.

“A concert is supposed to be an experience,” Myers affirms. “It’s just as much a show as if you go to a Broadway play. I love to begin a song with a different musical element. That’s my favorite part of the show, cause I can escape my own mind. Sometimes I just keep going. It’s almost autopilot. I am thinking about what I’m playing… but I’m not sitting there thinking, ‘Okay, major third… use the scale.’ My fingers are just livin’ their own life.”

“A concert is supposed to be an experience… That’s my favorite part of the show, cause I can escape my own mind.”

Teen Idol

Perhaps the elephant in the room is if Myers’ youthful crowd are interested in, or able to identify with, the musicality occurring in front of them. There’s no escaping the fact that he has the looks and charisma of a pop star, after all.

“People comment, ‘People are going to forget about his music cause he’s such a…’” he begins, failing to come up with a definitive description. “People can think what they want, but I hope they don’t think of me as just some playboy. My musicianship isn’t going away.”

He does, however, understand his audience’s mentality. It was hard to escape it amid that Athens crowd, as the audience swayed with collective desperation during Myers’ performance Through A Screen – a prescient ballad about navigating romance via online communication. But Myers is keen to remind us that his audience’s youth and enthusiasm doesn’t make them any less authentic.

“Let’s say my audience is from age 15 to 25,” he explains. “The teenagers are in this angsty and emotional stage. It doesn’t make the feelings any less real because they’re young. Especially on a song like Through A Screen. That was a true story from my life that everyone my age has had.”

Business Brain

The stage is set for Myers to build on his current success even further – with new material likely in 2026, and a huge opportunity opening for Luke Combs on his upcoming stadium tour.

“My brain works faster than the music business,” he chuckles at the prospect of his next album, before revealing that he writes at least a song a week, but has “a problem” finishing the ones he doesn’t like.

“That’s amazing until you’re way ahead, but we’re releasing stuff from way back when. We finished recording the second album, and now I’m writing for another album that I definitely can’t say much about. I haven’t been this excited about writing new stuff in a long time.”

All the while, Myers seeks to pave his own lane. Not as, simply, a country artist, but beyond.

“We categorise things because it’s easy to comprehend,” he reflects when asked if he’s wary of being pigeonholed by genre. “It’s great for the audience, but not so great for the artist. The audience can find a special connection… when they can be like, ‘He’s my favourite country artist.’ As an artist, when you say, ‘I’m really passionate about this,’ then you go and try it and people say, ‘That’s not what you were playing before!’ It’s like… this is music!

“It’s hard to compare a rock song from 1950 with a new pop song by Olivia Dean. How do I pick which is better? I want people to think of me as a musician. That’s what I’m here for. I could care less about anything else than that the music I’m making is appreciated, and that people know that it’s my purpose.”

Words: Noah Wade
Photography: Chris Buck
Styling/Hair & Makeup: Kelly Henderson
Location: Telephone