Tyler Key

Tyler Key is trying to change your mind about Americana. It’s not all wide-brimmed Stetsons and songs about trains and other doses of nostalgia. Key’s been releasing albums under his own name since 2017’s Long Run the Fugitives, a sparse folk record that marked a departure from his bar-band roots. Wild Azaleas and Other Tall Tales is the third album by the Athens songwriter, and like 2019’s Local Support, he recorded it at Standard Electric with Damon Moon at the helm. This time he’s backed by a laundry list of talented family and friends, including his brother Seth Key on electric guitar, Ryan Moore on drums, Spencer Thomas on piano, Garrett Hibbs on bass, and Kimberly Simpson on backing vocals.