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Daily Inspiration: Meet Tyler Herwig

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyler Herwig.

Hi Tyler, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always loved to sing. My mother loved music, so as a kid our house always had something playing. In fact, my siblings and I learned early on that we could tell what kind of mood Mom was in by what music was playing in our house.

Music was mostly just for fun though – being silly and singing songs at home, children’s choir at church and taking piano and percussion lessons. I’d say my more intentional journey really started when I was in 8th grade. A close family friend passed away suddenly, and it was rough… I began writing down my thoughts to help me sort through the overwhelming emotions I was experiencing. I needed to make sense of what was going on and clear my mind when I had some melodies start popping into my head. My mom had an old guitar, so I started messing around on it – teaching myself how to play by watching YouTube videos and writing down what was in my head.

At school, I would sign up for anything and everything that would give me the opportunity to sing – choir, talent shows, school musicals. I helped lead worship every Sunday morning at church. Every opportunity I found to sing and perform just grew my desire to do it more.

In fact, my first paying gig was after my junior year in high school. One day as I was taking lunch from my part time job, I was sitting in the back of my truck playing my guitar and singing when a co-worker – hearing me play – came and asked me to play and sing in her wedding. A year or two after that, I sang for my sister’s wedding and the event coordinator for the venue asked me to play for them. Gig life began.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has been rough, for sure. I knew I wanted to pursue music, so I went to college and studied vocal performance. I started questioning where that would take me and ended up changing my major a few times. After graduating I had several different jobs, but nothing fueled me quite like music. While music helped me feel good, I was quickly falling apart emotionally. For a while, life seemed like I was taking two steps forward and 12 steps back. A ton of bad choices, unhealthy relationships, and alcohol – I won’t say I ended up at rock bottom because I’ve learned you can always go lower.

Obviously, my story did not end there. With the help of many amazing people, I was able to begin a life of recovery. I had to set my music aside for a while and spend some time looking deeper into myself than I had ever thought possible. Time well spent. I am coming up on two years sober and living a full life in recovery. Covid slowed me up a bit, but as the world began to open back up, I got busy. There are so many opportunities to play in the Minneapolis area if you look and ask for help.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Music is my full-time job. I released my first EP: Run Away this past summer. Now, I get to work every day on maintaining my recovery, improving my skills, writing music, getting to know other musicians to collaborate with, scheduling performance opportunities and spending time with my wife and (soon to be born) daughter. Most of my performances are at night and right now I average four to six performances a week.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Perseverance is something we all need, and I have learned much about it over the years. It is still, and probably will always be, tough but worth it in the end. I will continue pressing onward. I want to continue growing in my recovery. I want to continue growing, supporting, and leading my family. I want to grow my music and touch people for the better. Wherever the road takes me, I will press on and persevere. I’ll continue playing and singing the whole way.

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1 Comment

  1. Kevin Melin

    January 13, 2022 at 7:51 pm

    To Tyler,
    Great to hear you are pursuing a passion and finding a way to get paid in doing it. 🙂 Way to go!
    Fun to read where you have come from, which I am most aware of. In fact, I vaguely recall the friend passing and the darkness of that hour. Good also to hear of hard things that God uses to put you on a better path today. God wastes nothing in His economy.
    May God continue to be leading you!! Fun to listen here to some of your stuff! Great job!!
    Most exciting to hear and see your new marriage and your expectation for family. There is nothing like daddyhood, except maybe that granddaddy duty. Grandparenting is a good gig and glad your parents get to enjoy it. 😉
    In His Grip, Pastor Kevin

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