William Tyler & the Impossible Truth at the Raccoon Motel -- January 21.
Sunday, January 21, 7 p.m.
Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
With the critically praised singer/songwriter and his ensemble touring in support of their live album Secret Stratosphere, the indie-folk and pop-rock musicians of William Tyler & the Impossible Truth take the stage at Davenport's Raccoon Motel on January 21, Pitchfork magazine raving that the band "maintains the spiritual minimalism of Tyler’s solo work while expanding the sound."
A Christmas Day baby, Tyler was born to Daniel E. "Dan" Tyler and Adele B. Tyler on December 25, 1979, in Nashville, Tennessee. His father is a noted songwriter in his own right who wrote "The Light in Your Eyes" by LeAnn Rimes, co-wrote "Baby's Got a New Baby" by S-K-O, and co-wrote "Modern Day Romance" by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. In addition, both of Tyler's parents co-wrote "Bobbie Sue" by The Oak Ridge Boys. Before he became a solo artist himself, Tyler was a member of Lambchop and Silver Jews beginning in 1998, and first joined Lambchop at age 19 because Kurt Wagner approached him about playing the organ in the band. (It turned out that he got to play guitar because he admittedly said "I couldn't really play" the organ.) Before releasing music under his own name, Tyler used The Paper Hats as working title for his solo music, and in 2010, he released the widely acclaimed album Behold the Spirit. In 2013, the artist released another critically hailed recording in Impossible Truth, which was followed by his third full-length Modern Country, lauded by Rolling Stone as one of the "best country albums of 2016."
Since then, Tyler released 2016's Goes West, which landed in the top five of Billboard's Heatseekers chart, as well as 2020's Music From First Cow and, with Marisa Anderson, 2021's Lost Futures. Recorded live at Yellowhammer Brewing in Huntsville, Alabama that same year, Secret Stratosphere finds William Tyler and fellow psychedelic dreamers The Impossible Truth refashioning prime cuts from the Nashville guitarist's rich catalog, casting new light onto once-familiar songs. Featuring the gifted combo of Jack Lawrence (Raconteurs, Dead Weather), Brian Kotzur (Silver Jews, Country Westerns), and Luke Schneider (Margo Price), the quartet has been hailed for stretching the dynamics of Tyler’s compositions to their fullest interdimensional potential, exposing a deep undercurrent of kosmische and post-rock influences, and confirming Tyler's place as a brilliant guitarist, bandleader, and composer. As Pitchfork stated of Secret Stratosphere, it's "a record that exudes the kind of off-the-cuff inventiveness and open-minded collaboration that can only come from years of fine-tuned experience."
William Tyler & the Impossible Truth headline their Davenport engagement on January 21, admission to the 7 p.m. concert is $20, and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.
