My name is Tyler Larson. I was born and raised in Ankeny, IA. I lived for a couple of years in Missouri while attending college and then moved out to Lincoln, NE for a short bit. I actually haven't had a steady "living plan" since I was living back in good 'ol Iowa!
I started out a chipper young lad from the midwest w/ an ear and a love for country music. Garth Brooks was my all time fave for the longest time. My first favourite song was “The Thunder Rolls” and then soon to follow was “Friends in Low Places”. That was between the ages of 3 and 5 years old. I was fortunate enough to have seen him when he was in his prime in the early nineties. Garth Brooks was my first concert ever…and he was of course…AMAZING!!! When I was about six or seven years old, I remember hearing the STYX classic “Come Sail Away” on the radio Christmas eve and fell in love with rock music. From the moment that STYX GREATEST HITS became my favourite album (at 7 years old…) my life would change forever. I began playing the piano when I was in the fourth grade. After only a small bit of pleading (she actually was excited when I brought it up!), my mum signed me up. I was excited at first but then realized the discipline it takes to improve on an instrument… I hated it. After playing such classics as "One Little Brave Toy Soldier" and some song or another about rainbows for recital...I wasn't diggin' it! I started listening to classical music (baroque, romantic, classical, no modern…that stuff is too weird for my taste…I appreciate the societal contribution, but it’s not my cup of tea…) I would dream of playing these great piano works someday. My mum had told me from the beginning to give it at least 2 years of giving it a shot (30 minutes of practice everyday plus a weekly 30-minute lesson). I do recall though that even in the very early stages of my musical development with piano that Christmas time was special to me. For some reason or another there was something about plunking out those Big-Note Christmas melodies that really worked for me. Once that 2nd Christmas came around I was playing with 2 hands and the music was getting a little more fun. Still incredibly simple, but it was certainly challenging me at the time and was enticing me to get "just one more song" down. By that time I'd been taking lessons for a year and a half and decided from there that even though the 30 minute daily practice sessions sucked (at the time... hahaha!) for some reason Christmas music was worth it to me. By my third year I through a real "curve-ball" at my teacher by requesting that we work on the Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. She said that it'd be ok, and that was the first time that I really felt what music is supposed to feel like. My daily practice sessions remained @ 30 minutes as a mandatory but I'd find myself going a little longer or sitting down a few extra times. After hours of practice in cumulative I was able to make it through the Moonlight Sonata memorized (not the WHOLE sonata but the theme that everyone recognizes, I got that whole movement). That Christmas my mum bought me a Mannheim Steamroller piano solo book. I’ve still got it and still enjoy playing out of it. I learned a few songs from it (my favourite being a Chip Davis original: Traditions of Christmas) and still play out of it now. Little did I know that from that preparation, would I be inspired to one day learn and memorize Beethoven's Pathetique sonata (2nd movement and a rendition of the first), Billy Joel's "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant", as well as a classic rock medley of songs. I arranged the medley with hits from Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Billy Joel and Led Zeppelin to name a few. Also as a result of taking piano lessons, I picked up the alto saxophone for elementary school band. Little did I know that I would be "manipulated" by the public school system to change to Tuba (which turned into a blessing in disquise actually...). As a result of me "caving" to play tuba, the band directors inquired me about playing electric bass for the jazz band in sixth grade. I graciously accepted and began an incredible adventure in my first stringed instrument. I was still taking piano lessons and I was able to bridge music theory concepts to these new instruments I was checking out. Just a side-note though…I played the bass from sixth grade through twelfth grade for the jazz band. When I started, they gave me a BEAUTIFUL red Fender Jazz Bass and a little speaker that I was supposed to use as an “amp”. When I hit eighth grade they downgraded me to a black Yamaha…bass… I then got the notion that I needed to buy my own and bought none other than…a Squier. ANOTHER STEP BACK. Ironically the best bass that I’ve had temporary “ownership” of was when I was in sixth and seventh grade…go figure! Anyway…When I was 13 years old I decided that I wanted to buy a guitar. At that point Aerosmith played a huge role in my life. As far as I was concerned Steven Tyler was who I wanted to be! I have every album, read every interview at the time (it was right before and during when JUST PUSH PLAY was released), and I even got teased at school for loving such a timeless band. That didn’t stop me! I wanted to buy an electric guitar and ROCK!!!
My first guitar was a red Squier stratocaster (I later bought a Yellow/Orange-ish Ibanez in which I named Lola, and to date I've traded in the 'ol Squier bass and guitar, and now have a Jackson Flying V Rhoads [which most of the album was recorded with]). It matched my first bass (sixth grade!)! It certainly did me good for a long while. I was playing a lot of bass while I was learning guitar too. Actually I’d started working up a new technique that I was convinced that I’d “invented” on bass where I would play triplet patterns. The first note w/ my pointer finger on my right hand and then the trip-let w/ my left hand. I started getting pretty fast at it, and decided that it was going to be my “signature” thing. My world was later crushed when I learned that years before I was even alive Eddie Van Halen busted onto the music scene w/ a “controversial guitar style” that shot them into the limelight that was exactly what I had been messing with. I later realized that my “signature thing” was called…tapping…and I had not invented it, but was simply born into the wrong generation. This began my love for 80’s metal. I carried on my bass-tapping to the guitar and started learning new styles of it. I also started getting faster and more familiar. The piano work was also exploding as well! By the time I hit high school I was juggling 4 prime instruments and trying to improve. I was still taking lessons on piano (and did so until I was a senior in high school…8 years baby and LOVED IT when I finally found my niche!).
In high school I played on and off with various bands. Unfortunately none of them really had "hits" of their own. The first group I was in outside of Jazz Band was a mellow/refined rock band with John Bjerke and Derrick Sweeney. Our name changed a few times. We started out as Mannakin --- Robot (No worries, I've grown up a LOT since then!), to Mannakin, to Holy Hand Grenade. We played about 3 shows...and then never played again. Another group I was in was called Tanjerine. This was probably the most successful group I was in when I was in high school. Again, no real hits, but we did a SMASHING cover of "I Believe in a Thing Called Love". That was the first time that I'd ever 'seriously' sang in front of people. We got 2nd place that year in Battle of the Bands! Not too shabby! In the summer s of my Juniour year and Seniour years of high school I played in a high-octane blue-grass band called Red Wing with a couple of the nicest guys I've ever met named Rex and Denny. I probably had more fun at the blue-grass gigs to this day than I've had at a lot of the other concerts I've played. The last high school band I was in was called To Be Announced (w/ Cassi Hentzel, Chad Johnson, and one year w/ the wonderful Emily Roggenburg a.k.a. Baby Roggs). We were entirely a cover-band and we just had a good time!
When I finally left and went to school, my guitar continued to improve but in not bringing an 88 key piano with me to school, I’ve been unable to this day to maintain the effective and healthy practice routine that I once had. I was fortunate enough however to meet a fine gent that goes by the name of Isaac Tanner. He and I record on and off with a project that we call Blumenhourst which is also a Christmas project. This album, however, is just my solo work in which I've spent the past few months having a blast recording these familiar themes. My Christmas influence for this album has come from a mix of all of the styles that I’ve grown to love from the very beginning. It sounds a lot like a Trans-Siberian Orchestra/Mannheim Steamroller fusion with a touch of classical strings and goat-roper flare…You really just gotta hear it to understand I guess…but there you have it! Oh and as for my parents (Gary and Lisa) for the drive, and piano teacher (Raejean) for all of the positive encouragement and fine teaching. I’d also like to thank the public school system’s music program, and other various music teachers I’ve studied under (Mr. Thimmesch, Mr. Gosnell, Mrs. Urban, Mr. Page, Mr. Hoagland, and yes, Mr. Poppen, and Mr. Hawk you guys too!). THANK YOU! Every single one of you has helped me define who I am musically. I was a jerk in high school to my music-mentors and we really had a negative relationship most of the time it seemed, but it wasn’t until after high school did I realize the things I did learn from you guys. My apologies for being such a jerk, I hope that you can find it in your hearts to forgive me.
Christmas Extraordinaire is a tribute album to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to remember the day of His birth. I hope that all of you enjoy this compilation of classic Christmas tunes with a “Tyler Larson-twist”.
Well in the great words of Rob Reiner from the heavy metal classic This is: Spinal Tap: “Well…enough of my yackin’…Let’s Boogie!”
Enjoy!
-Tyler Larson
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